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Message: [QUOTE="Culhwch, post: 2450532, member: 1983"] I'm really just spit-balling here anyway, because just like a month's break in the middle of the season, it's [I]never[/I] going to happen. But I can't see why it wouldn't work. Just because test series and World Cups are generally less intense (and I don't know that that's always the case, especially when NZ are fired up and on their game), it doesn't mean an Origin series at the end of the year would be. In fact I can certainly think of ways it might be improved. A train-on team could be named after the last round and added to as teams got knocked out of the finals. The majority of the squad would have a good long break to get over niggling or minor injuries, and get healthy for game one. There would also be ample time to build combinations and install gameplans. A healthier team with more time to prepare would, I imagine, lead to better football. The weather would also generally be better - it should be warmer and drier, so handling would benefit. A continuous series would also mean that you'd name an extended squad, which would be a good way to foster tomorrow's talent - of course they already do this to an extent, but players outside the starting seventeen have to break camp to play for their clubs the weekend before the game. There's more continuity this way. They could also give the fringe players a run if there was a dead rubber, which you don't see at the moment because it feels like you're dropping the stars - but if they are there on the sidelines and can participate in the ceremony, it would make it easier. It would also logically be a trial for national jumpers. The New Zealand team could play a series of tests against island nations at the same time, using those as trials to pick their own team. The quality of internationals may be improved as a result. Having said all that, I definitely won't argue that there's anything like Origin football in the middle of the year, on a cold July night, and I really can't see that ever changing... [/QUOTE]

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