Rep weekend - do you want it back?

[Valheru]

No, we don’t need it. The current season format effectively gives each team 3 byes, 2 of them for competition points during the season and the other as a rest week. Why not just suspend the season or 3 weeks in the middle of the year for origin so you still maintain the 3 weeks off and no team has to play without their best players.

You could then have the U20s origin as curtain raisers to all 3 games and have as many tests as you want for the other nations over those 3 weeks. As for the ANZAC test, it has no meaning anymore, just play it at the end of the season.

 

[Danish]

I want it to stay, but as mentioned we need more rep games to fill the weekend.

Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, and PNG should all be in action, as well as an introduction of a QLD city vs country game.

To ensure we get players made available for it, the NRL should also increase the rep payment for both QLD and NSW CvC games, and also be paying players who rep for the other nations as they do for Australia. All rep payments could then be excluded from the salary cap as you'd have a good chunk of the league playing that weekend.

We have 6 test playing nations in the area. Its ridiculous that we don't have them all in action when we stop the comp for a rep weekend

 

[Packy]

I loved it tbh but there wasn't enough footy. 1 or 2 more games would be perfect.

 

[Joely01]

I like the idea, as most are saying though, a couple more reps games would be good.

My ideal rep weekend would look:

Friday: Played in NZ
Australia V New Zealand
curtain raiser- womens Aus V NZ

Saturday: Played at Pirtek Stadium
Samoa V PNG
Fiji V Tonga

Sunday:
C V C (NSW)

C V C (QLD)


I'd leave the origin 20s out, and play it as the curtain raiser for each Origin game, give the future kids a taste of how it works.

 

[Iafeta]

Hell yes bring it back. It's about time we gave some shine to international football. The test crowd and the Penrith crowd were enough for me to suggest it was worthwhile.

The only changes I'd make

1. Alternate the ANZAC test between Australia and New Zealand. They would for example sell out Westpac Stadium with ease.
2. Involve Tonga and PNG as an additional test.
3. Have a NZ u20s Origin match. Auckland v the rest.

 

[Son of Minto]

As a few qld former players have said in the last week, QLD just does not have the same numbers to do this that NSW do. You want to put a quality game on with good players, well teams outside of Sydney do anyway.

Ehh, I heard the same things but I think theres enough for 2 teams and for it to be competitive, even minus Test players. Now if heaps of players pulled out like in the NSW City-Country, then yeah there just isnt that much depth there.

 

[paulmac]

Yes but scrap City Country. If I were Laurie Daley I would have a warm up game v England. NSW v England at Newcastle would draw a lot more interest than City Country. It would give Loz a chance to work on some combinations before SOO I. Also gives England the mid season hitout they are looking for.
On top of this I want Samoa v Tonga, Fiji v PNG and Cook Is v Vanuatu at Penrith and Australian Aboriginals v NZ Maori on the Gold Coast. That would be a real rep weekend I would look forward to.

 

[ozenzud]

No, we don?t need it.

Well maybe you i.e. Oz doesn't need it, but the NZRL does need it. They need the Test matches to get revenue to run the game in NZ.

I've already made the point on another forum, so won't repeat it here.

The longer I'm away from Oz, the more I think everyone has become South Sea Sepos. Very insular.

For example, how more 'World Series' can you get than SOO......wait a minute, the AFL, yes, but other than that?

 

[Captain Apollo]

Following is from the NRL's website -

Rep weekend here to stay says NRL

By James MacSmith
AAP
10:40am Mon 05th May, 2014

The NRL says the standalone representative weekend is here to stay.
Head of football Todd Greenberg says the the game's governing body is committed to supporting representative football over the long-term, despite calls for the window to be axed and claims a lack of NRL action gave a free kick to rivals on the same weekend as the A-League grand final.

"You have to be committed to rep football if you are going to be genuine about it," Greenberg told AAP.

"And the (ARL) commission is very genuine about rep football.

"We want to make sure when people come into rugby league they aspire to play for their city, their state, their country - and to do that you need to be genuine about rep footy.

"You can't be any more genuine about it than taking a whole weekend out of our NRL competition to showcase games like City-Country."

Friday's Test between the Kangaroos and the Kiwis drew more than a million viewers across Australia and New Zealand.

Dubbo's City-Country clash drew 9627 spectators and Greenberg said Saturday's international at Penrith between Fiji and Samoa was summed up by the passion of the fans.

"Anyone who was there at Penrith will tell you about the passion attached to those two teams and we have to grow that," Greenberg said.

"Everyone within the game was really impressed with the (TV) numbers from Friday night. It again highlights people want to watch rep football.
"Those things don't grow if they are just one-offs, you have to commit to them for a period of time.

"It is like the Anzac Day event when the Roosters play the Dragons that has been going for over a decade. It is a really mature event. It takes time to build it. You have to continue to put it in your schedule."

For the second year in a row, the rep weekend fell at the same time as the A-League decider, with no NRL games competing for viewers.

But Greenberg said that didn't concern him.

"We don't really worry ourselves about what the other codes are doing; we worry about what we are doing," he said.

 

[kdalymc]

Lol.
It's pretty obvious the players in the aus team are gonna get origin jerseys so why the f some people would suggest MORE city country games is a joke.. Half the squads would be playing for no reason.
All though we all should know this game means nothing and it really should be squashed.
Bring on more internationals. Promoting the game more than once every 4 years would be good ey...

 

[oikee]

Australia verse NZ = rating 8

Under 20's origin =rating 5
the bad attitude let this game down, it should never be shown free-to-air or we will have more soccer mums calling our juniors neandrathals.

Samoa verse Fiji = rating 7

City verse Country = rating 7.5

Wanderers verse Brisbane Roar, rating 9

So yes, all up the rep footy was very good, mainly above average and can be improved on, so why would you want to get rid of this, we have a open window, lets grow this into more games.

The Soccer was outstanding. There only problem is they can never get any better than that game.
That is about there lot. A near perfect game for them. Once a year in a grand final you have to give them there dues. If Brisbane are not playing, then the game is not held at Suncorp and holds no interest for me.

 

[Brutus]

Fiji v Samoa was great.

Aus v NZ is always great.

City v Country can be moved to Xmas day.

 

[Kiwi]

Ehh, I heard the same things but I think theres enough for 2 teams and for it to be competitive, even minus Test players. Now if heaps of players pulled out like in the NSW City-Country, then yeah there just isnt that much depth there.

See that's the risk, players pulling out. I would be all for it with say 7 of the 17 players from each side having to come from the QRL. Would certainly make it interesting.

 

[madunit]

This, and absolutely the bolded bit. Or it could be a NSWRL Cup rep side v the Bush.

actually that would be better.

 

[madunit]

Yes but scrap City Country. If I were Laurie Daley I would have a warm up game v England. NSW v England at Newcastle would draw a lot more interest than City Country. It would give Loz a chance to work on some combinations before SOO I. Also gives England the mid season hitout they are looking for.
On top of this I want Samoa v Tonga, Fiji v PNG and Cook Is v Vanuatu at Penrith and Australian Aboriginals v NZ Maori on the Gold Coast. That would be a real rep weekend I would look forward to.

Country NSW has quite a huge number of players and is arguably the largest breeding ground for talent in NSW. Many City people fail to understand the impotance of this fixture to those in the bush. It is the only event on the calendar that still remains that includes the bush.

post WWII, the comp stopped for 2 weeks had a Country round, were the Sydney sides played bush teams. Country sides also got to play against touring teams from Interstate and other countries.

This focus on bush footy helped bring the stars from the bush into the premier competition in Sydney.

Now all they get is one fixture and a few trial games involving teams running out their reserve grade sides mostly.

This contemptuous attitude towards bush footy needs to be addressed and rectified. Scrapping City v Country is something that cannot be allowed to happen if we actually want the game to grow.

 

[1 Eyed TEZZA]

I was of the opinion that the NRL should have split round when these matches are played, just because interest does wane a bit.

The City v Country game helps the CRL quite a bit, and does good for the game in the bush. It's undeniable. I think it should stay.
Qld City v Country. I don't really think it's necessary, except for the draw of Queensland viewers on TV.

Fiji v PNG. Every year. Ideally in either of those countries but I can't see it happening.
Tonga v Samoa. Every year. Again, Ideally in either of those countries but I can't see it happening.
I would love to see a double header of these matches at a West Sydney stadium if it can't happen in those countries.

NZ Origin. Not sure how the eligibility laws should go, but surely this would be a great way for the NZRL to generate some income. It's exactly what they need. Just getting it off the ground is the hardest step.

Australia v New Zealand. The money for this game is when it's played in Australia (which is what is important for the NZRL too). So unfortunately, it's probably going to stay here.

Friday - Australia v New Zealand - 7:30pm
Saturday - Fiji v PNG - 3:30pm
Saturday - Tonga v Samoa - 5:30pm
Saturday - NZ Origin - 7:30pm
Sunday - NSW and Qld City v Country - 4pm, at the same time.
Monday - U20's Origin.

I honestly wouldn't mind if they scrapped City v Country and moved the U20's Origin match there.

 

[Valheru]

Well maybe you i.e. Oz doesn't need it, but the NZRL does need it. They need the Test matches to get revenue to run the game in NZ.
I've already made the point on another forum, so won't repeat it here.
The longer I'm away from Oz, the more I think everyone has become South Sea Sepos. Very insular.
For example, how more 'World Series' can you get than SOO......wait a minute, the AFL, yes, but other than that?

We don?t need the rep round, not test footy. I?m not advocating for less test matches, in fact there should be more but at the right times.

NZ haven?t won the ANZAC fixture since 1998, that is how seriously they take it.

 

[Canard]

We don?t need the rep round, not test footy. I?m not advocating for less test matches, in fact there should be more but at the right times.

NZ haven?t won the ANZAC fixture since 1998, that is how seriously they take it.

So NSW don't take Origin seriously then?

I understand the Australian Union Team hasn't beaten NZ in a Bledisloe serious for an Eon either, that doesn't make it not taken seriously.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

Just to add to the weekend why not throw in NSW cup vs QLD cup origin match

 

[betcats]

Scrap the midseason test imo the kiwis never win it anyway. I'd scrap the whole weekend actualy CvC is a dead concept and Samoa V Fiji was an enjoyable game to watch but I only watched cause there were a few panthers involved.