There is a lot of talk about having State of Origin on a stand alone weekend at the moment. If that was to be the case, I have an idea which could help the broadcast partners giving them two live games on each of these weekends and also help international rugby league.
If State of Origin was played over three consecutive weekends then each state could name a squad (perhaps 23 players) before they go into camp. With no NRL games being played over these three weekends, you could also play an international tri series (which doesn't feature Australia) and have it run at the same time. Each of the countries involved in the tri series would also pick their squads at the same time and would have all of their best players available which hasn't always been the case in the past. All other NRL players would stay with their clubs and continue training or doing development clinics in regional areas etc.
You could have an international game on the Friday night as well State or Origin on the Sunday afternoon/evening (or the reverse pending what is better for the broadcasters). You could have teams such as New Zealand, Tonga and Samoa playing each other in a round robin series (three games so the same length as the State or Origin) being played at the same time. This would help other international countries play more games and hopefully lead to more players playing for their countries of birth, and could also lead to an increase in value of sponsorship for these countries and additional sales of their merchandise. Teams could qualify for this "international tri series" so it could give other countries such as Fiji and PNG and Cook Islands the chance to play in some bigger games. Some of these other countries that are not part of the tri series could even play some of these games during this "representative period".
It could look something like the below:
Week One:
Friday - Tonga vs Samoa @ Allianz or Parramatta or Penrith
Sunday - NSW vs QLD @ ANZ Stadium
Week Two:
Friday - NZ vs Samoa @ Gold Coast
Sunday - NSW vs QLD @ Suncorp Stadium
Week Three:
Friday - NZ vs Tonga @ Auckland or somewhere else in NZ
Sunday - NSW vs QLD @ ANZ Stadium
In week one and two, the international game would be played in the same city as state of origin. It would provide a big weekend of rugby league in that city and ticketing could be worked out in such a way that there could be a package for people to attend both games. The third international game could be played overseas as that would help promote the game in different regions, while also allowing the city where the final origin game is being played to have all the attention on the game which could potentially be a decider.
If something like the above was to be adopted, it would also avoid the split rounds and stop games such as the Bulldogs and Storm being robbed of some of its biggest stars. Under the current system it can be a good thing for your NRL club if players are not picked for State of Origin. While it wouldn't even out the NRL competition, it would be a start.
Just an idea....
