Rating the Alternatives

A report in today’s Sunday Telegraph suggests the NRL has bowed to pressure to lighten the workload on rep stars and plans to release a new-look representative schedule to be rolled out over the next two years.

Next year the mid-season Test match and City v Country Origin will be played over a stand alone weekend with no club football while from 2013, State of Origin will be played on Mondays, giving players at least four days to recover for club duty.

Reports suggest the NRL brass have been working on overhauling the schedule since players and coaches started talking up about the workload Test and state footballers have to endure.

Under the plans, Australia v New Zealand will be played on the Friday night, with City v Country on Sunday afternoon. All 16 clubs will have the weekend off.

The following year, State of Origin will be played on Mondays instead of the iconic Wednesday slot. Ironically, the last time there was stand-alone rep football was the Origin series of 2001, when matches were played on Sunday nights. That scheduling was poorly received by the fans, who didn’t like waiting round til Sunday night for a game of footy.

There’s the rub: there has to be some other footy on that weekend, but I don’t like the idea of teams like the Broncos, Dragons and Storm being punished for having rep players. Here’s this blog’s idea to solve that problem.

If the comments on the Telegraph’s website are any indication, fans want to see change and have come up with some ideas of their own. The current system helps no one except the clubs who don’t have rep players.

The Status Quo

Pros: Origin remains in ‘iconic’ Wednesday timeslot.

Cons: The weekend before Origin is a nightmare for clubs with big rep contingents. Rep only have 48 hours in some cases to recover for club duties.

Stand-alone Origin on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday night

Pros: Fair to all clubs. Reduces burn-out and gives the bulk of players a break.

Cons: Fans won’t like having just one (as big as Origin is) game to support. It sucked in 2001.

Replace club footy on Origin Weekends with a series of representative matches

Eg: Friday Night, City v Country (players that come from city or country areas in both NSW and QLD) Saturday night NZ v Pacific Islands, Sunday under 20s state of origin, Monday State of Origin.

Pros: Still a lot of football for fans and TV. Novel idea, could be sold into broadcast rights.

Cons: Are we aching for three more City-Country games a year? Or a trilogy of New Zealand v Pacific Islands battles? Aus v NZ and Under 20 level could be fun though.

NBA All Star Event

Eg: Under 20s Origin match on the Friday, Saturday an event like goal kicking comp, drop goal comp, skills comp and finish with the main origin match on the Sunday.

Pros: Good exposure for the under 20s. No club footy – fair for everyone. A full five days for players to recover.

Cons: Saturday night sounds like a fizzer. Who’s gonna pay to watch someone do some kicking drills? Is this enough TV product to keep broadcasters happy? Or the fans for that matter?

Friday: Origin Possibles v NZ Saturday/Sunday: Main Game

Pros: Origin Possibles v New Zealand sounds intriguing. Again, no club footy, which is fair on everyone and ensures as long as possible to recover for the next weekend.

Cons: There’s no point to Origin Possibles v NZ by the time game three rolls around. Maybe have a Dreamtime v Maori game that night? Again, is there enough TV product for the broadcasters?

Also, the NRL is reportedly planning to have a ‘Big Day Out’ weekend with a double-header and two triple-headers early next season.

On the Friday, Auckland’s Eden Park will host two games, one presumably contested by the hometown Warriors.

The next day Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane will play host to games featuring the Broncos, Gold Coast Titans and North Queensland Cowboys.

On Sunday afternoon and night, ANZ Stadium will host matches between six traditional Sydney rivals.

The expected 180,000-plus gate will be split evenly amongst the 16 clubs and the NRL hopes all matches will be shown live on free to air and pay television.