Of Course Origin still the ultimate?

[Pedge1971]

International game is only going to get stronger
New Zealand are now regularly beating australia
Samoa and the smaller nations are getting better. Not that long players like feleti mateo turned down playing for Tonga and played city-country instead because he was a slim chance of playing origin. This year a player like b.j luilea picked samoa over city-country in similar circumstances. . The mindset is changing. Imagine if milford represented samoa.
England only needs decent halves to go with their good forwards and they could regularly compete with australia and NZ
International football is on the up

Um, yep.

Origin is the pinnacle of representative rugby league, hands down. You ask any one of those Aussie players today (the Origin reps) if they feel even a 100th of the disappointment they feel after an origin loss. You don't have weeks and weeks of build up to a stupid Test match either, this game today was nothing more than an annoying interruption to the season proper.

If you think those Aussie players didn't hurt at the loss today then you are deluded. International definitely greater than origin and we are as bad as afl if we don't think as much now.

 

[geordie_saint]

If you think those Aussie players didn't hurt at the loss today then you are deluded.

Exactly. That is now 3 straight losses against the Kiwis and the great name and reputation of players like Thurston and Smith is now starting to diminish as the Kiwis get better and better.

 

[Masoe_eats_babies]

It makes money because it's treated like a big deal.

You've cracked it. All that's required to make an event profitable is to make it out to be a big deal. Why didn't anyone else ever think of that?

 

[Masoe_eats_babies]

That's fine, you know what would make even more money? A competition that is relevant to everyone in the world rather than just 13 million people on the east coast of Australia.

Shit. I bet the NRL have never considered that. I bet they've never sat around and discussed the best ways to make money. You're a f**king genius mate, truly. Someone put this guy in charge of the game of rugby league - his bespoke thoughts would take us to new heights.

 

[Masoe_eats_babies]

Can you believe those Yanks talking about the Super Bowl being the pinnacle of american football? f**king arrogance. What we need is a gridiron world cup.

 

[Canard]

Shit. I bet the NRL have never considered that. I bet they've never sat around and discussed the best ways to make money. You're a f**king genius mate, truly. Someone put this guy in charge of the game of rugby league - his bespoke thoughts would take us to new heights.

Agreed I mean the ARLC haven't created a standalone weekend for this fixture or anything

 

[Evil Homer]

Can you believe those Yanks talking about the Super Bowl being the pinnacle of american football? f**king arrogance. What we need is a gridiron world cup.

It's the pinnacle of that sport because the sport is American football. It's only played in America. RL is not Australian football, it's a global sport and they aren't even the best country at it anymore. Also the NFL took a match to London and made $32 million dollars, and pretty much overtook RL in terms of mainstream popularity in this country by doing that. They also invested hundreds of millions of dollars in running a European league for 15 years. This for a sport that by nature is exclusive to one country. If only the ARL had the same attitude to promoting the sport as the NFL do, we might be alright.

 

[ozenzud]

I'll just add also that I enjoy watching Union as well and the Bledisloe cup is a great competition that I look forward too each year. I don't think rugby league will ever get too that stage of international rivalry, but we don't need it.

Ummm, who doesn't need it? Queensland? Pssst, there is a world outside of Queensland. Its rather big.

The only way Origin can be the ultimate game is if NSW and Queensland can beat all other commers. That is just logical. To deny that makes you look stupid.

 

[Masoe_eats_babies]

It's the pinnacle of that sport because the sport is American football. It's only played in America. RL is not Australian football, it's a global sport and they aren't even the best country at it anymore. Also the NFL took a match to London and made $32 million dollars, and pretty much overtook RL in terms of mainstream popularity in this country by doing that. They also invested hundreds of millions of dollars in running a European league for 15 years. This for a sport that by nature is exclusive to one country. If only the ARL had the same attitude to promoting the sport as the NFL do, we might be alright.

American football has a respectable enough following in places like Canada, Mexico, Germany, Japan, etc. There are a few competitions around the world.

The point is as it always has been. The NRL should look after number one first. If they have the resources and inclination to support the international game after the fact then great. But its just laughable to see non-Aussies slam the Aussies for not doing enough - its a classic case of biting the hand that feeds you.

When will the penny drop here. If the NRL didn't prioritise the NRL and think of the game internationally as an afterthought, the NRL wouldn't be in the f**king position to be expected to help the international game - they'd probably be about as able as the mediocre Super League.

 

[Masoe_eats_babies]

Agreed I mean the ARLC haven't created a standalone weekend for this fixture or anything

Where's the relevance? Thisfixture has been moved to a standalone weekend because doing so is practical and profitable - it's taken time to get to that stage.

That's a world apart from the pie in the sky solutions people like Evil Homer put forward, which is basically Australia should just create international competitions at will and magically they'll be profitable and the game will become relevant elsewhere. f**k the NRL for creating a successful NRL Nines contest, Qatar v Serbia could make more money in some parallel universe where Australia drops its hat and wills it.

 

[Evil Homer]

American football has a respectable enough following in places like Canada, Mexico, Germany, Japan, etc. There are a few competitions around the world.

The point is as it always has been. The NRL should look after number one first. If they have the resources and inclination to support the international game after the fact then great. But its just laughable to see non-Aussies slam the Aussies for not doing enough - its a classic case of biting the hand that feeds you.

When will the penny drop here. If the NRL didn't prioritise the NRL and think of the game internationally as an afterthought, the NRL wouldn't be in the f**king position to be expected to help the international game - they'd probably be about as able as the mediocre Super League.

It's not about prioritizing the NRL over anything. Nobody wants to see resources taken away from the NRL or even Origin, just that international RL should be the acknowledged and promoted as pinnacle of the sport, which it is because it's the only form of competition that includes every player in the world. Open your eyes, international RL isn't detrimental to anyone, the sport being more popular all over the word could not possibly be a bad thing for the NRL as the world's premier comp. And if you think that Super League isn't as strong because of helping the international game then you're totally f**king wrong.

The point is that international RL succeeding would be one of the best things that could happen, not only for the sport but for the NRL too. It's stupid when people talk about looking after themselves or 'Origin is the pinnacle' and then watch as players like SBW, Folau and Hayne leave for more high-profile sports. Hell, if international RL was more popular then Origin would grow exponentially as well. It's win-win for everyone, people just need to see the bigger picture. And I have NFI what you're talking about in terms of 'pie in the sky solutions', there's nothing pie in the sky about accurately promoting and acknowledging international RL as the highest form of the sport.

 

[hutch]

Well said EH. We are slowly getting there. Compare our sports attitude to 15 years ago, we have come a long way!

 

[Canard]

Where's the relevance? Thisfixture has been moved to a standalone weekend because doing so is practical and profitable - it's taken time to get to that stage.

That's a world apart from the pie in the sky solutions people like Evil Homer put forward, which is basically Australia should just create international competitions at will and magically they'll be profitable and the game will become relevant elsewhere. f**k the NRL for creating a successful NRL Nines contest, Qatar v Serbia could make more money in some parallel universe where Australia drops its hat and wills it.

But that's my point, people are claiming the ARLC do nothing for the international game, and yet here we are with a standalone weekend "in-season" with 3 international test matches being played and likely more next year.

People think its dropping Origin that is the solution, it isn't, its this weekend.

Its slowly building into something massive, I reckon within a decade this will be huge.

 

[Mortar]

Is there an interpreter in the room?

Translation = "Time to wash all that sand out of your vagina".

 

[RoosTah]

Just posted this over in the interstate section, but I reckon there's no question Origin just got demoted in so far as the purity of the contest is concerned:

Yesterday afternoon we saw a bruising international between Australia and New Zealand in which the Kiwis comprehensively outplayed a star studded and pretty well full strength Aussie line-up. The Kiwis, full of passion in defence countered almost every Kangaroo foray into their territory in a manner that mirrored NSW against Qld during last year’s Origin. But unlike the Blues, they also scored a bag full of tries, capitalising on every opportunity given them with brilliant ball in hand movement so that the game was effectively over at half time.

Unsurprisingly given the last minute schedule change and the fact that Brisbane and its surrounding areas were still counting the costs of Friday’s incredible downpour, the crowd was a little down at around 35k, but the intensity of the match and the passion and pride shown by the Kiwis was of the same type that made Qld sides such compelling viewing throughout the history of Origin.

Much like how Origin began with NSW taking Qld for granted, Australia have taken NZ for granted and inexplicably continued to whilst the Kiwis have steadily collected titles from us. These mid-year tests were often cited as an example of why the Kiwis “weren’t really” a match for us, with the argument being that it was one of the few times both sides were more genuinely at full strength. It’s an argument that favoured Australia, but given yesterday’s results is it time to finally accept that there may now in fact be a bigger contest than NSW v Qld?

 

[kiwileaguefan]

I would like to just point out that in the last ten years, NZ has won four out of eight major competetions (2005 Tri Nations, 2008 World Cup, 2010 Four Nations, and 2014 Four Nations). The gap started closing 10 years ago...

At the same time QLD have won eight SOO out of ten. NSW won 11 games out of 30 during that time...

 

[Bobby DIGital]

We could win every test for the next 10 years and there would still be aussies on here saying Origin is the pinnacle.

 

[RL The greatest game]

International competition is the pinnacle of Team sport.
The NRL is the best domestic Rugby Comp of either code in the world.
The best Rugby League players in the world are playing in the NRL.
The best players in the NRL are not Australian.

 

[strong_latte]

We could win every test for the next 10 years and there would still be aussies on here saying Origin is the pinnacle.

Probably right, but they'd all be from QLD... Not many people in NSW arguing that the AUS v NZ games aren't a better contest now.

 

[franklin2323]

Only on LU are people upset that something is Rugby League related is successful

Funny how all are from UK aswell