Teegy
20-05-06, 09:58 AM
from SMH
THE State of Origin may be a big television event in Sydney, but it's far, far bigger in Brisbane. In fact, assuming viewing patterns are more or less the same as in previous years, Brisbane people will be more than twice as likely as Sydney people to watch the State of Origin telecast on Wednesday.
Last year, the first Origin game drew an average audience in Brisbane of 800,000, which wasn't far short of the Sydney audience, 907,000. About 72 per cent of Brisbane people watching TV between 8pm and 10pm that night were tuned in to the Origin, a fact that even the broadcaster, Nine, found "staggering".
It's when you take the populations of the two cities into account that you realise how fixated Brisbanites are with Origin football. Last year, according to official estimates, Sydney had a population of 4.3 million and Brisbane 1.8 million. This means that Origin I last year was watched in Sydney by 21 per cent of the population and in Brisbane by 44 per cent.
What makes the disparity all the more remarkable is that league is just as popular in Sydney as in Brisbane. The latest Sweeney survey found that 66 per cent of Brisbanites and 61 per cent of Sydneysiders were interested in league - a negligible difference.
So it all comes back to the long-recognised fact that beating NSW is a big deal in Queensland, while beating Queensland isn't such a big deal in NSW. People in NSW have generally put this down to the "small man syndrome" that Queenslanders are supposed to suffer from. Because they come from a younger, smaller (in terms of population) state, Queenslanders feel a need to assert themselves by beating the older, bigger state at a sport they both have a keen interest in.
Some would say it's not quite as simple as that. Indeed, one academic who has made a special study of the matter, Dr Peter Horton of James Cook University in Townsville, has concluded that, for Queenslanders, the State of Origin is a genuine unifying force.
Dr Horton, a former Wallabies hooker, explains, "The bigger and more complex and more varied a city becomes, the less the dominant ideology pervades, because you've got so many cultural dimensions and attitudes. That's the case with Sydney. Sydney is such a complex society. So many different people with different origins and different interests. Sometimes, you'll even see crowds there applaud English cricketers.
"Brisbane - and Queensland - are different. People who live in smaller, more remote places need things to unify them. The further north and west you go, the further you get into communities where there are more concentrated populations in terms of cultural identity, the greater the unifying force of the dominant ideology, to which sport and, in this case, rugby league, is central.
"Whether Queenslanders dig in the mines or work in the cane fields, one thing that unifies them and that they identify with is their league team. We may dismiss it as mere parochialism, but it's actually quite a sophisticated notion of identity."
However that may be, the huge interest that Queenslanders take in the Origin has helped make it one of Australia's most-watched sporting events. In Sydney and Brisbane, the best rating of the Origin matches tends to attract about as many viewers as the league grand final. Last year, the grand final had a bigger combined audience in the two cities (1.96 million to 1.76 million for Origin III), but in 2004 the Origin II's combined Sydney-Brisbane audience was a little bigger than the grand final's - 1.68 million to 1.66 million.
Nine's commentators on Wednesday should at least be familiar with their subject. Peter Sterling played in 13 Origin matches himself, Paul Vautin in 22, Andrew Johns 21, Ben Ikin 17 and Matthew Johns four, while Phil Gould coached NSW in 24. The match-caller, Ray Warren, tops them all though, calling his 55th Origin.
This is why i think State of Origin is more important. although people hate to admit it but its the Top honor in league and the most anticipated Rep games
THE State of Origin may be a big television event in Sydney, but it's far, far bigger in Brisbane. In fact, assuming viewing patterns are more or less the same as in previous years, Brisbane people will be more than twice as likely as Sydney people to watch the State of Origin telecast on Wednesday.
Last year, the first Origin game drew an average audience in Brisbane of 800,000, which wasn't far short of the Sydney audience, 907,000. About 72 per cent of Brisbane people watching TV between 8pm and 10pm that night were tuned in to the Origin, a fact that even the broadcaster, Nine, found "staggering".
It's when you take the populations of the two cities into account that you realise how fixated Brisbanites are with Origin football. Last year, according to official estimates, Sydney had a population of 4.3 million and Brisbane 1.8 million. This means that Origin I last year was watched in Sydney by 21 per cent of the population and in Brisbane by 44 per cent.
What makes the disparity all the more remarkable is that league is just as popular in Sydney as in Brisbane. The latest Sweeney survey found that 66 per cent of Brisbanites and 61 per cent of Sydneysiders were interested in league - a negligible difference.
So it all comes back to the long-recognised fact that beating NSW is a big deal in Queensland, while beating Queensland isn't such a big deal in NSW. People in NSW have generally put this down to the "small man syndrome" that Queenslanders are supposed to suffer from. Because they come from a younger, smaller (in terms of population) state, Queenslanders feel a need to assert themselves by beating the older, bigger state at a sport they both have a keen interest in.
Some would say it's not quite as simple as that. Indeed, one academic who has made a special study of the matter, Dr Peter Horton of James Cook University in Townsville, has concluded that, for Queenslanders, the State of Origin is a genuine unifying force.
Dr Horton, a former Wallabies hooker, explains, "The bigger and more complex and more varied a city becomes, the less the dominant ideology pervades, because you've got so many cultural dimensions and attitudes. That's the case with Sydney. Sydney is such a complex society. So many different people with different origins and different interests. Sometimes, you'll even see crowds there applaud English cricketers.
"Brisbane - and Queensland - are different. People who live in smaller, more remote places need things to unify them. The further north and west you go, the further you get into communities where there are more concentrated populations in terms of cultural identity, the greater the unifying force of the dominant ideology, to which sport and, in this case, rugby league, is central.
"Whether Queenslanders dig in the mines or work in the cane fields, one thing that unifies them and that they identify with is their league team. We may dismiss it as mere parochialism, but it's actually quite a sophisticated notion of identity."
However that may be, the huge interest that Queenslanders take in the Origin has helped make it one of Australia's most-watched sporting events. In Sydney and Brisbane, the best rating of the Origin matches tends to attract about as many viewers as the league grand final. Last year, the grand final had a bigger combined audience in the two cities (1.96 million to 1.76 million for Origin III), but in 2004 the Origin II's combined Sydney-Brisbane audience was a little bigger than the grand final's - 1.68 million to 1.66 million.
Nine's commentators on Wednesday should at least be familiar with their subject. Peter Sterling played in 13 Origin matches himself, Paul Vautin in 22, Andrew Johns 21, Ben Ikin 17 and Matthew Johns four, while Phil Gould coached NSW in 24. The match-caller, Ray Warren, tops them all though, calling his 55th Origin.
This is why i think State of Origin is more important. although people hate to admit it but its the Top honor in league and the most anticipated Rep games