Steve Bracks will today announce that one of
the 2006 State of Origin matches will be played “under the roof” at the Telstra
Dome in Melbourne, but
will it really benefit rugby league in Melbourne or Victoria?

If this is a one-off indulgence unaccompanied by serious
funding to promote the game in schools and communities in Victoria, or give
league fans a reasonable free to air television deals, then it will be a PR
stunt and not much more. Whatever the ARL makes out of the deal should be poured
back into the game in Victoria.

Today’s announcement will be greeted with some bewilderment in Queensland and disbelief in New South
Wales. The Blues are giving up one of their Origin home games, something the QRL
has vowed the Maroons would never do. And one suspects the NRL clubs won’t be happy to send their players to Melbourne either.

State of Origin in Melbourne is not new, nor is it
without success. In 1994 over 87,000 attended an Origin game at the MCG, while a
respectable 55,000 attended a year later, given that it was played during the
Super League war. A capacity 25,000 crammed into Olympic Park in
2000. Sadly, there is little evidence to show any substantial,
or long term, spin off benefit for rugby league in the southern capital from the
Origin experiments.

The Storm continue to “attract” easily the lowest crowd
numbers in the NRL premiership…though the promised upgrade of Olympic Stadium
might improve that – provided News Corp’s patience lasts that
long.

I read earlier this year there had been a minor
breakthrough for rugby league in the schools in Melbourne, but the game remains
very, very much a minor code in Melbourne and beyond. And a one-off State of Origin will hardly change
that. The game needs a higher profile in Melbourne and
regional Victoria – and that won’t be achieved by one State of Origin in
Melbourne.

In 2007, the NRL’s new free to air television agreement
comes into effect. Negotiations over radio broadcast rights are under way and
are likely to be concluded in the next week or two. The television agreement is a serious disappointment
when it comes to promoting the game in the “minor” league states. The only
guarantee is a “live” grand final telecast in Melbourne on free to air
television. Big deal!

On the other hand, the AFL has managed to secure a
television agreement that ensures live AFL coverage in Brisbane and Sydney that
is, and will remain, superior to that of the NRL. And you can better your last
dollar the new AFL television agreement will at the very least maintain
that.

Rugby league will never seriously challenge the
dominance of the AFL in Melbourne. That should never be the
objective. But if it can get a higher media profile in Melbourne – and it could
hardly get much lower than it is today – then at least the
Melbourne Storm might be viable.

The decision to be announced today is a public relations
victory for Steve Bracks and his
Government, and the Victorian Major Events Corporation. But whether it will be a victory for rugby league is
another question altogether!