NRL Coaches: 'Stand-alone' Origins demanded

[ali]

Treat SOO like they do the test matches. Play on friday night and let the players back up over the rest of the weekend.

This post is dummer. The idea of backing up after Test matches is one of the stupidest pieces of sports admin I've ever come across.

 

[JoeD]

This post is dummer. The idea of backing up after Test matches is one of the stupidest pieces of sports admin I've ever come across.

yeah i know. the stupidity of it would be highlighted if it was applied to SOO as well

 

[nqboy]

And Gallop's limp-wristed response

DT
NRL won't budge on schedule
By Dean Ritchie
June 05, 2008 12:00am

THE NRL will ignore pleas from leading coaches and continue to play NRL games during the State or Origin period.

NRL chief executive David Gallop joined ARL CEO Geoff Carr in giving firm reasons as to why Origin will stay on Wednesday nights and that club games will continue during the interstate series. Souths coach Jason Taylor also suggested the NRL competition could lose momentum if there are three free weekends during a season.

Asked would the NRL change its scheduling, Gallop said: "It's not in our current plans. It's one of those ideas that sounds attractive on one level but when you consider the ramifications, it becomes more difficult. Firstly, Wednesday night State of Origins are one of the most successful sporting events in Australian history. Secondly, it would either extend the season three to four weeks and take away the relief we try to give the players through byes. Fans of clubs could also potentially not see their team play at home for three to four weeks.'' (It's a question of balance...etc.)

Carr said stand-alone Origins and maybe a stand-alone Test during the season - and possibly an end of season tournament - would ensure a long and arduous year for NRL players. "State of Origin is so big, so if we have a few rounds where teams don't have their full team, then it's a price they may have to pay,'' Carr said yesterday. "Otherwise they would start the season sometime in February and not finish until around Christmas.''

Taylor fears NRL could lose its impetus by having three free weekends. "In the past it happened and there was criticism that the AFL was getting a free kick because there were no NRL games on,'' Taylor said. "Maybe for one Origin but if there are no games again a few weeks later and then again no games a few after that again ... There is never a perfect solution. But at the moment I have bigger things to worry about.''

Stand-alone State of Origin games occurred in 2001 but only lasted one season. They were played on Sunday nights that year but the moved to Wednesday evenings.

 

[Misty Bee]

Weekend Origins would be a stupid idea. Why?

• Free weekend without NRL games to compete with AFL, Yawnion. Utterly terrible to think about that concept
• PLayer welfare. Weekend Origins increase the load on rep players - and all these CEO's will be whinging about weekend Origins utting pressure on their rep players
• Current setup effectively gives rep players 3 weeks off the NRL to compensate for their extra workload.
• Clubs whinging about missing star players - market forces, fellas. When was the last Origin player who signed a small contract to swap clubs because they would miss 3 NRL games a year? Mason? Folau?
• The judiciary just rubbed out 3 test players - there are other reasons why star players may miss games too, and the gate won't be affected.
• Will Melboring miss the top 8 because they have a stack of players off in Origin? No.
• Wednesday Night Origin is tradition - it has grown to become the biggest sporting event in the country. Why bugger it up?

 

[Tyler Durden]

Will Melboring miss the top 8 because they have a stack of players off in Origin? No.

the flip side to this is that some clubs could sneak into the finals due to the players being out of origin.

here's the dragons draw before all the origins:

origin 1: melbourne storm - the drags got the chocolates in that one, where they would have probably been smashed if the storm had their players
origin 2: brisbane broncos - get a shot at them without wallace, lockyer, hunt, boyd and others
origin 3: titans - not that unfair, but would be interesting to see what would happen if queensland finally decide to give prince a run


yes, the dragons do lose gasnier for those games, but they have a far better deal. would be interesting to see if they sneak into the 8 by a couple of points.

 

[Misty Bee]

And if they do, good luck to them.

Having player miss games due to Origin opens doors for youngsters. It's a gerat opportunity to blood young blokes into first grade.

The other point is that not many clubs 'gun it' for the whole year. Brian smith at parra was famous for dicking aruond with the side up until about round 10 - notably 2001 when we eventually blitzed the minor premiership.

Besides, if you are going to bugger around with Origin because your for an against may drop v Souths, you are nuts.

It would be like moving the Melbourne Cup to the second Sunday in April because the trots at Cowra will be missing a horse float.

 

[joshreading]

I think SOO should go to the weekend BUT schedule it with the whole of the Rugby League World and make it a HUGE REP weekend.

1st Weekend
NSW V QLD
Pacific Islands Games - mainly in Australia to qaulify for Pac United
Kiwi Roost Game
European Nations Cup
etc.

2nd
NSW V QLD
NZ V Pac
Euro Nations

3rd
NSW V QLD
NZ V Pac
Euro nations

Organise
Fox and Sky to 'trade games' so they can still get a few games.

Hopefully holding Pac games with NRL stars in places such as Central Coast, Gold Coast etc. should pull alright crowds.

It could become three 'ultimate weeks' in the Rugby League calender

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

I think SOO should go to the weekend BUT schedule it with the whole of the Rugby League World and make it a HUGE REP weekend.

1st Weekend
NSW V QLD
Pacific Islands Games - mainly in Australia to qaulify for Pac United
Kiwi Roost Game
European Nations Cup
etc.

2nd
NSW V QLD
NZ V Pac
Euro Nations

3rd
NSW V QLD
NZ V Pac
Euro nations

Organise
Fox and Sky to 'trade games' so they can still get a few games.

Hopefully holding Pac games with NRL stars in places such as Central Coast, Gold Coast etc. should pull alright crowds.

It could become three 'ultimate weeks' in the Rugby League calender

What about on Sunday night if they had the NSW V QLD under20's live before the Origin game? That'd give them 30 mins for their news coverage between games which they refuse to budge.

How good would it be for those young kids to play in front of a decent crowd at Suncorp before the big game?

Also there's still a lot of NRL players left out of the loop for 3 weekends a year. Why not take the game to Perth, Adelaide etc and have 7's tournaments over Friday/Saturday. Create a carnival atmosphere for the kids and promote the game in other states at the same time.

As well as that there's the Kiwi Roots, Pacific Nations. I'm sure there are a large number of other fixtures that could be brought in on a free weekend, still recieve strong ratings, and lead up to the big one on Sunday night.

This response from Channel 9, Fox Sports, and Gallop is completely lazy and reeks of a group of people who just aren't willing to look hard enough for viable solutions.

 

[The Engineers Room]

Leave it as it is. I can't believe I am going to say this but TK from the Big Sports Breakfast on 2KY made a great point this morning. They sign these players knowing they are rep quality or hoping they will develop into rep players and they only lose them for three games. If they don't want to lose players don't sign rep quality players.

At the end of the season, if your team is good enough they will make the top 8. History has shown that teams like the Broncos can still be successful with the majority of the team filled with rep players.

 

[Ike E Bear]

Let's get creative and find some other rep-weekend type matches that can be played and screened across the weekend(s) where origin stands alone - Kiwis possibles v probables (or North v South or East v West or whatever suits), PNG v emerging Pacific nations, a game for players originating from states other than NSW and Queensland (will become increasingly important if we our serious about our game growing/surviving outside of the heartlands, NSW city v country (the real thing with real players, not the NRL origin shambles) QLD city v country, or NSWv QLD residents clashes, U20s rep games... that's almost a spread of 8 games to televise there, off the top of my head!

Great ideas! I couldn't agree more.

Those rounds are usually shorter anyway, with five or six games. You could get away with three or four special matches, depending on if SOO was held on the weekend (one Friday night match, SOO/two matches on Saturday, and one or two matches on Sunday).

Origin could stay on Wednesday if they really wanted to, with the weekend before featuring the alternate program, and players having to back up the next weekend as they do now (although that doesn't really address the burnout problem).

If there were more genuine representative opportunities for NZers, Islanders and other such players, maybe we'd see fewer of those players trying to squeeze into the SOO spectacle. Representing their own might become seen as more of an honour and more prestigious.

Hell, play these games in emerging areas like Perth, Central Coast and so on. Use them to grow the game.

It's not rocket science.

 

[youngun]

This post is dummer. The idea of backing up after Test matches is one of the stupidest pieces of sports admin I've ever come across.

Sorry to bring this up but I had to laugh, hope you can see the funny side of this as I did!! lol

 

[christopher]

i think during the mid year we all get a little less fanatical about the nrl for a month when origin takes over.

having a break over this period would be a good thing.

also NZ vs England. three test matches. two in england, one in nz then rotate it. there i just solved nz's worries about not enough tests. there rep players will get more money and more oppostunity to show their wares etc too.

Obviously England's scheduale will have to fit in line with ours but it should anyway. would make for a healthier international game.

here in aus you could play a few emerging nations internationals. they wont get televisied but they would get more press etc then normally.

 

[hutch]

i think during the mid year we all get a little less fanatical about the nrl for a month when origin takes over.

having a break over this period would be a good thing.

also NZ vs England. three test matches. two in england, one in nz then rotate it. there i just solved nz's worries about not enough tests. there rep players will get more money and more oppostunity to show their wares etc too.

Obviously England's scheduale will have to fit in line with ours but it should anyway. would make for a healthier international game.

here in aus you could play a few emerging nations internationals. they wont get televisied but they would get more press etc then normally.

i agree, we definately need a mid season break for rep fixtures, but i dont think we should be crossing hemispheres, we need to think of the bigger picture and stop focusing on 3 countries. 4 week break, have nsw v qld on 3 weekends (with wa v vic beforehand), kiwi roots, tonga v samoa, fiji v png (or a pacific cup with all countries playing each other in their HOMELAND), aus v nz in week 4. the northern hemisphere would have their european cup 6 nations (eng, fra, sco, wal, ire, rus). the nrl should not be the focus at this time of the year, and this will give players who dont wish to represent australia the chance to play rep and test footy. we need a rep overhaul, and need to think of the bigger picture instead of always concentrating on two states.

 

[nqboy]

Sorry to bring this up but I had to laugh, hope you can see the funny side of this as I did!! lol

:lol::lol::lol:

 

[nqboy]

Sorry to bring this up but I had to laugh, hope you can see the funny side of this as I did!! lol

:lol::lol::lol: It should be spelt Dummah.

 

[hellteam]

But if there's a break for mid-season origin games, the Rep players still end up playing 3 club games more a year, plus the three Origins and one Test. I don't understand how that can help their 'Player Welfare', like it says in that article.

 

[mepelthwack]

The real issue with this knock-out tournament featuring NRL teams is that, ultimately, the better teams are still disadvantaged by Origin - as they'll be playing sudden death games without the guys needed to win them.

We'll see a Souths vs. Wests final :lol:

Wests could make the final whether other teams are full strength or not.

Poor example.

 

[mxlegend99]

I'm all for standalone Origin games. It's not fair watching clubs have points gifted to them at Origin time. It doesn't have to be a single game though... we can easily have other games... and turn them into a series.

Friday Night:
7.30pm = NSW Cup vs QLD Cup
Saturday Night:
5.30pm = NSW vs QLD Toyota Cup
7.30pm = NSW vs QLD NRL

Or something similar. Possibly have Under 16's and Under 18's even... just make a big deal out of NSW vs QLD. All these games on TV would be awesome, and a great change from club football.

 

[hutch]

But if there's a break for mid-season origin games, the Rep players still end up playing 3 club games more a year, plus the three Origins and one Test. I don't understand how that can help their 'Player Welfare', like it says in that article.

reduce the nrl by 2 weeks.

 

[mxlegend99]

reduce the nrl by 2 weeks.

Yep, remove the bye altogether.

Most players will get a rest on each Origin weekend, the ones that don't can be rested by their coach in games where they feel they can do without them.