State of Origin 2021: How NRL can stop series from ruining premiership season

Blowout scores, questionable standards of football and games played without star attractions — the NRL competition has big issues. But there’s a magic fix, PHIL ROTHFIELD writes.

This year’s State of Origin series should be the last that interrupts and almost ruins the NRL competition for six weeks.

Taking 34 of the finest players in the competition away from their clubs affects the standard of the competition every year yet we do nothing about it.

Let’s be serious … most of the football games over the last six weeks have been crap. Too many blowouts and too many stars missing.

Watching Manly without Tom Trbojevic is not the same. Watching Souths without Latrell Mitchell is not the same. And who wants to watch the Panthers without Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai.

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The standard of football over the past six weeks hasn’t been great, coinciding with the State of Origin series. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty

There is a way to fix this.

From next year there is an opportunity for three weekends of ‘Magic Round’ representative football starting in Melbourne then Brisbane and Sydney.

Five games each weekend in the one city at the one venue.

State of Origin men, women and Under 20s plus a round robin series between New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa and Fiji.

This would do wonders for the growth of rugby league in the Pacific Islands, bearing in mind 52 per cent of NRL players are now Polynesians.

The top two teams could go into a series against the Kangaroos and England at the end of the year.

The three weekends of Magic Round would be of enormous interest to not only the TV networks but state governments around the country that would no doubt bid for the games.

You could play Origin on a Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday night to see which rates best.

Origin could be played over Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights next year to see which timeslot is better for TV. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty

However, most importantly, it would protect the integrity of the NRL competition.

There would be a three-week break in the competition instead of six weeks but we’d still get five games of football every weekend.

Anything that will showcase all representative football will be a winner.

Even more so when it will actually benefit the NRL competition as well.

HOW IT WORKS

Rep week one Melbourne

State of Origin Men

State of Origin women

State of Origin Under 20

Tonga v New Zealand

Samoa v Fiji

Rep week two Brisbane

State of Origin Men

State of Origin women

State of Origin Under 20

Tonga v Samoa

New Zealand v Fiji

Rep week three Sydney

State of Origin Men

State of Origin women

State of Origin Under 20

Tonga v Fiji

New Zealand v Samoa