Gather Round was stolen from NRL, why can’t we take back State of Origin too? | Caleb Bond

The AFL is clearly not shy about stealing good ideas from rugby league, so when is it going to toughen up and take back Origin, writes Caleb Bond.

The AFL hierarchy have rocks in their heads if they don’t revive State of Origin footy.

Wednesday marked the start of this year’s NRL State of Origin series.

It had a total television reach of 5.3 million viewers and an average of 3.4 million.

The way TV ratings are reported has changed since last year but it puts the match hot on the heels of the 2023 AFL Grand Final which attracted a total viewership of 5.5 million and the same average as the State of Origin – 3.4 million.

Just consider that for a moment.

A mid-year NRL match – a game essentially concentrated in two states – on a Wednesday night had just as many viewers as the AFL Grand Final.

TELL US WHY IN THE COMMENTS

State-by-state ratings are no longer published but State of Origin traditionally attracts a strong audience nationally.

And it packs out stadiums across the country.

Nearly 50,000 people streamed in when NSW and Queensland played at Adelaide Oval last year – and NRL gets barely any coverage in South Australia.

The AFL needs a slice of this pie.

ARL Commission chairman Peter V’Landys is the most effective sports administrator in the country.

Joseph-Aukuso Sua'ali'i of NSW knocks Queensland star Reece Walsh out cold before being sensationally sent off in the opening minutes of Origin 1. Picture: NRL Photos/Brett Costello

As Racing NSW boss he created The Everest, now one of the country’s best attended race meetings, out of nothing.

He made the NRL’s Magic Round into a huge success – which the AFL then copied as Gather Round with equal triumph.

It’s time to copy the NRL again and bring back state of origin.

The format was once as important to Aussie rules as it is to rugby league.

It officially ended in 1993 and there hasn’t been such a match since a one-off between Victoria and South Australia in 1999.

There is supposedly a reluctance from teams within the league to relinquish players to such a series out of fear of injuries caused by games that don’t benefit their premiership chances.

The AFL ought to grow a set and tell the teams it doesn’t care.

It has a certain level of ownership over players given contracts set out obligations not only to their club but also the league.

It’s not about what is in the best interest of the selfishness of clubs – it’s about what’s best for the AFL as a whole.

Tens of thousands of rugby league fans at the Adelaide Oval for Origin 1 2023. Picture: Emma Brasier

It’s not a problem in the NRL so why should it be a problem in the AFL?

The interest, the television audience and revenue that it could generate alone justify state of origin’s resurrection.

How exactly it would work can come out in the wash.

It could be SA v Victoria or other states could be included in a play-off format leading to a final.

How good would it be to go to Adelaide Oval and cheer on SA trouncing the Mexicans?

But the AFL first needs to commit to the concept.

You can’t tell me that, given the success of NRL State of Origin, the same couldn’t be done in the AFL.

The NRL now claims to be the country’s biggest sport.

It doesn’t much matter whether it’s true – that’s just how V’Landys plays and if you repeat something enough, people believe it.

The AFL has to reclaim its mantle as the true national football league.

And that means pitting the states against each other in a carnival bigger than anything we’ve seen before.

Originally published as Gather Round was stolen from NRL, why can’t we take back State of Origin too? | Caleb Bond