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State of origin expansion


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1 minute ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

The Oceania Cup could certainly help internationals down under grow to become bigger than Origin. The beauty of Tonga v New Zealand is that the game can take place on the same day as origin, Australia v New Zealand cannot..

Who would the star Australians of Tongan heritage choose?

they can earn something like $20,000-$30,000 playing for Queensland or NSW compared to getting peanuts or maybe even being out of pocket playing for Tonga.

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16 minutes ago, Cumbrian Mackem said:

Who would the star Australians of Tongan heritage choose?

they can earn something like $20,000-$30,000 playing for Queensland or NSW compared to getting peanuts or maybe even being out of pocket playing for Tonga.

They can play for both NSW and Tonga/Samoa. For many Island heritage players it is not about money. Saying that, every player at the World Cup will receive the same match payments. 

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5 minutes ago, Scubby said:

They can play for both NSW and Tonga/Samoa. For many Island heritage players it is not about money. Saying that, every player at the World Cup will receive the same match payments. 

Sure but the question was the Pacific tests being played on the same weekend as state of origin 

damn shame about Tonga and Samoa being poor and small population countries.

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48 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

Nobody outside OZ gives a stuff about it 

It’s huge in Papua New Guinea. A few years ago there was even a push to stop its broadcast because of the mayhem (murder, destruction of property, beatings etc) that occurs after the end of each match.

It’s quite popular across Oceania really.

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4 minutes ago, Copa said:

It’s huge in Papua New Guinea. A few years ago there was even a push to stop its broadcast because of the mayhem (murder, destruction of property, beatings etc) that occurs after the end of each match.

It’s quite popular across Oceania really.

Lots of broadcast revenue there then 🤔

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6 hours ago, Cumbrian Mackem said:

I don’t doubt any of that marra. It’s a behemoth that’s slowly killing international RL unfortunately.

 

6 hours ago, Scubby said:

Agree totally. The only upside is it is so far up itself that it is, by definition, hurting the Australian national side. Players like Lui, Tupou, Paulo are playing Origin and defecting to Island nations which is good for the WC at least. Australia have only won 2 of their last 4 tests.

I`ll give you the tip from someone who lives here, SOO is slowly losing its `sizzle`, the ratings have been on a long term decline and you can tell it doesn`t get the same hype any more, they often struggle to sell out games nowadays although a decider is still big news.

Because of its history its very marketable in other states, possibly also NZ, and being able to take a game elsewhere has been a godsend, because 2 games in NSW could have really struggled to fill a stadium twice and in fact they wouldn`t have. Having the Women`s origin now is going to add a bit of spice (or should I say sizzle) to the series. So it still got a fair bit of life in it, but if I had to make a prediction I would say that the NRL know that SOO is getting to be a harder and harder sell and they will be turning their focus else where looking for those big RL events that they can take around the country.

 

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2 hours ago, GUBRATS said:

Nobody outside OZ gives a stuff about it 

I don’t think that’s the case in the slightest. I’d say probably 85-90% of my RL following mates have Origin loyalties one way or another. It obviously hasn’t happened this year, but I know of at least three pubs in Leigh that open early for Origin each year, even on a weekday. It could potentially attract a huge crowd to Wembley, although whether that would actually be beneficial to the English game isn’t necessarily clear cut.   

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1 minute ago, Leyther_Matt said:

I don’t think that’s the case in the slightest. I’d say probably 85-90% of my RL following mates have Origin loyalties one way or another. It obviously hasn’t happened this year, but I know of at least three pubs in Leigh that open early for Origin each year, even on a weekday. It could potentially attract a huge crowd to Wembley, although whether that would actually be beneficial to the English game isn’t necessarily clear cut.   

As I put earlier Matt , probably about half a mill people in the UK are aware of the NRL and SOO , small fry in the greater scheme of things 

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1 minute ago, GUBRATS said:

As I put earlier Matt , probably about half a mill people in the UK are aware of the NRL and SOO , small fry in the greater scheme of things 

Only need 18% of them to buy tickets and Wembley is sold out then. And that’s not including the West London contingent. 

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5 hours ago, The Rocket said:

 

I`ll give you the tip from someone who lives here, SOO is slowly losing its `sizzle`, the ratings have been on a long term decline and you can tell it doesn`t get the same hype any more, they often struggle to sell out games nowadays although a decider is still big news.

Because of its history its very marketable in other states, possibly also NZ, and being able to take a game elsewhere has been a godsend, because 2 games in NSW could have really struggled to fill a stadium twice and in fact they wouldn`t have. Having the Women`s origin now is going to add a bit of spice (or should I say sizzle) to the series. So it still got a fair bit of life in it, but if I had to make a prediction I would say that the NRL know that SOO is getting to be a harder and harder sell and they will be turning their focus else where looking for those big RL events that they can take around the country.

 

It would have to go along way to lose some of  its spice/sizzle for the NRL to turn their focus on other big RL events i.e internationals imo.

can you ever see the day when international RL trumps state of Origin and that state of Origin becomes an annual one game affair mate?

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13 minutes ago, Cumbrian Mackem said:

It would have to go along way to lose some of  its spice/sizzle for the NRL to turn their focus on other big RL events i.e internationals imo.

can you ever see the day when international RL trumps state of Origin and that state of Origin becomes an annual one game affair mate?

It`s a good question and of course my answer is only one persons opinion.

SOO has been 3 of the top 5 rating programs on tv for yonks but has been on a steady decline for the past 20 years from ridiculously high figures 4.5m+ 15 years ago to, down around the 3 million mark last year, I won`t count this year because of the shift, but it has been gradually trending downwards.

I`ll tell you what I think, SOO`s reputation was built from those momentous clashes in the 80`s and 90`s, the unbelievable brutality, the brawls and good football, all the violent play has been eradicated but it built a reputation that lead to everyone tuning in, with that gone it just becomes a game against two really good teams. Any game that rated like it did and with that reputation you can take it around the country and it will pull a crowd. I can remember when it first went to Melbourne people saying that they were going because they expected to see a fight, even better a brawl, they had stamped that stuff out of afl years ago, if they ever had it. Those things wouldn`t happen anymore anyway because there just isn`t the rivalry any more and once that`s gone it`s becoming harder and harder to manufacture. If the ratings continue to slide very quickly people in other states will wake up to the fact that it ain`t the show it used to be and then they will stop going, and if they stop going, half empty stadiums around the country will make it even worse. Whether it goes to a one off, game each year I`ve never thought that far ahead but you may be right, because it`s the decider that everyones interested in now.

If New Zealand, Tonga, England could give the Aussies a full blooded clash and even better give us a hiding occasionally that would really see the public sit up and take notice, you would see the passion in those games then that you used to see in SOO, as OZ tries to regain its crown, you could well see brawls again. Its the knock `em down , drag `em out games that will get people to the big matches, SOO is living on reputation and reputations don`t last.

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I pretty much agree with all your thoughts @The Rocket. SOO is getting very stale. It comes on the back of the sport being continually homogenised in a misguided understanding on what it means to be “inclusive”.

We could argue till the cows come home the positives and negatives of getting a good dust up every weekend or so in our sport, but it’s moot, because it no longer happens and with it, there is an intensity and personality that is missing in the sport these days. People can debate also, but there is no more partisan RL contest on this planet (today) than SOO, so of course it is affected when the spill over to a blue every now and then is no longer an expected part of the game.

You are right also. The NRL is already looking how to compliment SOO. That is why we have seen the experiment of a rep weekend including SOO. They will continue to experiment, I suspect we may soon see an experiment of back to back weekends for SOO in mid season, coupled with a Tri-Nations series. My hope is that this will be followed by a fourth weekend with Australia v the Tri Nations winner.

All that aside, I just have a little suspicion that we will see the Kangaroos getting a little more attention in the near future. It is an obviously undervalued asset that I think the current ARLC administration will be looking to price up.

Watch this space.

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2 hours ago, Jean de Bordeaux said:

The Roos v Kiwis clash is a very important one , why let a such big event to the RahRah's Bledisloe Cup ?

If the Kiwis could match it with us on a regular basis there is absolutely no reason at all why it couldn`t be as big as the Bledisloe, we just beat them too often and too easily for the Australian public to take them seriously.

I`ve always said that if they would only put as much effort into their game as they do into the Haka they might win a few more. 

On reflection, that probably sums up our attitude towards the Kiwis.

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