I don’t think anyone thinks SoO wouldn’t sell well but it isn’t our competition and doesn’t benefit our competition. It wont attract new fans, it wont attract lapsed fans to our competition, it wont make us any money. It doesn’t benefit our game over here in any way.

It simply takes attention away from our game and cements our position as number 2.
I can see the point of origin being used to spread the game, but South Africa would be the obvious place to try that, not the games heartland.

I have just asked the 8 people I work with, Do you know what state of origin is & would you watch it? Not very scientific but interesting. Only two know of it, one because her dad is a league fan the other is an Aussie from Melbourne & neither would go near rugby in any form. The other six had not heard of it & don't watch much sport of any kind & have never been to a live sports match of any kind except one who went to F1 once.
I have no doubt there may be enough to fill Wembley but would you get a TV audiance? I think we suffer on this forum by assuming every one else would be as crazy about the game as we are if we could get them through the gate to a game. As said before if the NRL clubs want to promote league great, but the dont they want to promote the NRL & for the simple disrespect they show our game in the UK they can clear off for me.

Gutters ......why do you find it so difficult...to post without......ellipsis?

I would love to go to Origin at wembley, as for suggestions for sending it elsewhere one of the reasons Wembley is suggested is the corporate hospitality and the reason the champions league final will be there every other year in the near future.

anybody who feels that the greatest rugby series, of either codes doesn't warrant a game at Wembley needs their head banging! the publicity the game will bring for the sport would be 10xs more than it would get normally!

nfl is not played world wide, probably played in less countries than league but it still doesn't stop neutrals from going and selling out Wembley for the occaision and the media hype around it goes into overdrive!

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

I can't see this happening, for some of the logistical reasons already stated. I'd probably go if it did happen, though. Just a thought (apologies if this has already been mentioned and I've missed it): if a SOO game was played over here you'd have the whole Aussie squad in the UK. Scheduling a mid-season England v Aus test for the following weekend might get more value out of the trip. You could even make it a double header with England Knights v Australia A.

If its good enough for the yanks and the NFL.

I'd go for sure.

I think you'd get a lot of RU fans turning up as well...to see what all the fuss is about.

Can you imagine how good it would be to hear Dave Woods calling State of Origin on the BBC?

But would the BBC be interested?

Me and atleast 10 mates would be at the game if it was anounced for tomorrow morning, those saying it would only attract 60,000 are mental. Priced right ( and I dont mean mega cheap) and with enough marketing time, Wembley would 100% be a sell out for Origin. Hope this goes ahead.

This ^^^^
I'm on a ship off the Norwegian coast and was just thinking about chucking myself overboard reading all the comments from people creaming themselves at the prospect of SOO at Wembley. Thanks Beverley red you might have just saved my life!

I'd be off . Would love this to go ahead

And yet even Jeremy Guscott has been bigging up the State of Origin in the media recently.
I'm pretty sure a lot of people would be interested outside the core fans of the game

.....providing we tell them about it! That's where we go wrong.