The NRL have never claimed that clubs losing players to Origin is intrinsically positive. They've just decided that the current arrangement brings more positives and fewer negatives than any alternative.
One option is to shut the comp down mid-season. Those on this forum who believe crowds and ratings take a hit during Origin might like to set out the benefits of reducing NRL crowds and ratings to zero for several weeks. I'm struggling to see how that would help maintain momentum for the year.
The other option is to play Origin post-season. In that scenario, we could kiss goodbye to international RL.
A wide disparity of game-time between the best and the rest is not practical. In such a physically demanding sport, the top players cannot be available and firing for Origin, internationals, finals, and every regular-season game. Something has to give.
I've heard teachers and coaches of school and junior club teams who've toured Oz in the past decade or so report that some of their opponents expressed surprise that English people play RL. Pundits talk of "developing" the game in NZ as though they think RL arrived there in 1995 with the Warriors. There seems to be a generation, maybe two, who have grown up assuming that RL is a uniquely Australian game in the same mould as Aussie Rules.
The resultant binary code-war mindset prompts insular fans to use Origin and internationals as a stick to wave at AFL when it suits but then be the first to bemoan the disruption to the NRL schedule caused by rep fixtures. Last year there were even complaints about a possible impact on the NRL pre-season from the RLWC.