Wayne Bennett claims the State of Origin calendar could rob a club of a premiership

The code’s most powerful coach, Wayne Bennett, says it’s time for State of Origin’s schedule to change — or risk an NRL premiership robbery.

It is the 50-day showpiece worth $100 million to rugby league — but Wayne Bennett says State of Origin could rob a club of this year’s NRL premiership.

Bennett, one of the most powerful voices in rugby league, has called for an urgent shake-up of the State of Origin schedule and revealed a 24-day solution for the NRL’s next TV rights deal.

Despite Wednesday night’s Origin opener attracting a monster TV audience of 3.755 million, Bennett believes the current interstate model is unsustainable, “unfair” and crippling the NRL premiership.

South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett says the current Origin system is unfair on NRL clubs.

“The worst (Origin schedule) is the one we’ve got right now,” Bennett said ahead of his Souths side’s clash against the Warriors on Sunday.

“All I know is it’s unfair on the clubs and we just keep tolerating it.

“The bottom line is this current schedule has a huge impact on the NRL schedule and that’s why we need to look at things and say, ‘OK what are we going to do about this?’

“The club CEOs need to fire up.”

Few know the toll of Origin better than Bennett. The 75-year-old coached Queensland 25 times in four stints across a 34-year span that started in 1986.

ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo are set to kick-off talks on the code’s next broadcast deal and Bennett says the elephant in the room is the need to overhaul State of Origin.

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo (left) and ARLC boss Peter V’landys are under pressure to make changes to State of Origin.

In the lead-up to Origin I at Suncorp Stadium, the previous NRL round was missing 246 players and $123 million worth of talent — including 36 to State of Origin duty.

NSW’s 18-6 win over Queensland on Wednesday night was the highest-watched program of the year on Australian television with a staggering 38 per cent more viewers than the No. 2 ranked show — the ABC’s Federal Election coverage.

But despite the booming numbers, Bennett says the seven-week Origin schedule is too disruptive, too damaging to the integrity of the NRL and has proposed a solution to cut the showpiece event from 50 days to 24.

“We have tolerated the Origin schedule for almost 40 years, but something has to change,” Bennett said.

“There’s a number of options they should look at, but the one option that is hurting us all is the one we currently have.

“I know the best team doesn’t always win the premiership at the end of the year because of State of Origin.

Maroons star Cameron Munster leaves the field in Origin I battered and bloodied.

“The State of Origin schedule probably cost us a few more premierships at the Broncos in my time there because it was so demanding.

“We’re going into a new TV rights deal, now is the time for the club bosses to step up to challenge the game about changing the Origin schedule.

“The game can’t go into these TV rights negotiations without some changes to Origin.”

This year’s Origin combatants went into camp on Monday, May 19 and the series will conclude at Sydney’s Accor Stadium on Wednesday, July 9.

That means the NRL premiership will be affected between rounds 12 to 19 before normal transmission in clubland resumes in round 20, seven weeks out from the playoffs.

Queensland Rugby League boss Ben Ikin is one supporter of the current 10-day build-up to each Origin fixture, claiming the longer camps help build squad cohesion and deliver better quality of matches.

But Bennett argues the Origin period could be over in three weeks with minimal disruption to NRL clubs. He points to the famous 2020 Origin series, when he coached Queensland to an epic 2-1 upset of the Blues.

Because of the Covid pandemic, the series was pushed back until November. Game One was played on Wednesday, November 4 and the decider on November 18. Origin was run and won in a 14-day window.

Wayne Bennett (right) says his most enjoyable series was the three-week 2020 campaign.

“I believe we can still play Origin in the middle of the season, but it doesn’t need to be over six or seven weeks,” he said.

“We could still have the games on Wednesday nights.

“The broadcasters seem to want it over a longer period of time, but I have coached in eight Origin series and the best one I ever coached was our three-week camp in 2020.

“The players loved it. We rolled from one game to the next.

“No-one had a problem. We played it at the end of the year and got on with it.

“I believe you can have a 10-day lead-in for Origin I and then you play the next two games seven days apart.

“It’s all over in three weeks.

“The NRL could still play club games during that period if they wanted, or they could have a two-week break in the comp and take some of the byes out.”

V’landys has flagged the possibility of State of Origin being sold off as a separate product under a new broadcast deal for the 2028-32 cycle.

Current Origin rights holder Channel 9 are rightly entitled to want bang for their buck, but Bennett says the ARL Commission should not be a prisoner to broadcasting demands.

“It’s still our game,” Bennett said.

Bennett says the NRL shouldn’t be dictated to by the broadcasters on Origin scheduling.

“It doesn’t belong to the broadcasters, so why can’t the NRL have control of Origin and how it’s played?

“It’s a real issue in the game.

“I’m open to conversations but it can be a lot more do-able than it is now and it should be a lot fairer than what it is now.

“The competition is so close now with all the teams — you can’t afford to have your best players missing club games and then backing up Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

“There is no major (sporting) event in the world that makes their athletes back up two or three days after a showcase game that has the intensity of State of Origin.

“Look at Penrith at the moment, they are struggling to stay in the comp now and they have two or three of their champion players under pressure to back up.

“Potentially not having Nathan Cleary or Isaah Yeo in their side, that sort of stuff kills you.

“In my time at the Broncos we regularly had eight, nine or 10 guys playing Origin and the record at one stage was 11 or 12.

“Freshening the players up is the biggest challenge, because they are physically and mentally exhausted when Origin is over.

“I’m happy to hear some options, but we need to have a genuine conversation about it.

“And it can’t be driven by the media, it has to be the CEOs and the game coming together to provide a solution to take to the broadcasters.”

Bennett’s club CEO, Rabbitohs boss Blake Solly, backed plans for a shortened State of Origin season.

“We all understand State of Origin is extremely important for the game,“ he said.

“Most other sports would love to have an event like it, but all 17 clubs would like it to be less disruptive to the NRL competition.

“There is no need for it to distract from the NRL competition for eight weeks.

“We all believe there is a different format that can reduce this disruption.

“Nothing can be done in this broadcast cycle, but Peter (V’landys) and Andrew (Abdo) have confirmed it’s definitely a consideration in the next deal.”

Bennett’s plea came as Knights coach Adam O’Brien slammed the NRL draw after he was forced to rest Queensland Origin star Kalyn Ponga in Friday night’s loss to the Dragons.

Ponga wanted to back-up but O’Brien overruled his captain, who faced playing three games in eight days.

“Two days is not enough (rest),” O’Brien said of Ponga missing the Dragons clash.

“He is disappointed and angry with me but we have got to protect him.

“In this battle we lost to the scheduling and the draw.

“It’s ridiculous.”