When Hamish McLennan and Rob Clarke unveiled rugby’s big and diverse new broadcast package this week it was seen by many as a statement that the game is still here and will do whatever it takes to remain relevant and pertinent.
The offering is broad and complicated and a lot of it requires forward-thinking from a flexible mindset given so much about the future is uncertain.
Yet one thing that has been a point of speculation for so long seems now to be part of the official offering: the State of the Union, which is essentially State of Origin by another name.
At first look this seems a wonderful idea considering the NRL equivalent is Australia’s most-watched television event and has the ability to sell out stadiums all across the nation. Indeed one wonders why rugby have waited this long to try and emulate it.
(Photo by Patrick Hamilton/AFP via Getty Images)
Some of the reluctance and pushback is understandable: ‘rugby encompasses the whole of Australia, not just two states’, and, ‘We risk devaluing the international game’ are lines of thinking often trotted out when an Origin-style contest is considered for rugby, yet it appears the appeal of a match that attracts nearly three million sets of eyes every time it’s played is too big an attraction not to at least emulate.
The mere proposal of an idea like this was an immediate success, with instant coverage in News Corp papers and websites – a company supposedly meant to be hostile towards Rugby Australia – and much discussion from fans of both league and union fans.
Yet on closer inspection this concept strays from Origin as we know it. When spruiking the new broadcast deal Hamish McLennan stated that the game would involve players from outside of New South Wales and Queensland through the form of a televised draft. That isn’t Origin; that is something entirely different.
The beauty of Origin is its simplicity. Two teams full of players going back to where their sports careers started, tearing lumps out of each other. Because the game represents heritage, there is always something to play for, and whether it be crowds, ratings or merchandise sales, every metric reflects the game’s success.
State of Origin just works (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Many argue that rugby doesn’t need an engaging domestic representative because the game has such a broad and popular international component. Yet evidence suggests that trying to push the ‘rugby is growing globally’ line isn’t resonating with many Australians. The fact is a lot of sports can’t afford and don’t desire to see a packed Twickenham, Millennium or Newlands, and it has been a long time since the Wallabies filled Olympic Park and had a team stacked with national icons.
Recently it seems that club, grassroots and provincial rugby have been seen as the ingredients of the Wallabies cake. Perhaps now it’s time we see these elements as the cake itself and the Wallabies as the icing.
It will be a challenge for rugby to set this game apart from any other Reds vs Waratahs encounter, but as stated earlier, the media is paying attention and very eager to talk about this concept. If it goes ahead, rugby needs to work hard to get the eligibility criteria spot on, with players willing to give their all for their state.
Yes, there were times when the NRL got this drastically wrong – names like Greg Inglis and Tony Carroll come to mind – but they have since tried hard to arrest this. Rugby Australia has a much smaller group of top-class players to pick from but still must resist padding out the teams with players from Perth, Melbourne and Fiji.
The NRLW manage to pick their Origin squads from four clubs, one of which is mostly ineligible New Zealanders, and the game still attracts over a million viewers, so it can be done when all those involved buy into the idea.
Though I am a huge NSW fan and I write this from the standpoint of someone who resides in Western Sydney, my origin lies in Thessaloniki, where I was born and lived until I was 11. Desperate to integrate seamlessly and quickly, my father sought the advice of colleagues of his in the Greek navy who told him that Sydneysiders love rugby. The fact there were two distinct codes was lost in translation, which is how I ended up playing rugby union as a kid, yet at my local public school each winter the talk of Origin swept up all and I couldn’t help but become enraptured by the game, which is why both my son and daughter now play league.
Origin thrives in places like Western Sydney, a place in which rugby has traditionally struggled.
Ultimately the success of an enterprise like this lies with the players and coaches hyping the game like crazy. The mention of Origin will have the media paying attention, and it’s up to those involved to get their faces in front of the cameras selling stories. Punching may be a thing of the past, but the State of the Union series needs its own Arthur Beetson-Mick Cronin story, something that will launch the game into Australian sports folklore.
If you look at the viewing numbers of the current Super Rugby AU season, it points out that games involving New South Wales or Queensland rate far higher than games that don’t, so don’t the two biggest rugby states in Australia deserve a game that celebrates this fact while also taking the fight to the NRL?
Rugby is at a pivotal time in its history in this country. The new broadcast deal will cement its future, and it should have an event that stretches its viewership beyond traditional audiences and packs stadiums.
Double Agent
Guest
I think you definitely need to add a Rest of Australia team - better named of course. That way we can tap into all the other fans out there with a hatred of Qld and especially NSW. Also there'd a lot of good players in that team.
jeznez
Roar Guru
:laughing:
Double Agent
Guest
Another positive comment from Jake.
The Set Peace
Roar Rookie
Yeah so everyone keeps telling me.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Exactly. The whole state/provincial identity used as a vehicle for super rugby franchises was heavily flawed from the start for these obvious reasons. Not to mention the natural geographic divide of Sydney's rugby union grassroots that isn't leveraged at the moment. Sydney should have had two super rugby pro franchises with one based out of northern Sydney where half the grassroots fans are, thus creating a natural geographic derby akin to Sydney FC & WSW in the A League.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Yep, the Storm are just a business product. I don't think the NRL are naive enough to think that they'll ever produce many local players good enough to play for the Storm. The problem with rugby union is that with their model of centralised power they've doubled up their expansion pro franchises to also be development teams, who naturally struggle to be competitive. The Storm wouldn't survive if their priority was to be a development vehicle for local players. No one would watch them when they're still rubbish after a decade...similar to the Rebels now.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Can't speak on rugby league (but assume it was probably similar circumstances with Qld players), but the problem was the disingenuous nature of the state games, where "Victoria" was thumping everyone due to the VFL having the prestige and money to attract the players, and therefore already being a proxy national league from about the 60's onwards, and thus "Victoria" was essentially an Australian team in all but name. WA & SA patriots knew that if they actually had their own homegrown talent back playing that they could match and beat Victoria. The irony is rugby league only being prominent in two states is a major advantage for league SOO. It became a headache with three essentially equally states in WA, SA & Vic, but Tas being way too small to be competitive.
Parasite
Roar Rookie
Sure, yet they could get up to 60,000 at the game of the week at the SCG, I've never seen the shute shield get anything like that. Typical revised history from our higher up betters.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Yep. How bizarre would it be to turn NSW & Qld SOO teams into new fulltime teams in a new comp in direct competition with the NRL? Then tell Rabbitohs, Roosters, Broncos, Panthers etc, etc fans they'll NEVER see their favourite star players back at their NRL teams since the new comp is the priority, would they like that? But this is exactly what rugby union did! :shocked:
Jake Tafau
Roar Rookie
Yeah but the interstate competition is terrible games that don’t have NSW or QLD in them no one cares. They need an event as big as State of Origin not same lames all stars match.
matth
Roar Guru
True, in league there was a lot of skepticism in NSW about the State of Origin concept until it was played they got beat a few times. Then state pride kicked in.
matth
Roar Guru
The Broncos win was absolutely portrayed as a win for QLD.
matth
Roar Guru
For league any decision on that basis is a generation or more away. League basically has a team of expats in Melbourne and no presence in the other states, so QLD vs. NSW will work for a fair while yet.
matth
Roar Guru
State of Origin in League was first proposed in the 1960's, but I agree the AFL showed it was a viable concept.
matth
Roar Guru
The problem is that Rugby’s state-based competition is state-based in name only. They are just franchises and can get their players from anywhere. So state identity is diluted. League State of Origin partly works because it’s the best against the best, but mostly works due to state identity, so it doesn’t matter that it doesn’t access the entire pool of club players.
matth
Roar Guru
You are spot on Micko. Rugby turned a popular state representative level of rugby into a professional club competition. Rugby League instead turned their existing semi-professional club competition into a fully professional beast and also kept their state representative level.
matth
Roar Guru
No, there is an historical reason for the game in League. It was not media driven and it was not created because of a lack of international football. Interstate football has been played in 1909 and the eligibility was changed in 1980 in response to the NSW club competition having more funds than the QLD competition, allowing them to sign the best QLD players. The media in NSW was initially very skeptical and expected it to be a one-off exhibition game. The international game struggled because it pitted Australia's premier rugby code with accelerating professionalism against NZ and England and France, where league was definitely the second rugby code, so Australia mostly won.
matth
Roar Guru
The players on each team will be very different.
matth
Roar Guru
It's a money thing. Top league players these days are on $800,000 to $1M and even average club players get $300,000 plus. You just have to get your head around the fact that Rugby Union is the third or fourth most popular 'football' code in Australia. AFL and Rugby League have the money, the TV ratings and the lions share of professional footballers.
Tooly
Roar Rookie
You have summed this nonsense up pretty well. . It’s BS , Media hype and hope. . Rugby doesn’t have an Arthur Beatson or a Mick Cronin. . Rugby already has an interstate competition RL would kill for. 5 Teams . . It is discrimination against those player not eligible. . Far better a possibles / probables match with all player eligible. . Even Rennies Ponies V A Campo / Alan Jones coached side. My money is on the latter.