
iameviljez
Brownlow Medallist
Hard disagree - the fans stopped giving a damn about State of Origin a long time ago - particularly in Victoria. In the 90s, they didn't get a crowd any bigger than 35k to the MCG apart from the Ted Whitten Farewell Lap day. People stopped really giving a damn once the AFL became a national competition.Of course all fans want it, but clubs wont allow it due to risk of injury to their players
I live in Brisbane and NRL State of Origin works well because the concept is extremely simple: red team vs blue team, little brother that is rugby-obsessed vs big brother who has all the money, and the sides are pretty evenly matched. It reminds me a bit of Canada vs USA in ice hockey, for example.
In the AFL, there's one clear big fish - Victoria - but no one standout, obvious rival. The states are now represented more or less by their own teams anyway. Honestly, I loved the 2008 game as a one-off, but as a regular thing, I couldn't care less.