The Stupid belief Origin is the Pinnacle of League

[Force]

Best of the best, ie best players from the best competition - that's exactly what it is.

When a team selects a player by the name of Sharon Woods....your best of the best theory dies a painful death.

 

[Force]

For me personally....Origin is the pinnacle of rugby league as its the highest quality game we have on offer, so based on that, I regard it as the pinnacle. I wish it was International footy but it isnt and to be honest, international footy looks amateur in comparison, although there has been some awesome international games recently.. My wish is for International footy to consistently reach the intensity of Origin football, Tonga can go a long way to helping achieve this.

 

[Pommy]

Best of the best, ie best players from the best competition - that's exactly what it is.
*Was. Not anymore.

So the best number 9 in the competition isn’t English?

 

[Perth Red]

Best of the best, ie best players from the best competition - that's exactly what it is.
.

RTS, DWZ, Widdop, Johnson,Graham,Hodgson,Solomona, Whitehead, Burgess's, Taumalolo et al

There goes that theory!

 

[titoelcolombiano]

What would be the best side in the world at the moment made up of active rep players?

1. RTS - NZ
2. McGillvary - Eng
3. Mitchell - NSW
4. Manu - NZ
5. Hall / Makinson - Eng
6. Keary - NSW
7. Cleary - NSW
8. Klemmer - NSW
9. Hodgson - Eng
10. Fafita - Tonga
11. Frizelle - NSW
12. S. Burgess - Eng
13. Taumalolo - Tonga

14. Bromwich - NZ
15. Tapau - NZ
16. Harris - NZ
17. Ponga - QLD

I'm sure we could all argue the specifics of the team make-up, but my point is that Origin is not the best of the best anymore. It is however a great revenue raiser for the game and a valueable asset for dominating media attention. This revenue flows on to fund things like the Pacific Tests and the QLD and NSW cups which will include the PNG Hunters and (hopefully) Fiji.

 

[Valheru]

What would be the best side in the world at the moment made up of active rep players?

1. RTS - NZ
2. McGillvary - Eng
3. Mitchell - NSW
4. Manu - NZ
5. Hall / Makinson - Eng
6. Keary - NSW
7. Cleary - NSW
8. Klemmer - NSW
9. Hodgson - Eng
10. Fafita - Tonga
11. Frizelle - NSW
12. S. Burgess - Eng
13. Taumalolo - Tonga

14. Bromwich - NZ
15. Tapau - NZ
16. Harris - NZ
17. Ponga - QLD

I'm sure we could all argue the specifics of the team make-up, but my point is that Origin is not the best of the best anymore. It is however a great revenue raiser for the game and a valueable asset for dominating media attention. This revenue flows on to fund things like the Pacific Tests and the QLD and NSW cups which will include the PNG Hunters and (hopefully) Fiji.

None of those english players would make it. No way known val holmes isn't one of the wingers and cook has surpassed hodgson. S burgess is nowhere near a world 11 at the moment and as for the other wing, gagai, JAD, Turbo... take your pick.

 

[Pommy]

None of those english players would make it. No way known val holmes isn't one of the wingers and cook has surpassed hodgson. S burgess is nowhere near a world 11 at the moment and as for the other wing, gagai, JAD, Turbo... take your pick.

Cook is nowhere near Hodgson.

 

[DOGS AND EELS!!!]

How are you a real Kiwi? You're acting like "Kiwi" (fake kiwi) the QLD fan.

We beat Australia at their absolute strongest in 2008. Actually, we hammered them. This at the height of QLD's dominance. The Kangaroos were called the greatest team ever assembled that year. We kicked their asses. Neither state side is as strong now as when we won tournaments in 05, 08, 10 & 14.

This isn't the 90's. There's no way in hell QLD or NSW could beat NZ or England in this era.

Wake up.

That will go down as the greatest game we ever played and boy am I glad we saved it for that occcasion.

I understand we've beat them now and then over the years but we've NEVER been consistently on top. Compare that to Australia who are usually in complete control. NSW or QLD may not be able to beat the NZ time at the moment but a few years ago that was definitely not the case.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

None of those english players would make it. No way known val holmes isn't one of the wingers and cook has surpassed hodgson. S burgess is nowhere near a world 11 at the moment and as for the other wing, gagai, JAD, Turbo... take your pick.

The English have a very strong side at the moment and the forwards in particular are amongst the best in the world. Ryan hall has been one of the best finishers in international RL for a while, McGillvary had an amazing world cup and Makinson has had a great season topping it off as arguably the player of the series against NZ. But, I agree that the makeup of the squad could have a thread of its own, hence my point about arguing over it.

The purpose of the post was to demonstrate that Origin is not the best of the best anymore.

 

[___]

So the best number 9 in the competition isn’t English?

It depends who you're talking about. Cameron Smith or Damien Cook? Neither of which are English.

 

[Pommy]

It depends who you're talking about. Cameron Smith or Damien Cook? Neither of which are English.

Smith belongs in WWE and Cook has one trick which got found out in the second half of the season. I’m a Souths member so I’ve certainly watched him play a bit.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Smith belongs in WWE and Cook has one trick which got found out in the second half of the season. I’m a Souths member so I’ve certainly watched him play a bit.

For me Hodgson is very much in the argument for best international hooker - especially when you consider that Smith is retired from rep duty. He has much more experience than Cook and therefore gets the nod as far as I'm concerned.

 

[siv]

Golden Boot award should be named in Dec 1 week so that it can focus on the calender year and include any finals

I have no issue for it to be focused on international fixtures

NRL have their own awards for domestic competitions or SOO

Same goes for ESL

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

Origin is the pinnacle of RL accomplishment in terms of creating hype and spectacle...

I honestly find it insane that we see such an amazing and successful template in Origin and we have NEVER tried to use it again.

Imagine, over the Origin period, a 3 match series between NZ and Tonga; the contest building over 3 weeks and repeating year on year. Origin clearly helps the Australian players form their combinations, i reckon wee would see the same for Tonga/NZ if they are playing the yearly series.

Instead of complaining that Origin gets more attention than internationals, why not ask "why"? It is all about the spectacle and all about the format. Invest time and effort into international rivalries and we will see the same vibe develop pretty quickly...

 

[taste2taste]

Origin is the pinnacle of RL accomplishment in terms of creating hype and spectacle...

I honestly find it insane that we see such an amazing and successful template in Origin and we have NEVER tried to use it again.

Imagine, over the Origin period, a 3 match series between NZ and Tonga; the contest building over 3 weeks and repeating year on year. Origin clearly helps the Australian players form their combinations, i reckon wee would see the same for Tonga/NZ if they are playing the yearly series.

Instead of complaining that Origin gets more attention than internationals, why not ask "why"? It is all about the spectacle and all about the format. Invest time and effort into international rivalries and we will see the same vibe develop pretty quickly...

We couldn't run a Nz v Tonga series the same time as origin. Who would play in the NRL the weekend before origin and Nz v Tonga games??
Origin players already sit out , so assuming NZ and Tonga players also sit out we'd have a weekend of NRL games played by A Grade players.

Don't you know? Unfortunately ... the NRL and Origin run this sport.

 

[hutch]

We couldn't run a Nz v Tonga series the same time as origin. Who would play in the NRL the weekend before origin and Nz v Tonga games??
Origin players already sit out , so assuming NZ and Tonga players also sit out we'd have a weekend of NRL games played by A Grade players.

Don't you know? Unfortunately ... the NRL and Origin run this sport.

If the tests and origin were on stand alone weekends (which they all will be in a few years) we wouldn’t have this problem.

 

[Force]

A couple of points.

Damien Cook has been a revelation at hooker this year and he was my pick of the bunch until the second half of the season. The turning point was Origin 3, after that he just hasnt fired a shot so if you're going by gauging a guy over the course of the season, I probably would lean towards Hodgson but Cook has more potential.

Valentine Holmes would have to be the pick of the wingers, the other would probably be Hall, Gagai is a definite no and Sam Burgess is a definite yes.

On Origin. It should be played on stand alone weekends and during that time they should play a Pacific series which includes the likes of Indig OZ, NZ Maori, Samoa, Tonga, PNG, Fiji, Cook Is and NZ. Thats 8 quality teams who can all muster up fanatical support from their communities. Add the Origin game and we have 5 games per stand alone weekend.

 

[Springs09]

A couple of points.

Damien Cook has been a revelation at hooker this year and he was my pick of the bunch until the second half of the season. The turning point was Origin 3, after that he just hasnt fired a shot so if you're going by gauging a guy over the course of the season, I probably would lean towards Hodgson but Cook has more potential.

Valentine Holmes would have to be the pick of the wingers, the other would probably be Hall, Gagai is a definite no and Sam Burgess is a definite yes.

On Origin. It should be played on stand alone weekends and during that time they should play a Pacific series which includes the likes of Indig OZ, NZ Maori, Samoa, Tonga, PNG, Fiji, Cook Is and NZ. Thats 8 quality teams who can all muster up fanatical support from their communities. Add the Origin game and we have 5 games per stand alone weekend.

Hodgson was injured for half the year.

Indigenous and Maori should not be playing full internationals, especially in the same competition as NZ.

 

[Force]

Hodgson was injured for half the year.

Indigenous and Maori should not be playing full internationals, especially in the same competition as NZ.

That second half of the year ruined it for Cook, being injured probably saved Hodgson. I disagree with Indigenous and Maori mainly due to the quality teams they can put out and challenge the others and for the support they will attract from their communities.

 

[Springs09]

That second half of the year ruined it for Cook, being injured probably saved Hodgson. I disagree with Indigenous and Maori mainly due to the quality teams they can put out and challenge the others and for the support they will attract from their communities.

That doesn't matter. Australia is Australia. It's not Australia and Indigenous Australia. If all we want is quality teams and damn the guidelines let's have NSW and QLD, or we can have Tongan Australians and Tongan NZers. Teams based on race and culture are alright for the All-Stars or a tour match but they should not be in direct competition like a NZ v NZ Maori 'test' match.