NRL needs to share Origin love

HOPEFULLY you’re reading this with joy in your heart – provided you’re a Blues supporter like me – and assuming we won.

Queensland captain Greg Inglis and New South Wales counterpart Boyd Cordner go head-to-head in State of Origin game one on Wednesday night at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Picture: Michael Dodge

HOPEFULLY you're reading this with joy in your heart - provided you're a Blues supporter like me - and assuming we won.

And if you're a Queenslander (and you won) - the ref was biased, you're all cheats and it's only game one.

Winners and losers aside, a little experiment, like an Origin game at the MCG, helps grow the game by exposing it to more markets.

For too long Sydney and Brisbane have had a stranglehold on the spectacle that is State of Origin.

And the idea that league fans only live in Queensland and New South Wales is ridiculous - just look at the Melbourne Storm's continued success.

The fact is Victorians love their football - and locals aside if you market the game correctly fans will travel.

Every year fans from all over Australia flock to the MCG for the AFL grand final.

They buy tickets mid year knowing full well their team might not be in the decider. But why? Because the final is a spectacle so if anything I think more more should be done with Origin in Victoria.

Let's scrap Perth next year and take the decider to the MCG.

Make it a stand alone game week with an all-stars curtain raiser and put 100,000 backsides on seats.

How about that?

Originally published as NRL needs to share Origin love