South Sydney Rabbitohs CEO Blake Solly has openly urged the NRL to consider a change to the State of Origin schedule to benefit the competition.
Solly is not alone in his frustration with The Daily Telegraph reporting “a number of clubs” are not willing to sign new licensing agreements with the NRL until the issue has been ironed out.
Calls for the Origin period to be either moved or shortened have grown louder after the 2023 series after several stars were all ruled out after suffering injuries during games and training.
“We, like most clubs, have a view that the eight-week Origin period that has been re-introduced with the move back to three Wednesday nights is unsustainable,” Solly told SEN 1170 Afternoons.
“It goes for too long particularly in the context of our club season, I think we all appreciate the importance of Origin to the game, the state and to the NRL, we all understand that it’s a great series and that it often captivates the imagination of those who don’t watch rugby league on a weekly basis.
“Eight weeks is too long, and we’d like to see that shortened.”
Solly also backed Wayne Bennett’s idea that the Origin period should be four weeks long with three games played in consecutive weeks during the middle of the season.
“I think Wayne’s suggestion… is right, I think we all accept we would be without players during that period, and we’ll just have to live with that,” Solly added.
“There’s no perfect solution there’s not going to be a solution where we don’t miss any of our players who are selected for the Origin teams but at least putting it in a compact four-week period allow us to plan better.
“It also allows the competition to recover and regain momentum easier, and better than what the current situation is.
“We’d much prefer it condensed into a four-week period.”
The clubs will meet with the NRL at the start of October to re-negotiate licensing, where the topic of re-scheduling Origin will likely dominate the meetings.