The above has more to do with the fact that Yorkshire folk tend to identify with county first and town second. Hence when you ask someone from say, Leeds, where they come from, they are likely to say 'Yorkshire' whereas the same question to a Manc would get the reply 'Manchester'.

True but I thinks its more to do with the fact there are very few top RL clubs actually in Lancashire

On sky they have just been saying it was taken seriously by the players at first in aus. If we can do the same over here then it could grow into something big. It's never going to be as big as in aus but would it not be great to have a 3 game series between East and West with dirt cheap tickets selling out Saints new stadium, the HJ and the Galpharm? Just to get the rivelry going. If it was a genuine exercise for picking the England team then the players would take it seriously and it could be an awesome contest. There is no point being disapointed when it looks rubbish in comparison to aus because RL is massive in aus.

Having been born in Warrington in the 1950s I regard myself as Lancastrian even though the town was 'moved' in the 1970s to fall into Chesire. I bet you'll find that most folks from such new 'counties' as Greater Manchester etc still consider themselves as Lancashire folk. The only exception would probably be Merseyside - and then really only Liverpool itself, a town that has always seemed somehow different from the rest of Lancs.

I'm an 80s child from Warrington and I don't feel any link to Lancashire at all. My address has always been Warrington, Cheshire. To me Lancashire = Blackburn and Burnley area.

There is no clean cut dividing factor here, there is no regional banner we can grow an allegiance to that actually has some factual basis.

East v West.

Like I said if the players took it seriously and it was a genuine audition for England then it would work.

What about cockneys and the Welsh-LMS, Clubb

I believe in the last Roses Dom Peters(London Broncos) played for Lancs-

You've also forgotten those players born in other countries who commit to SOO

It will never take of whilst it remains between two socially deprived counties-The industrial revolution is over-

You already have a Yorks v Lancs type thing.

Its called Leeds v Wigan

Thats like saying Aus already has Brisbane v Sydney!

This, I've said it for years.

East vs West, with the Pennines midway between Oldham and Halifax marking the border. How far south you go would need to be decided but I would say Sheffield for the east and Wrexham for the west marking the furthest south border.

Thing is, it won't ever be as big as SOO. But we can build it into a major event. What we need to do is build it and market it correctly. Bill it not only as not only 'us vs them', but also as an England (and in some cases, Wales) trial. Curtain raisers such as amateur finals, youth internationals, even a 9s/7s comp. Get ex-players and some current players talking about the rivalry (I'm sure Saints and Leeds players could manage that), and produce classic kits similar to SOO but in our colours. We want our international players used to high intensity, this is one way of delivering that.

Play at various grounds, rotating 2 games in one area year on year: one year Wigan, Hull, Warrington; the next year Leeds, Saints, Huddersfield, etc.

I have never lived in either Yorkshire or Lancashire but from what I've learned from talking to people from both counties they really dont like each other a lot.

Personally I cant see why this so called 'Origin' series didnt really catch on especially as these 2 counties are arguably the most popular places for RL in the UK

How do you involve quins though? I would give them to the west.

Every big rugby league event in this country has taken time to grow. The GF started with a crowd of 40k I think.

We can't compare ourselves to aus, it just isn't a fair comparsion, but we could have our own quality event.

Start off in small stadiums and create demand for tickets and the the event can grow. This is whats wrong with the magic weekend, there is no demand because it's easy to get a ticket, move it to blackpool with the derbies!