State of Origin just fine the way it is

Most days Kick-off is on the clock we think to ourselves ‘I can’t believe I get paid for this’. However, on some very rare occasions, we do find ourselves thinking: ‘they ain’t paying me enough for this’.

One such occasion came in round 15 last season. The Dragons, without Josh Dugan and Tyson Frizell, took on Melbourne minus their Origin stars at WIN Stadium. 

The crowd figure we were given in the media box was 7,568, but there must have been some two-headed Queenslanders who made the trip because it looked barely half that. 

It was a chore to say the least but, I was assured by one media colleague, the match had nothing on North Queensland, sans Origin stars’, dour 8-0 win over the Tigers at Campbelltown Stadium the previous season. 

It’s a fact that a lot of games during the six-week State of Origin period are simply awful. Anyone who was at WIN Stadium that night, or Campbelltown a year earlier, would attest to that.

You do have to wonder how bad some of these fixtures need to get before is starts to seriously compromise the integrity of the competition. It’s a legitimate concern, but what, I ask all and sundry, is the solution?

Every year people toss up suggestions as to how the Origin period can be better managed but, of all the options tossed up – stand alone weekends, suspend the competition, play it in three consecutive weeks, play it at the end of the season – Kick-off is yet to hear one preferable to the current set-up.

There is no other concept like State of Origin in world sport. It started as an exhibition match most people thought would be a one-off and it’s become the undisputed jewel in the rugby league crown. 

No one can ever really put their finger on how, or why, it works – it just frikken does. To quote George Costanza, “it’s like discovering plutonium, by accident!” It’s why we need to be wary of tinkering with it. 

Growing up, waking up on Origin Wednesday felt like Christmas. There was nothing better than going to school and sharing a day of nervous anticipation with your mates – betting two yoghurt tops against a roll-up on the outcome. It’s no different years later in the office or on the work site.

The Thursday debrief is even better. Would it be the same if Origin were held on stand-alone weekends? Maybe, but who knows. Can we endure a few ordinary NRL games along the way to preserve it? Surely.

Game two next year will be held on a standalone weekend for the first time. It’s a careful effort at compromise and that’s the way all moves that tinker with Origin should tend.

It’s been a sad habit of rugby league to try and fix things that aren’t broken. Can we please just leave State of Origin alone.