Origin

[terracesider]

League drops Roses clash

English rugby league's County of Origin match will not take place in 2004.
Governing body the Rugby Football League has decided to drop the Yorkshire v Lancashire clash after reviving it three years ago.

The idea, taken from a similar event in Australia, was reinstated as a mid-season trial ahead of internationals, and expanded to two games in 2002.

But club support for the fixture was lukewarm, and teams were reluctant to release their stars.

RFL performance director David Waite has now decided to act to reduce the commitments of his elite players.

An RFL spokesman said: "The decision was taken jointly between the RFL and the clubs when no space in the fixture calendar could be found to expand it from one game."

From the BBC

Translation:
The club chairmen have inisisted that it's dropped because they don't think international football is as important as club football and, anyway, there's no money to be made from Origin.

And we worry about what RU can do to the game. :roll:

 

[deluded pom?]

Can`t agree with you there Terracesider . Origin was and only ever will be a pale copy of the Oz version . The players themselves don`t show it any respect and this is reflected in the poor gates that accompany the games . Much better in my opinion would be mid season GENUINE Test trials involving England ,Ireland ,Scotland and Wales who would all have their SL players available for selection . Then we`d be talking Briers v Long ,Cunningham v Newton and Horne v Radlinski. These games if promoted rightly and possibly played on weekends in the respective nation`s home country could be the shot in the arm rep rugby league needs at the level below full Test level. It would also give the fans a chance to travel to Dublin , Edinburgh/Glasgow or Cardiff for a weekend away.

 

[Stevo_G]

what about england v celtics (ireland,wa;es scotland)

 

[terracesider]

Much better in my opinion would be mid season GENUINE Test trials involving England ,Ireland ,Scotland and Wales who would all have their SL players available for selection...These games if promoted rightly and possibly played on weekends in the respective nation`s home country could be the shot in the arm rep rugby league needs at the level below full Test level.

It's an alternative, deluded pom, but the problem of the club chairmen would still remain and that almost certainly would rule out weekends without lengthening an already over-long season. But we all know it ain't going to happen as long as Caisley, Hetherington and Lindsay don't want it to.

 

[bender]

what about england v celtics (ireland,wa;es scotland)

I think England v Celtics is the only way to go. (or maybe a England or Britain vs World Superleague) It should be played as a 3 match series which coincides with the Australian State of Origin (same weekend). There should be a compulsory week off for the NRL for each of the 3 games and this same weekend should Also feature NZ North Island vs South Island, as well as Samoa vs Tonga (3 matches), Fiji vs PNG; Italy vs Greece; Lebannon vs France etc. This gives TV and Pay tv the full quota of games and allows the lesser sides to get their full complement of players. Eg Chris McKenna etc would be available for Qld and a player like Kevin Campion, and others might even be available for the Celtics.

These two teams would be able to put up a closely contested game and with the right marketing, it could become the British State of Origin. County of Origin was a good idea but just never really worked.

 

[In-goal]

I like the England v the Celts concept, could be a very useful tool in the shed for RL.