We were on the right track condensing the origin period with the wed-sun-wed schedule.
Then channel 9 chucked a tantrum and used the covid renegotiation to slip the old schedule back in.
And the last year of sunday origin had the biggest tv audience for a long time too.
i think the Wed Sun Wed is the best combination.
I would have ran the series like this in 2024:
Round 13 - half round with byes (31 May to June 2)
Origin 1 - Wed June 5th
Round 14 - half round with byes (June 7 to 9) - optional to play
Round 15 - full round (June 13 to 16)
Rep Round - Origin 2 - Sunday June 23
Round 16 - full round (June 27 to 30)
Round 17 - half round with byes (July 5 to 7)
Origin 3 - Wed July 10
Round 18 - half round with byes (July 12 to 14) - optional to play
Each team would get one bye before either Origin 1 or 3 and one bye after Origin 1 or 3 where it is optional for Origin players. That way, teams would only have one match in the season where they have to go without their rep players.