Right, here's an idea to bring back state of origin and restore international rules, all in one swoop.

Combine them.

I see a two-year cycle -

Year one - the Irish team tours Australia for an international rules series, playing against a selection of state of origin teams. Each state is playing both for their home state and for Australia.

Year two - an Australian squad tours Ireland, as per the current (temporarily suspended) system.

There's the basics of the idea. Any merit? How to run selections for the tour to Ireland? Can it be improved without overloading the fixture?

Option two would be a state of origin series in year one, from which the internatinoal rules team is selected for year two.

Let's here some ideas.

I'm over State of Origin. That branch of the code is dead and buried as far as i'm concerned.

NAB Under 18's comp is the new state of origin.

  leucopogon said:

I'm over State of Origin. That branch of the code is dead and buried as far as i'm concerned.

NAB Under 18's comp is the new state of origin.

Spot on...

'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'.....George Santayana

For those of us older than 15 we remember why the last Interstate series died a long slow death.:

Clubs not interested in their players being injured and unavailable .

Players not interested because they got injured playing for a meaningless result.

The only ones who kept the fire burning were non-Victorians when there was no national competition, and players from clubs who had no hope of any success in their career outside this event ala Whitten.

We now have a national game. South Australians barrack for SA sides, WA the same, Qld and NSW likewise. Who cares if the manufactured code of Rugby League gets the TV coverage from the same TV station that props up the sport in the 2 states where it has some credence?

The AFL are myopic on this. The proposed round was meant to be a "rest" round for the players. If that's not going to happen, how about putting it toward a 30 game season, scrapping the pre-season cup and getting a fair draw for all clubs.

i say we leave it..the more the game gets tampered with, the more it is turning into ruins

when i first read this i thought this is 1 of the better ideas to be floated, but then it hit me, im still stuggling with the hands in the back( the Brett Burton mark late in the year set me right off) i dont like the hybrib game, i dont like the round ball or having a goal keeper. big dollars on offer for those who play origin in any form is the only chance, look at Juddy , i think its dead and burried though. it works in rugby league because the standard of most club games is [censored]

Well I wouldn't say it was a meanigless result. I mean what is it about State of Origin that works for rugby league and not AFL?

The thing is, AFL isn't an international game, so state level is the highest level it can be played at in it's true form. I don't know why people wouldn't want to see that.

If the club's are worried about injruies, then to me, the solution is obvious, play the game after the finals series. The only downside would be that it takes away from the climax of the grand final.

  george_on_the_outer said:

how about putting it toward a 30 game season, scrapping the pre-season cup and getting a fair draw for all clubs.

You were going well until this.

Can you imagine the disinterest of lowly clubs and their supporters ? Can you imagine tanking for 15 rounds ? The finals take long enough to come around as it is.

I'd rather a 15 round season than 30.

  roulette said:

Well I wouldn't say it was a meanigless result. I mean what is it about State of Origin that works for rugby league and not AFL?

The thing is, AFL isn't an international game, so state level is the highest level it can be played at in it's true form. I don't know why people wouldn't want to see that.

If the club's are worried about injruies, then to me, the solution is obvious, play the game after the finals series. The only downside would be that it takes away from the climax of the grand final.

as i said most club games in league are crap, afl has the pack mark, the specky, shots on the run from 50, big torps and its unpredictable , league origin is considered by many a better quality of game than the grand final(league) State of Origin became famous for the all in brawls. on the whole few skills are required to play. be 6 foot 6 and weigh 130+ kilos , be able to run like the wind or have a good side step

Ok. Here's another variation.

VFL vs WAFL vs QAFL vs SANFL etc..

It won't get the ratings, it wont get the cash, it'll just be authentic and it'll mean a lot to the VFL level players. It'll also raise the profile of all these state leagues by having their best on show.

I'm a big believer in strengthening AFL below the top, professional level.

Already happens with VFL, SANFL and WAFL. QAFL are so far behind it isn't funny.