It's no secret rugby league during the representative period is not off the top shelf.
The NRL is the only major competition anywhere on the planet that continues to try and play through what should be a representative break.
The weekend just gone had five games instead of the usual fare of eight, and if we are honest, the quality just wasn't there.
It's obviously not a new problem the NRL faces. Unfortunately, State of Origin is the cash cow for the game, and not about to go anywhere, but there is a better way to go about it.
More importantly, the NRL are currently in negotiations with various networks over the future of the TV rights.
From the start of 2028, the competition jumps to 19 teams with the Perth Bears in 2027, and the PNG Chiefs in 2028, and with a new TV deal, the opportunities to shake up the structure of the season are here.
Simply put, the competition can't continue to be disadvantaged like it is for three nights a year, spread out by three weeks at a time.
Here is how to fix it.
Pause the season
Look, it's not rocket science. The quality of Origin-impacted NRL is just not good.
There will be the arguments that say "but the kids get a go", but anyone who thinks it's fair or at usual standards is kidding themselves.
Maybe the Roosters loss to the Dolphins, which was missing double-digit players, was the best example so far this year of what we shouldn't be seeing.
What should be happening is the season pauses for three weeks.
Exactly what that means to the length of the season is up in the air, but if you still have teams playing 24 games, it's fairly simple to then have each team have two byes, rather than three, and all of a sudden a 26-round campaign with a three-week gap is only extending the campaign by a single week at either end.
The NRL are always looking for ways to eat further into the off-season and remain relevant, so this doesn't miss the mark there either. A three-week break for teams in the middle of the year probably isn't going to be a negative in the eyes of most coaches either.
Some will argue for less games per team, although it's unlikely the NRL or clubs would enjoy the drop in broadcast revenue as a result.
Still, the NFL, one of the richest leagues in the world, have avoided calls to lengthen their season for what seems like ever, so it's not out of the question.
Naming the Origin teams
Magic Round is now a permanent part of the season, and with a Queensland government contract extension, it's not going anywhere.
One of the pet peeves around Origin is the way the teams are currently announced. Ad-hoc, hap-hazard, and in the arms of both states to determine when, or which journalists, they will leak their teams to first.
Instead, what should happen is the representative break each year comes hot on the heels of Magic Round. The NRL world is in the river city anyway, and both coaches sit down at a press conference at 10am the following morning - that is Monday - to reveal their squads.
Make it an event, something the NRL world can get behind, and something that is a controlled narrative rather than the shemozzle that we have now.
In terms of the actual squads, both states would name 25 players to cover them for the entirety of the three games, which will now be played in back-to-back-to-back weeks.
They go into camp, and that is that. No club games in between. No stunted season for six weeks, and almost certainly, better quality games.
They play on three Wednesdays in a row, and that is that.
Women's Origin would be played alongside the men's, on Thursday nights instead of Wednesdays and could very well go into the same camps, with the same squad sizes.
Internationals
One of the common arguments against the Origin window is "what happens to the rest of the players?"
The game in the Pacific is absolutely booming though, so like the season being put on pause, having a mid-year representative window for international games is a must.
New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Cook Islands.
Exactly what format they play in is up in the air, but the Pacific Championships could easily be shoved into the middle of the year, with Tier A and Tier B continuing.
Only having three weekends to do it does make for a tricky question and answer, but you could easily have a first past the post in each group, or hold finals back until the end of the year.
Qualification for end of year competitions could also be on the mind here. There are plenty of ways to do it, but it just requires a little bit of thinking outside the box from those in charge.
Like Origin, we'd have the international teams name squads and go into a three-week camp.
Australia obviously miss out, but would get their internationals in at the end of the year with the return of full blown tours as we have seen in recent times, or the Four Nations, as one example.
Nines for the rest
Even with six international teams going into camp and Origin players off the map, there are still plenty of guys in Top 30s across the competition who won't be featuring.
The answer to that is the return of Nines rugby league.
The formerly held pre-season Auckland Nines was great fun, the rugby league world got around it, and if the sport is ever going to properly expand outside the countries it's already strong, this is likely the way to do it.
The 19 teams with their remaining players, and minus the veterans or injury hampered players who want to have a rest, play a total of six matches each over seven 'sessions'.
That is, Friday nights of Week 1, 2 and 3, and Saturday of Week 1 and 2 (two sessions per day), with the finals held on the Saturday of Week 3.
This allows rugby league to head to three different venues, and while it's not a totally fair format, it will ensure everyone gets some form of rugby league.
Six games per teams works out to a total of 57 games, with seven games to be played on each of the Friday evenings over a three and a half hour window, and 18 games to be played on the first and second Saturday (consuming four and a half hours per session).
That leaves you looking at having about 7pm to 10:30pm on Friday filled, and midday to 4:30pm, as well as 5:30pm to 10pm, filled on Saturday.
Quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final are then played on the final Saturday.
Nines was a popular format, and there is no reason this can't fill the gap between women's Origins on Thursday evenings, and the international games on Sundays.
Restarting the NRL
At the end of the third weekend, the final Origin is then played on the Wednesday of what is technically Week 4, with junior Origins filling the gap on Thursday.
The NRL then returns on the Friday evening with likely a seven-game slate, and a few extra teams having a bye - each team having two throughout the year means there will need to be some weeks without a full nine-game slate anyway, so it makes the world of sense to do it here.
In our little scenario, we'd be barring any players who took to the field in Game 3 from participating in that round of footy, but we can also see that going the same way as those conversations now.
Ultimately, all you're impacting is a single weekend of the season, instead of six or more.
The NRL will never have a totally fair competition unless they can have the draw being everyone playing everyone else once, but this certainly removes a lot of the problems, while also keeping broadcasters happy with a full weekend of rugby league.
The full schedule
Final NRL round
Sunday, 8:30pm: Final game ends
Monday, 8am: Full medical reports due from every club, made available through club media channels
Monday, 10am: State of Origin squads of 25 named
Monday, 5pm: International squads named
*Teams who played on Sunday can provide estimates for players injured in game.
Representative period, Week 1
Thursday night: Women's State of Origin Game 1
Friday night: NRL Nines, Session 1
Saturday: NRL Nines, Session 2 and 3
Sunday: International matches Round 1
Representative period, Week 2
Wednesday night: Men's State of Origin Game 1
Thursday night: Women's State of Origin Game 2
Friday night: NRL Nines, Session 4
Saturday: NRL Nines, Session 5 and 6
Sunday: International matches Round 2
Representative period, Week 3
Wednesday night: Men's State of Origin Game 1
Thursday night: Women's State of Origin Game 3
Friday night: NRL Nines, Session 7
Saturday: NRL Nines, finals
Sunday: International matches Round 3
Representative period, Week 4
Wednesday night: Men's State of Origin Game 3
Thursday night: Junior State of Origin matches
Friday night: NRL returns
