i really think Russell Crowe made a good point re shifting Origin to the end of the season.....wasnt too keen on extending the length of the NRL season tho, if fact, it im of the opinion it should be reduced to 22 rounds but that's not the point here.
the season seems to start gangbusters every year......and this is expected as we've all been jerking ourselves over summer (well, february for me once the NFL ends) as there's nothing else to do sports-wise. then the excitement escalates with the rep season, i.e., Origin. during origin and once it ends, the momentum in the club game really fades away from the halfway of the regular season until september.
the reason for this is due to Origin being marketed as the ultimate rugby league event and the club competition regarded as 2nd -class to it. this is exacerbated by clubs losing rep players for 3-4 games each year. melbournians have their AFL which is the event in that game....the club competition. Rugby League really needs to look at ways in bringing more people thru the gates in that city as well as Sydney, and to do this, it needs to elevate the club competition to a level which is on par with rep football. shifting the rep season to the end of the year can aid this.
many melbournians know that they will never be able to fully appreciate the ultimate league experience, because they dont have an affiliation to either team in it. losing their own players inseason to the game compounds this. this belief needs to be reversed for the game to make any inroad down mexico way.