Rep matches dropped

[Graham]

For me the weekend we’ve just had was a rip roaring round of Representative and Origin games which fitted together superbly.

So what’s happening for at least the next five years? 
The rep matches are being dropped and Origin is returning to three Wednesday games apparently at the behest of the TV company.

What a crying shame. There were some fantastic games that were for the most part excellent to watch. The atmosphere was fantastic and the players and spectators obviously got a huge amount out of the occasion.

Wayne Bennett has gone on record criticising the decision. I agree with him on this.

Edited June 28, 2022 by Graham

[DoubleD]

2 hours ago, Graham said:

For me the weekend we’ve just had was a rip roaring round of Representative and Origin games which fitted together superbly.

So what’s happening for at least the next five years? 
The rep matches are being dropped and Origin is returning to three stand alone Wednesday games apparently at the behest of the TV company.

What a crying shame. There were some fantastic games that were for the most part excellent to watch. The atmosphere was fantastic and the players and spectators obviously got a huge amount out of the occasion.

Wayne Bennett has gone on record criticising the decision. I agree with him on this.

What's more, is it means players have to potentially back up 3 times from short turnarounds.............talk about player welfare. It's a complete nonsense. All about the money

[The Future is League]

2 hours ago, Graham said:

For me the weekend we’ve just had was a rip roaring round of Representative and Origin games which fitted together superbly.

So what’s happening for at least the next five years? 
The rep matches are being dropped and Origin is returning to three stand alone Wednesday games apparently at the behest of the TV company.

What a crying shame. There were some fantastic games that were for the most part excellent to watch. The atmosphere was fantastic and the players and spectators obviously got a huge amount out of the occasion.

Wayne Bennett has gone on record criticising the decision. I agree with him on this.

How do we grow the games appeal without rep games?

The City v Country game was a way for people to see top class players in their backyard.

I know we can't turn back the clock, but i use to enjoy the Sydney 7's asa way of promoting the game and the start of the season

[DoubleD]

Even more strange when Sunday's Origin was the highest rating in a few years...........yet they're getting rid of standalone Origin weekends

[Spotty Herbert]

Typical of the selfish NRL's attitude to any element of the game they don't have total control of. If they took a long term view and gave some thought to the boost Union will get by hosting a World Cup in the next few years they might think again. But only if it puts money in the coffers of the NRL clubs.

[Anita Bath]

Dont have total control of?  If thats the case those games could go ahead anyway.  IRL appear to be entirely dependent on NRL for these games happening.

I would argue that NRL have done far more in assisting/leading in the development of the pacific nations than RFL have in the development of northern hemisphere nations, whether that be the UK nations, france or elsewhere. More effort seems to be put into creating international all star squads which does nothing for the games development.

 

[Spotty Herbert]

16 hours ago, Anita Bath said:

Dont have total control of?  If thats the case those games could go ahead anyway.  IRL appear to be entirely dependent on NRL for these games happening.

I would argue that NRL have done far more in assisting/leading in the development of the pacific nations than RFL have in the development of northern hemisphere nations, whether that be the UK nations, france or elsewhere. More effort seems to be put into creating international all star squads which does nothing for the games development.

 

I would argue that the NRL have done nothing to help the Pacific nations to develop. I would say the Pacific nations diaspora to Australia have provided the NRL with a ready made pool of players that has disguised the loss of players from traditional RL areas to the AFL pathways. This makes the selfish, narcissistic NRL look more effective than it actually is.