Controversial: Origin needs to adapt to reflect a changing NRL - or die a slow death...

[blue bags]

Origin is clearly one of the biggest events of the Australia Sporting Calendar that it amongst the highest viewership's of the year. It's an event other codes have tried to mimic unsuccessfully and has other states bidding to host a game.

We should always look to tweak eligibility rules in the future, but changing it altogether is absurd.

Origin holds all tv viewing records

 

[Rising from the Ashes]

Origin is 3 games a year, it won't die.

Different sport but T20 cricket for example will die because there over doing it, tournaments on 12 months of the year now.

 

[Yosh]

Origin is bloody fantastic. Why try to change something that isn't broken?

 

[TroyJax]

Origin is a tinpot concept

Lol imagine a toothless methhead from Penrith giving its opinion publicly.
You people are still the shame of the league.
Go back to beating your kids/wife and leave us to sort this one out please.

 

[Chins get the wins]

Lol imagine a toothless methhead from Penrith giving its opinion publicly.
You people are still the shame of the league.
Go back to beating your kids/wife and leave us to sort this one out please.

Awful banter

 

[Reflector]

Origin "works" because of the chip on the shoulder mentality of Queensland which goes back to the 1960s-1970s era when the QRL clubs were constantly raided by NSWRL clubs as they could not pay them as much due to poker machines being banned in Qld, which limited the QRL clubs revenue raising ability.

Whilst things have changed, its that intense dislike between the two states that makes it work.

The 1997 Super League Tri-Series was overall a flop. Its been quoted what players like Laurie Daley said, it just didn't feel like a NSW game. If you bring in other groups, be it nations (e.g. NZ) or other states (e.g. Victoria) you don't have that history to tap into and work with.

If you doubt me, look at the AFL State of Origin series, it started to die the moment they brought in the "Alliance" team (which was all the other states and territories outside of Vic and SA) as no one cared about that team at all. It only took a few years and the AFL State of Origin series was literally dead.

As to expanding the eligibility to include players from outside the current Australian rugby league pathways, you just wind up turning it into a glorified all stars game. For mine, that is what Test football is for, international teams.

Maybe to somebody like Laurie Daley, who had played plenty of Origins already, it wasn't a major deal. But to a fringe rep player like Steve Carter or Tony Butterfield, given his chance to represent his state, I'm sure he'd view it differently. This would be the beauty of having more sides/ games- more players get a chance to represent their state and show what they can do. They also get experience without it necessarily being a do-or-die game like a decider and that prepares them for getting drafted into a squad with injuries factoring in where the stakes are higher.