Has SOO Run its Course?

[Moe]

I read a few comments in another thread saying that Origin has passed its time. Over it. etc

I'm not sure how we would go with out it, but what i do know is currently

- From about round 2 onwards, media and commentators are already talking about who is looking good for origin
- from about round 8 all they talk about is who will be pick for SOO
- If players get injured before the series they tend to rush back to show their form to try and get selected
- If incumbent players are not 100% they will still play (for the money most likely)
- During the series nobody cares about the regular games, barely any media coverage
- You have to watch depleted teams play
- Your team is likely disadvantaged against a team it would normally defeat
- Your best players get injured
- Your best players are still out after origin
- Injured players are rushed back for run-in to finals
- State footy is the pinacle of our game and int footy is a joke. Does not make sense.


So basically the NRL season is

Opening rounds -who will play SOO - SOO - SOO - SOO -injuries - run to finals - finals

 

[Raysie]

It's just such a major disruption to the NRL clubs.

I don't know why it can't be played after the GF to be honest.

 

[Chicharito]

Make it a stand alone match after the GF imo.

 

[c-b-b]

Personally I'm not as interested in it as 10 years ago.

Maybe it needs to move to every 2 years with one NSW game, one Qld game and one on a neutral ground.

 

[Captain Kickass]

What's this ?
An intellectual debate !!!

I'm calling shenanigans.

PS: I think there's merit in moving it to end-of-season. But I can't help but think TV dollars will dictate otherwise and the NRL season will be moved around to accommodate it instead.

 

[Ahecee]

This year they started talking it up as soon as the cricket season was over...... I saw origin stories before kick off of round 1, at this point, I'm a little bored hearing about it. Can't say I really care who wins it, I'd just love it to be over all ready.

The scheduling sucks, they could fix that, they kind of devalue the first half of the season when all the talk is who will play origin every week, you could end the season with it, or start the season with it right after trials, but neither are likely. It's like the NBA's all-star weekend, you need the first half of the season for players to shine and earn a place, and post season prevents players in teams that don't go into the finals to play themselves into it a little (and it would likely then just take the shine of the Grand Final as the NRL final piece for the year).

Best option maybe, run origin mid season, but make them standalone weeks, move it to a Saturday night game and just have no club games those weekends, eliminate the bye rounds too I guess, in doing that. Also, make the coach earn his place during the season by coaching a actual NRL team (i.e. no dedicated origin coaches - at least then you wouldn't have a guy like Daley talking it up before the ****ing season is even under way - who are we kidding, if you got selected for origin, you don't need a whole lot of coaching anyway).

It won't go anywhere I'm sure, but it has to be done in a better way.

(Side note: Captain Kickass, I find your signature image, or, footer piece to be offensive.... dickhead is a single word, dick-head is also acceptable..... dick head however is just wrong)

 

[Captain Kickass]

(Side note: Captain Kickass, I find your signature image, or, footer piece to be offensive.... dickhead is a single word, dick-head is also acceptable..... dick head however is just wrong)

Duly noted.

Imma have to replace IndianDog's avatar again for a second message though ... :thumb:

 

[Ahecee]

Duly noted.

Imma have to replace IndianDog's avatar again for a second message though ... :thumb:

I was just talking rubbish....... didn't mean for you to actually remove it :roflol:

 

[MatstaDogg]

I used to love Origin but now days i kind of hate it, not for what it stands for but for how much of a destraction it is to the normal NRL season which in case is the whole reason we support league. Also the fact that the original NRL draw for the season is not fair to clubs, the fact that Origin also adds to the unfairness with loss of players for the rep game as well as the risk of having players injured and not having them available for their club. I don't know what the answer is but with the competition being so close these days the impact origin has on club games can be a big worry for clubs to make the 8 or not.

 

[Freakzilla]

The NRL should expand and have 4 more teams. Then with these 20 teams they should be split into 2 conferences. You play everyone in your conference twice and everyone in the other conference once for a total of 28 rounds. Origin is 1 standoff game every year.

Rounds 1-9. Play each team in your conference.
Play State of Origin on a stand alone weekend.
Rounds 10-19. Play every team from the other conference.
Play Australia vs New Zealand on a stand alone weekend.
Rounds 20-28. Play every team in your conference again.

Conference 1-

Canterbury
Parramatta
St.George
Cronulla
Wests Tigers
Penrith
Souths
Sydney Roosters
Manly
Central Coast (New team)

Conference 2-

Brisbane
New Zealand
Gold Coast
North Queensland
Melbourne
Canberra
Newcastle
Perth (New team)
2nd QLD team (New team)
2nd NZ team (New team)

Top 4 from each conference make the finals.

 

[Dogtime]

This is an excellent discussion thread. I agree with all the comments posted. Comparing our game to other professional sporting codes...the NBA and MLB have an all stars game mid season...1 game...the season does not revolve around it...there is no constant discussion of who will make the teams....its simply of entertainment value but doesnt detract from the regular season, as far as players playing injured to ensure they still get selected for the All Star game, or the actual game creating a heavy toll on the body as SOO does. The AFL seem to survive without a SOO. Their game continues to build during the season...

If I hear 1 more comment about who the NSW halves should be I will walk backwards to Newcastle.

I must admit I have always enjoyed the spectacle of SOO, but agree the cost to the NRL teams is becoming too great a burden. Sub par games, injuries during origin, post origin emotional letdown are all relevent factors. For me though the penny really dropped this last weekend during rep round. We had NZ beating Australia for the third time in a row....So the hype and talk that SOO is the highest level of football is NOW A JOKE. How could a contest between NSW and QLD be the highest level if...when we combine the best from NSW and QLD in an Australian side we cant beat NZ? Test matches between Australia and NZ are now the highest level of Rugby League in the world. So putting SOO in perspective, I see the place of SOO as a stand alone game to be played on a weekend mid season - 1 game.

Unfortunately, the billion $ media contract dictates the current format and cannot and will not be changed for the duration of the current contract. Of course the players cant complain, as every graded player in the NRL gains from SOO whether they play in it or not, as it is partially the TV advertising revenues tied to SOO that dictate what the media rights are worth and therefore what the NRL give as grants to all the clubs...to be distributed amongst the playing roster.

At the end of the day, our game is too demanding physically to expect the elite players to be able to play 3 SOO and come back to their club and perform week in and week out. SOO was a great idea 30 years ago. The athleticism and speed of the game mean now that SOO is now impacting too heavily on the regular season.

 

[marsh43]

The NRL should expand and have 4 more teams. Then with these 20 teams they should be split into 2 conferences. You play everyone in your conference twice and everyone in the other conference once for a total of 28 rounds. Origin is 1 standoff game every year.

Rounds 1-9. Play each team in your conference.
Play State of Origin on a stand alone weekend.
Rounds 10-19. Play every team from the other conference.
Play Australia vs New Zealand on a stand alone weekend.
Rounds 20-28. Play every team in your conference again.

Conference 1-

Canterbury
Parramatta
St.George
Cronulla
Wests Tigers
Penrith
Souths
Sydney Roosters
Manly
Central Coast (New team)

Conference 2-

Brisbane
New Zealand
Gold Coast
North Queensland
Melbourne
Canberra
Newcastle
Perth (New team)
2nd QLD team (New team)
2nd NZ team (New team)

Top 4 from each conference make the finals.

Not sure conference 2 will like that. They have to travel a fare distance for 28 weeks where conference 1 can just jump on the highway since all are teams in Sydney or close enough.

Travelling to NZ twice, up to NQL, QLD 3 times, Perth, melbourne, canberra is terrible. Conference is travelling for the whole year and conference 1 does it for 10 weeks.

Dont think you put much thought into this post lol.

 

[magdog]

Served its purpose, but with the Influence of kids with Pacific Islander heritage coming into the game and wanting to represent their country it won't be the "pinnacle" of the game any more.

Also, the quality of football in these matches has been appalling in recent years. FFS last year the Blues played like the Bulldogs, hardly surprising given the halves!

 

[Phalangist]

Best team in the world now is New Zealand and will be for years to come so hopefully internationals become the pinnacle like they should be and that's were the money goes.

 

[DOGGIESSTYLE]

Nrl is channel nines bitch until something is done about that nothing's gunna change

Should be on a stand alone weekend with other test matches like Tonga vs Samoa on the same weekend and there should only be 2 games unless needs decider

 

[Stinky Wizzleteats]

Just have 1 SOO game. Why does it need to be 3?

 

[blueyedsamurai]

I love origin, its the most entertaining game we have as the refs are more lenient so its like watching a footy game from the 80s-90s ect.

I think that it stuffs allot of clubs up though due to the injuries most players receive because of how aggressive the game is but the fact that is draws 80k plus crowds and is the most watched sporting even in australia means they wont be changing a thing.

 

[Freakzilla]

Not sure conference 2 will like that. They have to travel a fare distance for 28 weeks where conference 1 can just jump on the highway since all are teams in Sydney or close enough.

Travelling to NZ twice, up to NQL, QLD 3 times, Perth, melbourne, canberra is terrible. Conference is travelling for the whole year and conference 1 does it for 10 weeks.

Dont think you put much thought into this post lol.

Teams in conference 2 will have to travel a lot anyway since they are far away. 2 conferences is the fairest way to get a proper top 8. The current draw is a joke.

 

[sgodllubsti]

state of origin is now all about filling up the coffers of the nrl, its well out of reach of the average joe and far to expensive for a family night out.

 

[LCD]

Not for mine, I'm a QLDer however and have never missed one. I don't like the disruptions to our run for the premiership however I don't agree moving to after the G.F. and definitely not with stand alone weekends This has been done before and everyone bitched about having only one game of football on that weekend. I think the current format is the best for the marketplace and this has been found through 30 years of tinkering. There is too much time between matches though with it being played with 3 weeks apart it should be two weeks max between games.