The State of the Oranges really needs looking into

MY NEIGHBOUR Manny is getting on and, her eyesight failing, tends to listen to the radio more these days.

Dropping in to see how she was, I found her quite concerned.

“What’s all this about the citrus crop?” she asked, much to my confusion.

“All they seem to be talking about on the radio is the State of the Oranges!”

That aside, it does seem that all the talk of these past few weeks in the lead up to THAT match Wednesday night has been about THAT match Wednesday night.

No, I’m not here to gloat about the result but to offer a suggestion on a change of format for the annual series that stops a nation.

For a start, the State of Origin series takes too long to complete, distracting unnecessarily from the NRL season.

And, every year the coaches and fans complain about weakened club teams.

After all, it’s the fans who pay top dollar to turn up to watch their team, minus four or five of their top stars, struggle to beat teams who would otherwise have no chance of victory.

My suggestion? Play the three matches over three consecutive weekends.

The games could be played on the high TV ratings nights of Friday or Sunday, thereby appeasing Channel 9 which, let’s face it, runs the game.

Simply shut down the NRL season for those three weeks.

In Europe, most football (“soccer” for the out-of-date sports fan) competitions close down for two weeks over Christmas and New Year so if the world’s most popular sport can do it, why not NRL?

Of course, the first argument against this is while AFL, rugby, netball etc. will be playing on those other weekend days and nights, there will be no NRL.

One of the most enjoyable weekends I’ve had this year was the international weekend during which teams from England, PNG, Tonga, Somoa, Cook Islands etc. came to Australia and played off in a series of matches.

The teams were mainly made up of NRL players with a sprinkling of genuine locals and the matches were highly entertaining while the players got the thrill of representing the country of their birth or family origin.

Why not extend that competition, which would be joined by New Zealand, for those three weeks to fill in the weekends?

That way, plenty of NRL players would still be playing, the fans from other countries would get to see their national team play more tests, thus expanding the game, and, most of all, the clubs wouldn’t miss their players for much of the SOO series.

It would lessen the work-load for players too, another issue about which they complain.

Somehow I doubt the NRL would listen to a footy tragic from the bush but I’d be keen to hear what Patter readers think... yes, both of you.

I know the NRL doesn’t listen to me or they wouldn’t have put the Cowboys v Broncos match in Townsville in September on a Thursday night.

Their decision made long after four of us had booked flights and accommodation assuming the game would be played on Friday night.

We’ll arrive in Townsville to attend a match that would have been played 24 hours earlier.

No-one listens to me... I may as well be a Boy George CD.

❝ No-one listens to me... I may as well be a Boy George CD.