State of Origin in Melbourne

[PJ]

Can someone explain to me the logic behind NSW switching home games to Melbourne??? It's not as though we don't need every advantage we can get. The vast majority of Mexicans support Queensland becasue they hate NSW.

 

[Jono]

We struggle to fill ANZ twice. We can do it once as its an 82,000 seat stadium. However selling 160,000 odd tickets is very hard to do, especially for 2 games in 6 weeks.

In Brisbane they fill a 55,000 seat stadium twice, but that's a lot easier (110,000) to accomplish when you are winning. Wait until they go a few years without winning and they'll find their 2nd game tickets very hard to sell.

Sydney has to sell the comparing numbers of a 3rd game at Suncorp just to make it worth their time for a 2nd game.

What pisses me off isn't that the game is in Melbourne. Its that game 3 is in Brisbane again. Whyd o they get the 3rd game again? There's something not fair about that. If it comes down to a decider again, they get the home advantage..AGAIN!!

 

[PJ]

Yeah I understand the 'possible' financial implications, but I just thought that after so many series losses the powers that be might bite the bullet and take the risk.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

You are making a flawed assumption that State of Origin is to do with providing an even chance for the two highest quality outfits to go at it and see who's best. It has an element of that but its primary raison d'etre is to generate income and promote the game.

 

[Captain Moondog]

I've been taking progressively less interest in SOO as each year goes by. Great idea at inception but for me it is past it's used by date. I just see it as an annoying interruption to the competition. I would imagine the players selected would disagree but I think many fans feel this way. Last year I noticed many of the pubs and clubs decked out with balloons and streamers but few people actually watching. The premiership is what matters.

 

[clontaago]

What pisses me off isn't that the game is in Melbourne. Its that game 3 is in Brisbane again. Whyd o they get the 3rd game again? There's something not fair about that. If it comes down to a decider again, they get the home advantage..AGAIN!!

The thought behind it is that if we get away with a win in the 1st game, then we get our home game as a chance to wrap up the series.

Its a big gamble though.