Every year, the same debate rears its head in one form or another.
This year, Nathan Cleary’s injury has sparked the conversation, but it’s not a new phenomenon to have people trot out their State of Origin scheduling ideas around late May into early July, as we get deep into the throes of another saucy Origin spectacle.
The NRL has, in recent years, shown its willingness to experiment with the State of Origin scheduling, having tried Sunday night games to shorten the rep period and decrease the impact on clubs, citing player availability.
When they were forced into testing a new experiment during the pandemic, the NRL oversaw the dawn of post-season State of Origin.
Queenslands team of misfits, including an obscene 14 debutants across three games, shocked NSW with an unforgettable 2-1 series win.
While it wasn’t the ratings win Channel 9 had hoped for, it unlocked hope that the NRL can, in future, sort out three persistent issues that rugby league grapples with year after year.
That is Origin fixtures and how they fit into the NRL schedule, player eligibility for State and Country, and breathing life into an otherwise stagnant international arena.
The lines between state loyalty and acknowledging family heritage were certainly blurred just a year after that 2020 Origin series. At the 2021 World Cup, a swathe of players eligible for NSW, QLD and Australia chose instead to represent the heritage of their parents and grandparents, essentially drawing a line through their Origin eligibility, at least for the time being.
In the current climate of international rugby league, one could hardly begrudge players for taking on the rare opportunity to represent their family heritage, and in the process reignite the game at international level.
Nicho Hynes. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
So, with Origin proving not to be a silver screen hit in the post season, which is usually reserved for international games, there is a solution that might kill a few birds with one stone.
Firstly, let’s put the NRL season on hold, for three weeks. Now, hear me out, you’ll still have plenty of footy to watch. Make players declare their allegiance, either for state or country, because they’ll all have plenty to play for.
Internationally, have two pools of four teams each. Tiered, with a promotion and relegation format, to keep it interesting. In the top tier, have the four-highest ranked International sides other than Australia.
Currently, this entails New Zealand, England and Samoa and Tonga. In the second tier, the next four highest ranked teams, currently Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Lebanon and France.
Have each team play the other three in a round robin over the three weeks. At the end, the top finisher from Tier 2 is promoted to Tier 1, and the bottom team from Tier 1 goes down to Tier 2, where they will start next year.
From a viewing perspective, with two games in each tier, that’s four games per weekend to start. Then throw in State of Origin, and we’re up to five.
Curtain raise the Origin with the Women’s Origin and perhaps even an Under 19’s Origin, and we’re looking at six or seeven games per weekend of high quality, and most importantly, meaningful footy, almost as many as we have each weekend during the NRL season.
The top two teams from Tier 1 play Australia in an end of year Tri-Series. Yes, it is a bit Aussie-centric in the sense that Australia more or less gets a ‘free pass’ to the end of year tri-series, but we have to start somewhere with building the international game up.
This can be re-worked in time if required. Giving teams meaningful games with an achievable end goal is just a starting point.
(Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
Now I know some of you are jumping up and down, “We won’t get to see our club play for threee weeks!”, but during Origin time it feels a bit disjointed anyway, with decimated teams and inconsistent scheduling of games.
Many of your favourite players will be running around in their international colours, as a large portion of players will choose to honour their family bloodlines and play for the country of their ancestors.
Here is a draft schedule of the slate of games for a mid season rep weekend, so imagine three of these weekends back to back! When the Pacific Island teams have met in the past it has been nothing but a fantastic spectacle to watch, and with extra meaning and teams at full strength in each game I think it would just intensify the battles even more.
Friday 7.30pm: England v Tonga
Saturday 3pm: Papua New Guinea v France
Saturday 5.30pm: Fiji v Lebanon
Saturday 8pm: New Zealand v Samoa
Sunday 4pm: Women’s State of Origin
Sunday 7pm: Men’s State of Origin
Is it perfect? Probably not, but nothing is at the start. Will it help reignite the international game while still paying State of Origin it’s due as the showpiece mid season fixture of our game? I think so.
We need to start somewhere if we are going to let the game grow at the top level, and I think this is a big step forward in doing so. Some may think this is a knee jerk to the Nathan Cleary injury, but the NRL has toyed with the idea of standalone State of Origin fixtures for years, and Cleary’s injury is just another flashpoint in a drawn out process, trying to figure out the best way to balance player and club needs.
The fear has always been that an international break would suck momentum out of the NRL season, but the reality is that many of the best players would still be on the field every week, while those not playing have a chance to rest and reset heading in the final stretch of the season.
Make it happen!
criag
Roar Rookie
I've been saying for years you can have SOO over three weeks and you only have to put the NRL on hold for ONE weekend! Two split rounds over two weeks and internationals on the other weekend. You can organise the playing days any way around you like, but that's it.....SIMPLE!
Mick Holland
Roar Rookie
Hi Adam I agree with you, I would like to see the State of Origin played over 3 weeks in a row midseason that still could be played on a Wednesday night with the weekends being a combination of a Challenge Cup and Internationals. Here is what I've been working on. Hope you like Round 1 (example) Wed 6pm NSW U20's v QLD U20’s Melbourne - Perth - Adelaide Wed 8pm NSW v QLD Melbourne - Perth - Adelaide Fri 7:30pm NSW v QLD (WNRL) Bank West Stadium/ CBUS Stadium Sat 2pm Challenge Cup Quarter Finals Allianz Stadium Sat 4pm Challenge Cup Quarter Finals Allianz Stadium Sat 6pm Challenge Cup Quarter Finals Suncorp Stadium Sat 8pm Challenge Cup Quarter Finals Suncorp Stadium Sun France v Scotland Euro Cup Sun Wales v Ireland Euro Cup Sun Mexico v Jamaica Nth America Cup Sun Canada v USA Nth America Cup Sun Lebanon v Greece Belmore Oval Mediterranean Cup Sun Italy v Spain Belmore Oval Mediterranean Cup Sun Tonga v PNG Bank West Stadium Pacific Cup Sun Fiji v Samoa Bank West Stadium Pacific Cup Sun Vanuatu v Cook islands Henson Park Pacific Cup 2 Sun French Polynesia v New Caledonia Henson Park Pacific Cup 2
Emcie
Roar Guru
I think the biggest issue with these "what if" scenarios is that the one thing they dont take into account is also one of the main reasons Origin is so popular/bankable. Origin's biggest strength as far as viewership goes is the sheer amount of casual viewers it brings in. Mid week games offer an unbeatable combination of no competition for views and taps into the raw primal rush of having a party on a school night. It's only pushed further by watercooler discusions the next day organically instilling group identity and FOMO. It's very hard to manufacture that and any moves to change the formula would have a lot of catching up to do, as we've seen in previous attempts
Emcie
Roar Guru
Didn't they do something similar to this for game 2 in 2019 and it was a massive ratings slump/nosedive (whatever the correct vernacular is)? If it didn't work for one game I dunno if it'd be more successful over the whole series
Adam Clements
Roar Rookie
The NRL will still have the same amount of games the season will just start a bit earlier. Including these fixtures it’ll just mean more footy for the broadcasters. Players union might have something to say about it. It’s wrong that TV dictates the scheduling of the game but it’s quite literally propping the game up so it’s a necessary evil.
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
Yes, but less footy fatigue if the season is shortened because we don't have this 10 week Origin process in the middle of the year. And again, if Origin is so great, people should want ot watch it in October. We all watch the grand final in October and the vast majority of people don't have a team in the game.
peeeko
Roar Guru
the NRL has a tv schedule not a draw. Origin could be played on a monday night giving players at least 5 days to recover but Wednesday night has the best ratings. the TV stations demand NRL every weekend (even in this shortened form with unfair match ups) so the NRL can squeeze every last dollar out of them.
Adam Clements
Roar Rookie
Being promoted to Tier 1 and then having the chance to knock off top teams like Australia and New Zealand at the end of the year isn’t an incentive?
Adam Bagnall
Roar Guru
But isn’t tier 1 and 2 already decided? It’s fairly obvious who is a tier 1 and who is a tier 2 team. NZ is tier 1 while Fiji is tier 2. Playing a couple of mid season games doesn’t change this
Adam Clements
Roar Rookie
For years and years I always thought State of Origin was a great leveller as it allowed teams to catch up while the Origin stars are away, but with the comp as close as it is nowadays, it’s not necessary to punish clubs mid season for being successful. It’s even more dire for lower ranked teams that have their best player pulled away for 2 or 3 games mid year, Ben Hunt’s Dragons are probably the best example this year.
Adam Clements
Roar Rookie
I think it needs to have some sort of structure though, it feels like at the moment they’ll just throw a couple of internationals on at the end of the season for the sake of it. If they have context and meaning around them, not only will it make them better games, it will encourage those eligible to play to play for their heritage. Tiers, perhaps not, but it’s still a better idea than just throwing in a couple of games for the sake of it.
Adam Bagnall
Roar Guru
You can’t play Origin at the end of the season. Players whose teams didn’t play finals will not have played for 5 or 6 weeks and it will be a farce. The low ratings is a valid argument it was tried and failed. It was more to do with everyone having footy fatigue than anything else
Adam Bagnall
Roar Guru
3 Origins in 3 weeks I like, but the whole tiered system for internationals is unnecessarily complicated. Just have nations play each other over a couple of weeks to boost the international game no need for a convoluted tier system
peeeko
Roar Guru
getting to play a team like Penrith with 7 players missing due to origin is sub optimal
Adam Clements
Roar Rookie
As stated this article above has been a belief of mine for a few years now, more for the fact that it will breathe new life (and meaning) into the international game, and clear up some of the eligibility problems we have. The Cleary injury was just the catalyst for what has become an inevitable conversation each year.
Adam Clements
Roar Rookie
Cleary’s injury isn’t the catalyst for this article but it’s been this years catalyst for the conversation around Origin scheduling. This way the players will at the very least get a 5 day break (if they play Origin Sunday and then their club team plays the first NRL game on the following Friday night). The period when Origin was played at the end of the year was a strange period in the world, but as more people were wary of being out and about, and many were locked down, shouldn’t that have boosted viewership numbers?
mushi
Roar Guru
"when literally every other industry is throwing out the stats due to the abnormality of the world we lived in for 18 months. Hardly a worthy sample." Still a much better indicator than what you've got that it would work. And worth noting stats for things consumable in the home (ie media) are being thrown out because they were inflated. "And if Origin is this mecca..." But that's only the assumption of those wanting to move it out of season, others point out that the current situation has natural advantages. Origin is currently the most valuable part of our game would probably reinforce the league cliche if we deliberately accepted the obvious risks around viewer fatigue, player match fitness and even value over replacement for the timeslot.
Maxtruck
Roar Rookie
Bennett chose to rest his gun full back, Hammer, after origin Against the last placed Dragons Panthers could have rested him as they have in the past during the origin period
mushi
Roar Guru
Just because there's the same group raising the same point every year doesn't mean it's a necessity. Especially given how successful it is and that it's the games main differentiator that extends the audience beyond core fans. JWs swing by my house regularly, does that mean conversion is inevitable?
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
Sorry Adam. You start by pointing out the Nathan Cleary injury has thrown open the conversation about stand alone Origin periods and to pause the NRL, then want to add a host of games for the best players with an international series that will inevitably lead to more top line players being out for periods of the second half of the NRL season. I will agree that Origin should be stand alone, but it should be at the end of the year. Oh they tried that and the ratings stunk is the reply. Well they tried it once, and it was in a period in the history of the world, when literally every other industry is throwing out the stats due to the abnormality of the world we lived in for 18 months. Hardly a worthy sample. And if Origin is this mecca, the pinnacle of the game that everyone craves, a marketing juggernaut, surely they would watch it rain, hail or shine, on a Sunday, Monday or Wednesday, in June or October? Nope. Has to be a Wednesday, can't be a weekend, and has to be right in the middle of the NRL season apparently.