Quote: ChrisGS "Reading some of these responses you'd think a sports competition having self-interest was the world's greatest sin.
State of Origin would be massive. It's the one rugby league event that people in the UK who don't even like or know much about rugby league will watch, despite some of the drivel posted in this thread suggesting otherwise. I'd go as far as saying that outside of world cups it probably draws more interest from casual sports fans than some international games do.
If international rugby league is truly the way forward and there is a market for it then where is the conflict here? From the sounds of some of you, Dunbar for example, you talk up internationals but sound petrified that origin would take attention away from them. If the UK care about international games and not origin then what are you worried about? If it's a failure then it's a failure for the NRL. So what. Stop whinging.'"
Seeing as though you have named me, I will address a couple of your points
Firstly, I think you significantly overestimate the awareness of State of Origin outside of Rugby League fans. We know all about it and we all look forward to the series every year but my question is why would a non-Rugby League fan have an awareness of an interstate competition on the other side of the world?
I am not petrified that Origin would take attention away from Internationals but I am concerned that it is not the right focus. Let’s take the recent World Cup match in Bristol as an example. It was a huge success with a crowd that far outstripped what most expected. This was primarily down to great work from people raising awareness of the event. As Rugby League fans, we know that the USA vs. Cook Islands would not be the best standard RL but I believe it would have been far easier to sell that game to the Bristol and South West public than NSW vs. Queensland would have been. Despite the fact we know that the SOO would be a wonderful game, the promotion was about the occasion and not the quality of the game
I am not in any way against the concept of a SOO game at Wembley and if it went ahead I would want it to be a huge success and, as I have said before, I would be there. But fundamentally, it is not the correct way to raise the profile of our sport. Despite the quality of the game, showcasing an Australian inter-state match as the pinnacle of our sport is actually quite a negative message
Anyway, this is my opinion and you may disagree. But, I would appreciate it if you didn’t categorises my passion for growing our game in the right way as whinging. Thanks
