When, late last year, a NSW v Queensland State of Origin rugby union match was proposed in order to fill a calendar void in late June, the rugby-following fraternity hardly leapt out of their boat shoes in delight. ‘S’pose it could be good! Probably!’ they cried.
Such lukewarm backing was partly down to the lack of detail surrounding the one-off game. Would Wallabies players be made available – and if not, why bother? What would be the eligibility rules surrounding selection? Is Minto, for instance, in New South Wales or Queensland? What about Samoa? Depends on what map the ARU decides to use, presumably.
But amid the questions was there also an air of slight discomfort that union was shamelessly trying to piggyback on a concept that has been such a roaring success in rugby league, the Bizarro to union’s Superman, at least as union followers see it? Union in Australia may attract a fraction of league’s television ratings, but it has always lorded over rugby league its broader international appeal. But here was an admission that league had a currency worth attaining. Or, at least, counterfeiting.
That the Australia Rugby Union is considering staging a match rugby supporters were hardly crying out for doesn’t mean it won’t be a success. At least as a one-off. After Wallabies Tests against Fiji, Italy, and a Scotland side weakened by the Lions tour of New Zealand, fans – or at least those with New South Wales and Queensland affiliation – may be crying out for something with, potentially, more meat on its bones. Something to get the blood pumping.
And while Origin is obviously not a new concept – Australian Rules football first adopted it in 1977 before the states involved slipped away on the pretence of going to the bathroom and never returned – it will, in union, have novelty appeal. For years now the Reds and the Waratahs have represented Queensland and NSW respectively in name only.
It’s worth remembering the success of rugby league’s State of Origin was due, in large part, to it being born out of bitterness. By 1980, when the first Origin game was played, Queenslanders had had it up to their broad-brimmed hats with seeing their NSW-based brethren selected in NSW teams whenever state matches were played. They’d gnashed their teeth over having their own big guns, like the great Artie Beetson, used against them to such devastating effect. Origin righted that wrong and, remarkably, it still hasn’t run out of steam. If anything, league’s State of Origin has become too big, at a cost to the international game.
A rugby union State of Origin fixture has no chance of becoming the pinnacle of the sport – as league’s State of Origin is considered by many (due to the quality of the football) – but can it be more than a glorified exhibition match?
We may find out soon enough. It’s looking increasingly likely the game will go ahead, a week after Australia’s Test against Italy in Brisbane, and a week before the resumption of Super Rugby. An enormous tweed jacket with leather patches has already been thrown over Ballymore to reserve it for a potential 29 June match – though the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust has recently thrown its hat into the ring.
On Friday, after meeting with concerned parties, ARU boss Bill Pulver spoke in support of the idea, not least you suspect, because he was optimistic there was money to be made through a potential broadcast deal. Such proceeds, he said, would need to be distributed among Australia’s Super Rugby teams, which would be necessary to entice them to release the NSW and Queensland expats in their ranks.
“If they got nothing out of it,” Pulver said, “I would agree it would be hard to get approval for their part. But I don’t think that’s the plan. That’s why the financial model has to be developed. Certainly the spirit in the room was that all Super Rugby clubs would get a financial benefit from this game. We just need to see what that is and how it would be distributed.”
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has given the idea qualified support but said it would need to do more than copy rugby league, and he suggested down the track it could be played before the winter Test series as a kind of Wallabies selection trial. There are holes in that idea – and, to be fair, he’s only spit-balling – but, broadly speaking, Cheika is right. A union Origin game would ultimately need a raison d’être. Otherwise it will merely fill a gap in the rugby calendar in the same way a three-pack of underpants fills a gap in a Christmas stocking.
