NSW coach Brad Fittler has backed Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett’s idea of dedicating an entire month to State of Origin.
This comes off the back of this weekend’s standalone Origin match to be played at ANZ Stadium on Sunday, where teams will only have seven days to prepare, rather than the usual 10 days.
Fittler told The Sydney Morning Herald it makes sense to make the Origin period shorter in order to keep the 10-day preparation.
"I was interested in Wayne's comments - about making it a month all about Origin, in maybe June," Fittler said.
"So that you get the big breaks between. It's a better way.
"Wayne was saying you dedicate a month to Origin. It made sense to make the Origin period shorter, but keeping the time between games a 10-day preparation.
"Origin brings a lot of money into rugby league and a lot of interest. Every other sport, in Australia especially, is very envious this time of year."
The shorter preparations means Fittler, and Queensland coach Kevin Walters, will have to tamper the way their teams prepare, especially surrounding players under injury concerns.
Fittler voiced his opinion regarding the standalone weekend, stating he is not a fan of the format.
"We've got to be careful we don't dilute the product. The reason the games are always high quality is because all the blokes are normally fit, because they've got 10 days [to prepare],” Fittler said.
"They've got the luxury of numerous physios, they have pretty good budgets, so everyone gets looked after."
Comments are closed.