State of Origin 2017: NSW and Queensland’s respect for each other fails Origin’s need for rivalry
ORIGIN is rugby league’s greatest theatre fuelled by rivalry but today’s players are more concerned about their pay packets than promoting the game, writes PAUL KENT.
BENNY Elias bounced into NRL360 a few weeks back suitably concerned at all the warm hugs surrounding this Origin series.
“Back in my day,” he said. “I hated Steve Walters. Hated him ...
“He took my Australian jumper. If people asked me what I thought of Steve Walters I said ‘I hated him’ and ‘I wanted to smash him’ and ‘I’m going to take my Australian jumper back from him’.
“And they went away and wrote it. I never cared what Steve Walters thought.”
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As you can see, there was never any doubt where Benny stood. Today, he would buy and sell the modern rugby league player.
Benny was a central figure in the Origin’s growth. His first game was in 1985 and his last 10 seasons later, when the game was surging.
Origin was driven by player rivalry. Arthur Beetson made it personal in that very first game and Wally Lewis took the baton and everybody hated Wally back and among that Benny’s rivalry with Steve Walters became one of the great narratives.
Billy Moore, who sometimes shares the NRL360 desk with Benny, tells of one of his early Origin games when the Queensland players were challenging each other before the game, declaring what they were going to do on the field.
Billy began talking about what he was going to do to Elias, Public Enemy No. 1 in Queensland. He knew that would be popular.
“Leave him alone,” Walters said across the dressing room.
Billy was confused. He thought Walters disliked Benny more than anybody.
“He’s mine,” Walters promised.
When the brawl erupted Benny went running towards Walters, who was waiting.
“Don’t hit me too hard, Benny,” he said. “I’ve got a Test to play next week.”
On Tuesday, former NSW enforcer David Gillespie warned Queensland’s Josh McGuire the Blues would be out to square up with him over what he deemed were illegal cheap shots in the first two games.
Earlier in the same week former Queensland centre Steve Renouf declared the Maroons would use last year’s snubbing of the trophy presentation as motivation.
It is good to see the former players talking up the intensity between teams. Without them, this Origin series would be as dead as disco outside of the games.
It is already the most boring series ever.
More, it is concerning that the strongest language spoken from any Blue or Maroon in their entire 30 days of camp has been on the Collective Bargaining Agreement and their demands to be financial partners and “to be paid what we truly deserve to be paid”, according to Jarryd Hayne.
It was the most recent message set in motion already by Cameron Smith, James Maloney, nearly all having a crack. All wore RLPA flat caps at every press conference, at the expense of the sponsors who pay millions and usually supply the caps.
All believe a financial partnership between the players and NRL would boost the game’s growth.
This was their chance to show the game how they can grow their product. Given a chance to show their ability to sell the game, though, the players have gone mute.
It is not enough to argue that the game itself should be enough.
Despite two enthralling games so far, television ratings are down from last year. A bad trend given the fragile financial state of our free to air networks.
Neither Game I or Game II was a sellout. The NRL gave away thousands of tickets at both games to stop the empty seats showing up on television.
Lack of player buy-in ultimately killed the Origin concept in AFL when they tried to replicate rugby league’s success.
Origin is rugby league’s greatest theatre. Its players’ greatest stage. And its fuel is the rivalry ... but it has to be player driven.
The players could rightfully argue they are yet to be partners and so are exercising their right to show how much they are needed.
But that is being opportunist. For years they have not bought into selling the game.
For years the fight game, where the size of the promotion directly correlates to the hip pocket, has understood the value of pre-fight hype.
Thousands are turning out to watch Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor come together in Los Angeles and Toronto. Not to watch them fight. For a press conference.
In Toronto organisers were forced to hire a bigger venue to cater for the thousands of fans turning up to watch two men hurl insults at each other.
The fight will be a sellout but they are selling for television, most likely the biggest pay-per-view buy in history.
Fight tickets are $3218 in the nosebleeds and more than $70,000 at ringside. This, for a fight most experts don’t believe will go for more than a few rounds.
It is a clear showing that, nowadays, people happily buy the hype. Kardashian, anyone?
Mayweather and McGregor will say the most absurd, insulting things about each other before the fight in a bid to unsettle their opponent and, mostly, sell it.
Fighters understand the show. Afterwards the fighters nearly always come together to hug and acknowledge their opponent’s effort.
Origin has it backwards. Hugging before the game and grumbling about what was said after it.
It wasn’t always the way. Elias spoke first. So did Walters, who rarely missed.
The rivalry does not have to be eternal.
For Origin II last month, played in Sydney, Elias was in Brisbane. More, he was at the Caxton Hotel where they swill beer and brew a hatred for NSW unseen anywhere else, and he was there as a guest of no one else but Steve Walters.
There was enough concern a bodyguard was employed, who Elias waved away and invited to drink with him and Walters.
“One of the greatest days of my life,” Elias said.
He shook his head.
“Loved it.”
Originally published as State of Origin 2017: NSW and Queensland’s respect for each other fails Origin’s need for rivalry