Rugby Origin: Sydney Cricket Ground keen on hosting NSW v Queensland clash

THE push for a Rugby State of Origin match has gained further momentum with the SCG Trust expressing interest in staging the clash.

THE push for a Rugby State of Origin match has gained further momentum with the SCG Trust expressing interest in staging the clash at the historic Sydney Cricket Ground.

Coming after Wallabies captain Stephen Moore backed the Rugby Origin concept, Test coach Michael Cheika also supported the idea but said it needed to have “uniqueness” and not be a carbon copy of the popular NRL Origin fixtures.

A proposal to play the NSW v Queensland game at the SCG may fit that bill perfectly, with the SCG Trust keen to host the match to revive a 135-year history of rivalry between the sides at Moore Park.

NSW and Queensland played their first clash on the SCG in August 1882, which predates even the first Ashes cricket Test in Australia.

Origin has a longer history in rugby even that in its rival code.

Rugby league’s first clash between NSW and Queensland came 26 years later and State of Origin was born almost a century later.

​T​here were a total of 45 NSW v Queensland rugby matches ​played ​at the SCG before the 15-man code moved to Allianz Stadium​​, where a further nine have been played.

​It is understood that wealth of history prompted SCG Trust officials to express interest to the Waratahs in hosting the proposed Rugby Origin.

It would be the first rugby match at the SCG in 31 years and potentially offers Rugby Origin organisers the chance to ​market the​ game on the ​long history of ​their interstate ​rivalry.

The man behind the push for a Rugby Origin clash, Queensland chief executive Richard Barker, will on Friday give a presentation on the topic to Australian Super rugby bosses and ARU powerbrokers.

Australia coach Michael Cheika has expressed his support for the idea.

The working proposal is for the game to be played at Ballymore Oval in the last week of June, when Australian players have a week off between June Tests and the resumption of Super Rugby. There are no Swans AFL games on the SCG during that week.

NSW have given conditional support for Rugby Origin, saying they believe Australian rugby does need innovative new content in its calendar but stressing other ideas should also be looked.

The Rugby Origin game would need support from all corners of the Australian game to get off the ground, however.

Cheika agreed that Australian rugby needed more new ideas to engage fans but the timing of a Rugby Origin game would be critical to success.

“Number one, what’s important is that if we did something like that, it has got to have a uniqueness about it,” Cheika said. “We can’t just go and copy off the rugby league way and see if it works. It has to have something about why it would be a special event, and as opposed to us just sticking another game in the calendar. And then it would be about the timing: when it’s on.

Stephen Moore spoke for a number of players when he too backed the concept.

“When it’s on will be important as to how seriously the fixture is taken. For a fixture like that to be successful, it has to be taken really seriously. Timing of when it’s on will decide how seriously it is taken. That will be key, thinking about when it happens.”

Cheika said it was too early to discuss whether he’d approve of Wallabies players featuring in the game.

But he also pointed to a slightly different proposal for innovative, Australia-only content: a pre-Test selection trial.

That could potentially happen after rugby agrees upon a global calendar later this year, and when inbound June Tests shift back to July; after a unbroken Super Rugby competition.

“I know it doesn’t happen this year but you’d think it would be nice in the week before the Test,” Cheika said.

“You have some real stakes to play for in the weeks before a Test match, because there are still selection opportunities available. That would be a very interesting scenario, I suppose.”

Originally published as Rugby Origin: Sydney Cricket Ground keen on hosting NSW v Queensland clash