As an AFL fan, I’m not often jealous of rugby league diehards. We have higher scoring, we have bigger crowds, we have slightly less salary cap scandals. But there is one thing the NRL has which every AFL fan should lust over, and its name is Origin.
I was probably born too late (and certainly did not quickly enough fall in love with footy) to appreciate the era where AFL Origin was a thing.
And so, when Friday’s Bushfire Relief fixture was announced, I hungrily snapped up a ticket, eager to peer through a window into the past.
The match ticked some of the most important boxes on the list for good footy: the players were of elite quality, the scoring was plentiful, and with teammates playing against each other – or old friends reunited – the potential was there for narratives to follow.
The highlight of the night was undoubtedly Dustin Martin. Whether or not he was genuinely best on ground, you can’t fully appreciate his brilliance until you hear that ripple of anticipation in the crowd when he gathers the ball in range of goal.
Dustin Martin (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Unfortunately, the Dusty hype was about the only on-field development that threatened to breathe life into a barren atmosphere at Marvel Stadium.
More than 50,000 fans turned out but no one was living or dying on whether the Big V got up, and it was an evening punctuated by smatterings of polite applause rather than the passionate cheers of a rusted-on home crowd.
The players were no more invested in the outcome than the fans. While there were one or two good hits, defensive play was scarce, and a more perfect example of bruise-free footy would be hard to come by – which was hardly unexpected, but disappointing all the same.
The most memorable moment of the match didn’t happen on the grass but was instead a five-lap Mexican wave during the third quarter – a moment of fun that made me glad I made the effort to attend on an evening where, if I’m being honest, not a whole lot else did.
Over the past three years in particular I’ve had the opportuntity to work on every NRL State of Origin game with the editorial team at The Roar, and the difference in the sense of occasion between this and that is a chasm of remarkable size. The passion and parchoalism of NRL Origin is hard to match.
Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images
It provides essentially another two to three grand final-calibre events on the NRL calendar and one must imagine Gillon McLachlan drooling like Homer Simpson would over donuts at the thought of seeing similar success from an annual equivalent.
Fans and some players would love to see it happen. Picture Nat Fyfe and Lance Franklin leading Western Australia against the star-studded Vics. Tickets would sell like toilet paper in a Coronavirus scare.
But there are more than a few barriers between us and that beautiful vision.
Firstly, the ‘All Stars’ concept has to be thrown in the bin. Sure, there’s plenty of interstate fans who are happy to barrack against the Victorians, but that sentiment isn’t strong enough to build an enduring team around. It made a kind of sense for a one-off charity game, but a return to genuine state competition is the only way forward.
Here however is where the AFL runs into one of the most hairy problems. Unlike the nice, straightforward NSW versus Queensland dichotomy of NRL, the Australian code has three strong states to fit into a fixture and this inevitably creates complications.
I’ve seen at least half a dozen pitches for how an AFL Origin fixture could work in the days since the Friday match was played. Personally, what I think would work best is an annual best-of-three series rotating between the three big footy states – so Victoria vs Western Australia with SA sitting out one year, then SA vs Western Australia the next, then SA vs Victoria, and so on.
Tier-two matches – between Tasmania, NSW-ACT, Queensland and the Northern Territory – could be played as part of double-headers or as separate events in their own right, and ditto for AFLW Origin matches.
Each side could have one home game in the series and the third travel to different venues around the nation.
However the biggest hurdle remains convincing players to represent their state with the same – if not greater – passion that they would represent their clubs, and convincing the clubs to let their players do exactly that. Fear of injuries in the 1990s proved the death of the concept and may well leave a revival stillborn.
Certainly the league’s biggest names were happy to get around the cause on this occasion and the clubs publicly supported them in doing so. But if a 2021 Origin fixture can boast only the same low level of intensity as Friday night, I doubt even half the crowd would bother fronting up again.
Of course, what hasn’t been acknowledged enough in the debate surrounding this match is that its purpose was not to revive Origin, but to raise funds for bushfire relief and pray tribute to those who fought the fires this summer – two goals which it achieved with wholesome and resounding success.
It inevitably brought to the surface again what remains one of the great ‘what if’ debates of the AFL industry. Enamouring as it is, I remain sceptical we will see Origin make a permanent and meaningful return to the calendar any time soon.
Perhaps we are doomed to always be a little jealous of our rugby league-loving cousins.
clipper
Roar Rookie
Yes, far better to watch fox news and read the many murdoch publications than the ABC!!!
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
Newcastle, long considered to be a ‘heartland’ of Rugby League still relies on constant TV & radio advertising to entice people to their home games. There’s nothing for the AFL to be jealous of there. Just an observation.
Randy
Roar Rookie
League has always had a better relationship with its indigenous people than AFL. More indigenous people in QLD and NSW than the rest of the country. League had the first ever Indigenous captain of a national side - Arthur Beetson. Beetson might be the most respected figure in the sports history. Latrell Mitchell flying the aboriginal flag in the latest ad - right wing AFL loving flogs like Karl Stefanovic in the media are the ones criticising it. The AFL has that pathetic virtue signalling organisation the ABC in its corner though. However I doubt many indigenous aussies could give a stuff about the ABC. The ABC's audience are Melbourne inner city lefties who want to be reminded how progressive and inclusive they are.
Gary
Roar Rookie
I am not that bothered tbh, my original comment was more a comparison between presence of both codes throughout the country... 'pins on map', and presumably population (but, you made a good point about regional pop'n of nsw and qld). Perhaps netball, cricket, and maybe soccer, have a bigger foot print. Also, you state "So AFL’s footprint covers about 5% more of Australia’s population than the NRL’s footprint (not including the Warriors in NZ who completely erase that gap)" ... why mention NZ at all, other than to be a bit mischievous? I am not sure if you were being a bit sarcastic about GWS, but GWS was intentionally designed to encompass Canberra, they play games at Manuka oval, which is closer than what Cairns is to Townsville where the Cowboys are based. And... I did not say Melbourne teams encompass Tassie, that is your claim, I said the AFL had a consistent presence there. Tassie is regarded as a traditional heartland state, and will hopefully get a team of their own before too long. Yes, both the AFL and NRL have one off games in other parts of the country... eg. AFL teams play in Cairns, Alice Springs and Darwin. I did not include because they are not consistent. I agree the 2 largest population centres of Australia, Sydney and Melbourne, do hold the bulk of the teams of their respective dominant codes, and the existence of mature state leagues in SA and WA made it easier for a national competition to emerge. Perhaps the existence of 2 teams each in WA and SA, and the one-eyed/tribal nature it engenders, is the SoO type fix that fills the void of ye olde ARF SoO games. It will be interesting to see how/if a second Brisbane team could alter the appeal of league SoO.
Col in Paradise
Roar Rookie
Totally correct..Moved to Canberra from Wagga in 1971..it was strong AFL place..was from a league family but after a few games at school switched and loved it..the Home of Jezza and Cowboy Niel played there..stong competition still in Canberra but the Raiders put a big dent in it..Canberra with Riverina was a lost opportunity for a strong naturally grown team...but the Melbourne clubs didn't want it as they see it as a nursery they could plunder back then for talent.....and still do..
KenW
Roar Rookie
That’s why I didn’t include the Warriors – I even specifically pointed out that I wasn’t including them so that you wouldn’t need to mention that I didn’t include them. So there would be no confusion about them being included. For the record, they weren’t included. Yes, OK, sure – A team in Sydney encompasses Canberra. Teams in Melbourne encompass Tassie. In that case the NRL also encompasses the NSW central coast, the Riverina area, Adelaide, Perth, & Western NSW which all get regular NRL games every year. Geez this is getting a bit silly, why are you so hung-up on needing your sport to be the ‘true’ national one when clearly they are roughly similar? The AFL is a Melbourne comp which grew but still has half it’s teams in Melbourne, the NRL is a Sydney comp that grew but still has half it’s teams in Sydney.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
The AFL fluffed Canberra. It was a traditional Aussie Rules area. It was because Melbourne was our Capital till '27. Then all the mandarins shifted to Canberra bringing their love of footy with them.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Why would Victoria start SOO? Allowing the best players to play for their home states meant Victoria couldn't get the best of WA, SA & Tas to play for them.
Max
Guest
Victoria didn't invent Origin. RU Home Nations same concept since 1883. Then soccer nations as well. And anyway WAFL started it not the VFL.
Naughty's Headband
Roar Rookie
But if you wrote equal it’s only one more letter....
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Wales
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Then they'd have POO
Parasite
Roar Rookie
Well actually dope they are principalities.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Your position doesn't account for Australia and it's history of not invading other places. England invaded a lot of countries taking their games with them. We didn't, ergo, our game didn't go anywhere. ---- Surely not too hard to understand!
Gary
Roar Rookie
NZ is not part of Australia, and even though NZ citizens do pop up in head counts on census night in Australia, we don't count NZ citizens living in NZ. GWS, which was intended to encompass Canberra, also play multiple games every year in Canberra. North Melbourne and Hawthorn also play multiple games (9) every year in Tassie... whilst not technically representing the area, it is a consistent presence.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Vic Richardson is different person to Viv Richards
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Shorthand
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
320k to an AFL round v 120k to a NRL round. That shows AFL is quite popular on the NRL states whereas NRL has no team in Perth or Adelaide. AFL is ginormous in AFL states AFL is quite popular in NRL states NRL is ok in NRL states NRL is poor in AFL states
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Gil is an embarrassment to SA.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Most of the games were in the 80s and 90s. Only about 3 games in the 70s. —– There is no feeling that the Power or Crows games are SOO!