Rugby League: State of Origin was in danger of getting boring

I never thought I would write these words, but until today State of Origin was in danger of getting a bit boring.

Nothing wrong with the way Queensland have been playing, of course. It’s just that it was becoming increasingly difficult to imagine how NSW could possibly win. They came within a few minutes of doing so in Sydney, but somehow you had the feeling that the Maroons would get them in the end.

The harsh fact is that Queensland have now won five series’ on the trot, with this becoming their first white-wash since 1995. That’s the level of predictability that turned the Sydney public off Test football.

Back before that, I used to have this theory that a Queensland win in Ashes year was a good thing for Great Britain, because it tended to propel a few players into the Australian side on the strength of Origin form they never quite reproduced.

I’m not sure that theory ever held water, but it’s certainly hard to draw much comfort from it now.

In the run up to the third game, there were suggestions from Queenslanders – never ones to hide any lights under any bushels – that a form Aussie team would consist of 17 of their men.

That’s going a bit far, but the current balance of power means that apart from the obvious certainties – Slater, Inglis, Lockyer, Thurston, Smith, Thaiday – we are likely to be facing less familiar Queenslanders like Matt Scott, David Shillington, Dave Taylor and Ashley Harrison in the Four Nations. No evidence yet that any of them are likely to prove flaky at Test level.

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Because I forgot to mention it last week, a last observation on the juxtaposition between rugby league and World Cup football.

I had the disconcerting experience of watching two games at the same time at Warrington – England v Germany on the big screen and the Wolves Under-20s hammering Leeds 94-6 on the pitch.

You didn’t know which to watch – an embarrassing mismatch with only one possible outcome….or the rugby.

Sorry about that, but it does raise a serious question about the future of British sport. Why are Leeds Academy so poor this season?