Ugly sight at Adelaide Oval mars NRL’s State of Origin decision

The NRL's decision to play State of Origin outside of NSW and QLD drew heavy backlash, one photo summed up the disaster.

Adelaide Oval sight mars Origin opener

The State of Origin series opener being played in Adelaide was questioned before kick-off and now the proof is in the pudding.

Despite being played in enemy territory, the NRL threw everything they had at it to lure as many fans through the gates as possible.

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But as the Blues and Maroons stood on the field moments before the game got underway, those watching on couldn’t help but point out the stands.

Pockets of empty seats could be seen on the coverage with photos from inside the ground painting an even clearer picture.

The NRL went hard to spruik the contest, even displaying a cheeky billboard in Rundle St during the AFL’s Gather Round which read “Real Footy is coming soon to Adelaide”. A move that sensationally backfired and left the NRL with egg on its face.

But it wasn’t just the empty seats that drew the ire of those watching on from home, the crowd seemed rarely engaged in the contest.

Something that wouldn’t happen if the match was being played deep in NSW or QLD heartland.

Can someone tell the Adelaide crowd something good just happened?#Origin#StateOfOrigin

— Dan Telford (@DCTelford) May 31, 2023

The NRL conceded in the week before kick-off the game would fail to sell out as Adelaide crowd failed to buy in.

It left the league offering up discounted tickets and even two-for-one tickets to entice more people through the turnstiles.

With only 41,000 tickets sold a week out they had hoped to reach 45,00 for the game, in the end the crowd reached 48,613. Adelaide Oval’s capacity is 53,500.

NSW great Michael Ennis laid the boot into the NRL before the contest even got underway as he slammed the decision to play the game in non-NRL states.

Ennis didn’t hold back when talking about his distaste for the series opener being played in a non-NSW or QLD arena.

“enjoy your origin football” pic.twitter.com/gHQ28p5uy8

— George Clarke (@GLR_Clarke) May 31, 2023

“It’s proven in these neutral games, and particularly the game ones, whoever’s won those out of the four times we’ve decided to take a game away from NSW and Queensland for game one, they’ve gone on to win the series,” Ennis said. “So tonight’s game is absolutely pivotal.

“I hate it, absolutely hate it. Never have I liked it, don’t understand it. We all talk about the passion of Origin and we get one chance every 12 months to look forward to it. Now NSW and Queensland fans deserve to have it in their backyard.

“I know people say it’s our showpiece and we need to take it away to grow the game – we’re never going to have that market in Adelaide and Perth and the rivalry of this game deserves to be in the backyards of the respective states.

“The fact that a number of years, and I know Covid was the situation, that we played three games in Queensland, and it was great that Peter (V’landys) and the NRL were able to get the games in but NSW fans deserve to have two games here this year. They deserve to have game one here, and they deserve to have game three here. It’s the way it should have been.”

Seats free all over the place. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Despite the uproar of taking Origin games around the country from diehard Blues and Maroons fans, don’t expect the NRL to put an end to it anytime soon.

While the seats may not have been filled, the move to play the opener in Adelaide saw the game pocket a cool $5m from the South Australia Government, according to The Daily Telegraph.

It’s the same figure they’ll receive from the Victorian Government when the series heads to the MCG in both 2024 and 2026.

Melbourne was originally slotted to host a game in 2025, but will jump the queue next year after missing out in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.