Let's Talk Origin - The Aftermath

In our last week of Origin talk for the year, we take a look at how both teams are shaping up for next year and throw up an idea for the much debated scheduling around the Origin period.

Before any of that though, let's pay homage to the performance of the Queensland Maroons last Wednesday night. Just when many of us thought we'd seen the best of what will go down as one of the greatest side's in Rugby League history, they recorded their most emphatic victory yet and played some champagne footy along the way.

THE QUEENSLAND JUGGERNAUT ROLLS ON
The biggest concern for the Maroons heading into this year's series was their aging roster and it will likely be the thing Blues fans are again left clinging to when next year's series rolls around. After their performance last week though, Blues fans shouldn't be holding their breaths. Whilst Queensland's spine of Slater, Thurston, Cronk and Smith all turn 33 next year, they're play-making capabilities are showing no signs of letting up. In fact, often is the case with the game's best players, they get better with age and seem to have more time with the ball in hand. This certainly looks the case with Thurston in particular whose game just keeps getting better.

On the other hand, the Maroons also have a large contingent of their forward pack on the wrong side of 30. Whilst they grew another leg in the decider in front of the Suncorp Stadium crowd(as they always do), the likes of Scott, Myles, Thaiday, Parker and Lillyman did show signs of struggling to match it with their younger Blues counterparts at different times throughout this year's series.

Injury and suspension aside, the make-up of the Queensland 17 will once again be very similar, with only Justin Hodges announcing his Origin retirement thus far. Even his retirement looks to have minimum impact though, with game three debutant Dane Gagai acquitting himself well in his first taste of Origin. There will be a large temptation to play Billy Slater on the wing next year after the way Greg Inglis played in the number one jersey and don't be surprised to see Dylan Napa and Korbin Sims injected into the squad at some stage to give them some fresh legs in the forwards.

WHERE TO NOW FOR NEW SOUTH WALES?
Blues coach Laurie Daley has already declared his loyalty to the current squad, stating he would have no problem taking the same 17 onto the field of battle if there was another game in three weeks' time. Whilst on the periphery this seems a touch ludicrous after such a demoralising loss, he's probably not far from the mark. The Maroons were simply too good across the park in what was some of the best footy played in the Origin arena and no one would have come close to stopping them on that form. The most worrying sign in the end was the way they folded like a pack of cards when the game was lost to let the score get out to such a margin.

The biggest question mark will again centre around the halves, with Mitchell Pearce already being earmarked by many as having played his last Origin game. Laying the blame on either half for last week's loss is completely unwarranted though. The roll Queensland got on from the opening whistle meant Pearce and Hodkinson were never going to get a look in. The cold hard truth for Pearce though, is his record of never winning an Origin series. At times again throughout this year's series, he showed glimpses of what he could do without quite breaking the shackles and playing his best footy.

Blake Austin has already put his hand up as the man to replace him next year with a hat-trick of tries on Friday night. Daley probably made the right call in not picking Austin this year. So often has been the case in previous years, the Blues have thrown a young half to the wolves too early in their careers. If Austin is displaying the same sort of form in twelve months' time though, the Blues would be mad not to give him a go.

The selection of Trent Hodkinson raised plenty of eyebrows at the start of the series, but at the end of the day he did almost everything Laurie Daley asked of him (a field-goal in game one would have been nice). The Blues general steered the ship for his team and was solid as always in defence. The one man capable of unseating Hodkinson is Adam Reynolds. The premiership winning general shows all the same attributes, as well as a kicking game that's probably only bettered by Cooper Cronk. Injuries curtailed his chances this year and if he can get himself fit and firing in the opening rounds next year, he'll come into heavy consideration.

After showing their hand in blooding the future of the Blues forward pack this year, it will be interesting to see if it continues next year. The Blues actually have a few forwards of their own in Hoffman, Scott and Gallen in particular who turns 35 next year, entering the later stages of their careers. There were calls from some to leave Gallen out this year, but it shouldn't go unnoticed, his performance on Wednesday night. When the game was lost and everyone around him capitulated and lost all interest in being there, the skipper just kept putting his hand up to take the ball forward like the warrior he is, in the end running for 50 metres more than any of his younger Blues forwards.

THE SCHEDULE
For the good of both the State Of Origin series and the NRL premiership, the time has come for the competition to be put on hold while Rugby League's best go to war.

Whilst most people agree this is the way moving forward, there seems to be plenty of obstacles standing in the way. The most common arguments seem to be the TV rights deal (Channel 9 don't want to budge from Wednesday nights) and the hole it would leave in the fans want/need for week to week NRL footy. There is probably no perfect solution that will keep everyone happy, but here's my ideas…

• Put the NRL competition on hold for five weeks, as opposed to the three many are suggesting and play the Origins with 10 and 11 day turnarounds. 7 days to recover from the toughest and most brutal Rugby League on offer wouldn't be enough and the quality of football would suffer.
  
• Play games one and three on a Wednesday night, with game two scheduled in the middle on a Saturday night. This would surely give channel nine a compromise they'd be happy with.
  
• Introduce a mid-season knockout competition similar to the old Amco Cup, consisting of the 16 NRL sides (not including their Origin players) and 16 other teams from across the country, made up mainly of representative sides from country areas throughout New South Wales and Queensland. It could also include the PNG Hunters from the Intrust Super Cup.

This would still provide the week to week footy missing from an on-hold NRL, as well as taking the game back to the grass roots levels of the country areas.

To cater against the argument of a longer season for most of the NRL's first grade stars, I would shorten the regular season to 22 rounds (like it used to be). Many people see the current draw as unfair because not every team plays each other twice, both home and away.

With a 22 round competition, each side would play each other once and then play a second game against 7 other teams depending on where they sit on the ladder…. For example, the top eight teams would play each other twice, as would the bottom eight, creating a fairer and more level playing field in each team's quest to make the finals.

Here's how the five week schedule would roll out:

WEEKEND 1 - Knockout comp Round of 32
WEDNESDAY NIGHT - State Of Origin 1
WEEKEND 2 - Knockout Comp Round of 16
WEEKEND 3 - Knockout Comp Quarter-Finals / SATURDAY NIGHT - State Of Origin 2
WEEKEND 4 - Knockout comp Semi-Finals
WEDNESDAY NIGHT - State of Origin 3
WEEKEND 5 - Knockout comp Final

To counter for only one game in the last weekend, we could play some Pacific Tests between the likes of Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and Papua New Guinea.

FINAL THOUGHT
Firstly, I'd just like to thank everyone who's taken the time to read this column throughout the year. It's been an absolute pleasure sharing my thoughts about the greatest showpiece Rugby League has to offer.

In closing I'd like to leave everyone with this… When did State of Origin turn into the beast that it currently is today and has it gotten too big for our own good? The continuous pre-game banter between the two sides is mainly to generate hype around the series and to gain any sort of mental edge and I for one am guilty in loving every bit of it, but has it crossed the line in recent times?

Over the past week, it seems a number of fans have felt the need to pick a side in the now infamous Alex McKinnon/Cameron Smith saga, with state lines determining the outcome.

It lead me to thinking just how big Origin has gotten and whilst you wouldn't trade any of the passion and pride that makes the concept so unique, players and fans alike would do well to show more respect to their fellow Australians... When was the last time you saw two players from opposite teams trade jerseys as keepsakes after the full-time siren?