‘It is crazy’: Skippers call for Origin date change
Women’s State of Origin would be a better product for fans and players if it was played during the NRLW competition insist the Queensland and NSW captains.
Queensland captain Lauren Brown and her NSW counterpart Isabelle Kelly both want women’s State of Origin to be the best possible product which is why they are calling for a scheduling change.
This year’s series was wrapped up on Thursday night with the Blues beating the Maroons 12-4 on the Gold Coast to complete a historic 3-0 series win, the first three-game sweep in women’s Origin.
While all three matches were competitive and won by small margins the consensus among the players is they would be a far better spectacle if played during the NRLW season, which starts this year on July 2.
Currently the players are in their pre-seasons and are far from the fitness and skill levels they will attain during the competition
Veteran campaigner Brown, who was honoured to lead the Maroons for the first time, is an advocate for a change in the Origin calendar.
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“I think it is crazy that our first footy for the year is meant to be the highest quality games of the year,” Brown said.
“It is unfair to the players and to the product to expect us to be at our best quality of football when it is our first few. If this was NRL this (Origin series) would be their trial games – game one two and three – so I think the girls the majority would love it be to be intertwined with the NRLW season.
“However, we play with the cards we are dealt and this year Origin is at this time. We had a great preparation and pre-series but would love to have more footy under the belt before approaching Origin.”
That would mean extending the NRLW season by three weeks as the women’s game does not have the depth to sustain midweek Origin games like the men where the players miss games in their regular competition.
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It would also cost money, with players needing to be contracted for longer, and would need to slot into broadcaster requirements.
In the past decade, however, the women’s game has made continual progress. The NRLW was instituted in 2018 as a four-team competition and has now grown to 12 teams.
In 2016 the women played a one-off interstate challenge match before meagre crowds. Now they play often in front of 20,000-plus spectators at major stadiums in three-match State of Origin series after moving from one match in the first official Origin in 2018, to two in 2023 and then to the current three in 2024.
Kelly said the women’s game needed to grow in key areas.
“I think it would be great to have a sit down and talk about what the next steps for our women’s game is,” Kelly said.
“It has been talked about having our (NRLW) season extended or playing each other twice. We just want to play footy and put the best product out there … and that is one thing we will push for.”
The Blues were dominant this year in Origin but Kelly also backed a move on the calendar.
“We have had a great prep with having it earlier but I do see the bonus of having it later in our season and mixed in with our NRLW season,” she said.
“But then something needs to change as well. We do need to play (the NRLW season) longer.”
-with AAP
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