Origin becomes a big trouble for NRL teams

Nearly every NRL club has been impacted in some way as the fight for semi-final positions intensifies. Photo:smh.com.au

The real cost of State of Origin has been really huge for the teams competing in NRL league. The Daily Telegraph - through David Middleton’s League Information Services - has revealed that players from this year’s State of Origin series will miss a staggering 69 games for their club and Origin sides because of injury and suspension.

Never before has State of Origin - which this year reached a new level of ferocity - taken such a dramatic toll. Nearly every NRL club has been impacted in some way as the fight for semi-final positions intensifies. Some of rugby league’s biggest names were cut down by injuries sustained in this year’s hectic series, which NSW won 2-1.

Thirteen players - Cooper Cronk, Brett Morris, Josh Morris, Paul Gallen, Billy Slater, Luke Lewis, Brent Tate, Matt Scott, Michael Jennings, Will Hopoate, Trent Merrin, Daniel Tupou and Matt Gillett - worth a combined total of nearly $10 million have been sidelined with injuries that include a broken arm, fractured shoulder, torn posterior cruciate ligament, torn ACL, fractured cheekbone, torn latissimus dorsi and AC joint.

The way players played on with painful injuries will go down in Origin folklore. Amid the injury mayhem, Anthony Watmough, Ben Te’o, Greg Bird and Josh Reynolds were also suspended for Origin-based infringements. “The players are pushing the limits, they are pushing the boundaries as to how much the human body can take,” rugby league Immortal and former NSW halfback Andrew Johns said.

Jonhs also recognised that “I don’t know what the answer is” about this new and extreme situation..

“The players love Origin and they know it is a privilege to play it.” And the public loves it too.

More than 12 million fans watched nationally this year, coupled with combined crowds of 186,000 across the three games. Anyway, own Former NSW halfback Greg Alexander described this year’s series as “brutal”.

by Santi Ivar

Sources: dailytelegraph.co.au