By MICHAEL BYRNES
STEVE Mascord wrote a typically well-thought-out repudiation of State of Origin, ultimately arguing that Origin is eating Rugby League alive.
The thrust of Mascord’s article is essentially that the media, as a willing agent of the money-hungry governing body looking to wring every last penny out of the concept that it can, has amplified the parochialism of Origin to such an extent that it is consuming the game from within.
I believe that’s a bit melodramatic.
Commentators often repeat the fashionable line that rugby league in Australia has succeeded on the back of tribalism, yet that is probably true of all historical elite sporting competitions that are now billion dollar corporations. At some stage, business types realised that this tribalism was a bankable commodity. State of Origin was originally successful on the back of Queensland’s prior inability to compete in interstate rugby league against NSW over a long, long, long period of time. On the back of that angst, the concept immediately captured the imagination of league fans in both states, and as a result, it eventually began to register on the radar of bankable commodities.
The problem Steve Mascord identifies is that the bloated structure around Origin and the newly-honed parochialism of the Sydney media threatens to completely ruin what should be the most anticipated part of the club season. That argument simply doesn’t hold water. The NRL season is altogether too long as it is. Fans would lose interest mid-season even without the distraction of Origin, as evidenced by the mediocre crowds which attend most NRL games. It’s not like the NRL is putting the “House Full” sign out week after week prior to the arrival of Origin season.
My view is that if the NRL is going to suffer fan burnout throughout the season, it’s better that the fans be distracted by rugby league (in the form of Origin), rather than the Bledisloe Cup, or Cricket Australia’s pay dispute. The fans will wake up again two or three weeks before the finals, like they always do.
In the meantime, the ARU hates Origin season, for obvious reasons, while the AFL keeps talking about reintroducing the concept. You can’t click your fingers and manufacture the sort of authenticity that rugby league’s Origin concept has earned for itself. That is why it is unique in Australian sport. Anyone wanting to kill it off needs to have more ammunition than no one is talking about who will and won’t make the finals. Not to mention, that question was largely settled by the time Origin rolled around.
While State of Origin got off the ground on the back of Queensland’s historical disadvantage, the intensity of that mindset gave the concept the impetus it needed to evolve into the highest quality rugby league fixture on the planet. That much is indisputable. Every single player who makes their Origin debut comments on the extreme jump in speed, intensity and physicality over club football. That gulf has only increased as Origin has grown in stature as the toughest examination to which rugby league can subject its elite players. Origin isn’t an all-consuming force because the media says it is but because of the unprecedented level of performance it extracts from its combatants.
The sporting landscape in the Australian winter is extremely competitive given the country’s size, and within that landscape, State of Origin is the jewel in the crown. To abandon that position on the assumption that the NRL home-and-away season will fill the void would be foolish in the extreme.
It is arguments such as these that make me realise that despite 11 series defeats in 12 attempts, NSW still doesn’t understand Origin football.
