I agree completely with the premise of a mid-season break, as stated earlier three of the four major European football leagues: La Liga; the Bundesliga and Serie A all have winter breaks ranging from 2 weeks to 4 weeks long and it doesn't effect their competitions, indeed the winter break is attributed to making players playing in these leagues fitter despite the fact that they have to cram the same amount of games into a shorter period.
I don't really buy the losing fans schtick. Even if you take the point that casual fans aren't interested in international Rugby League (although I am), during this three week period you would have the three highest rated Rugby League matches of the year, State of Origin, so I think that's an non-issue.
I also think that there wouldn't be a significant problem tv-wise. You would still be playing the same amount of matches, they would just be stretched over a longer period, ie. you would start the season a week earlier and end it two weeks later. Using this year as an example, the first match would be played on the 27th February whilst the Grand Final would be played on October 19th. I think that's doable. And like crowds, NRL ratings decline during the Origin period so by introducing an Origin mid-season break, tv ratings would improve, placating the TV rights-holders. There's also the added bonus of being able to provide content over extra weeks.
