Victoria ready to pinch State of Origin match in 2013
Victoria ready to pinch State of Origin match in 2013
STATE of Origin looks certain to return to Melbourne in 2013 after the ARL Commission received an independent report showing that Game I of this year's series had provided an economic boon in excess of $19 million for the state.
No decision has been made on the locations for all three games for next year's series but Victoria, NSW and Queensland are all jostling after this year's series returned record TV ratings and sell-out crowds.
The Victorian Government has tabled a $12.5m offer to host one Origin game every year for the next five years but is facing stiff opposition from NSW and Queensland who want the series to revert to its traditional 2-1 game format (two for one state, one for the other, alternating each year).
ARL commercial and marketing director Paul Kind employed an independent firm to produce a report on the impact of taking Game I to Melbourne before he makes his recommendation to the commission on where future games should be played.
Kind declined to discuss any details of the report with The Australian yesterday but it is understood that the figures this time around are even better than the $19m that was injected into the Victorian economy from Game I of the 2009 series. He intends to sit down with Victorian Major Events and review the findings before taking the next step.
"I won't discuss any detail about it but the results for Victoria and the game have been fantastic from the 2012 match," Kind said.
"I'm responsible for determining the right recommendation for the location of Origin matches in the future.
"The commission has no short-term timeline on making that decision.
"We are giving broad consideration to all the opportunities in each of the respective locations."
NSW, which has lost the past seven Origin series, has already begun lobbying the commission to have two games played in Sydney next year following concerns it has been the state most short-changed through the Victorian experiment.
The Blues have given up two home games for Melbourne (2006 and 2012) to the Maroons' one (2009) since the deal was struck in 2006. They have not had a home ground advantage since the 2010 series.
However, as this year's series fell in a year when the Blues were meant to host two games, the Maroons maintain that it is their turn to have two matches at Suncorp Stadium next year.
"The two-game thing is history," NSWRL general manager Geoff Carr said.
"When the two-game system came in it was never envisaged that there would be games anywhere else.
"But we're starting to take games somewhere else and that concept now is out-dated."
Carr said there were only two options as far as he was concerned - that Sydney hosted two games or that Queensland deserved to suffer the same fate as the Blues this year and sacrifice one of their matches in 2013 to Melbourne. Blues coach Ricky Stuart could be persuaded to remain in the role if the Blues host two games next year.
Carr also said that he thought the commission would rule in favour of holding another match in Melbourne in 2013 because of this year's success.
"It's had huge impact but I can't tell you the economic impact because I'm not dealing with it anymore," Carr said.
"But the last time we took a game there before this, the economic impact was about $19 million. That's why they've upped the ante. That's why they're desperate for more games. It works.
"If they do a deal with Melbourne - which is likely they will in my view because it works - they can't go in 2014 if they keep the same rules because that's the year there should be two games for NSW. So it doesn't change anything."
QRL chairman John McDonald said the Maroons were preparing as if they would be hosting two games next year.
"We're set for two games next year," McDonald said. "That's how we sit with it.
"The normal procedure is there's two in Queensland and then two in NSW and each state has relinquished one game from time to time to Melbourne.
"We understand Melbourne is a wonderful city for sport and certainly they deserve something.
"But at the same time Queensland has certainly got a suggestion of the importance of it being here. It's not just the game but the city itself benefits from it."
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/nrl
