State of Origin RL is played in Melbourne because in Sydney it struggles to attract a crowd. Look at the tv numbers and Sydney population for further proof.piesman2011 wrote:For me the number of Sydney people watching needs to be more 1.1 million (population close to 5 million) compared to brisbane 900 K (population 2.1 million).
I must confess, I tried to watch the SoO but only lasted 15mins before watching a doco on SBS. Also seemed like from what I saw that there was no atmosphere generated by the crowd at Etihad Stadium. Like many other Sydneysiders, RL just ain't that interesting (in recent weeks described by coaches, players and commentators as "boring") despite all the ridiculous hype about state vs state...mate vs mate pushed by the owners of the NRL... News Ltd and friends.

Meanwhile as even old Roy points out.
RL heartlandthe 1996 grand final between the Swans and North Melbourne, attracted 1.018m viewers in Sydney
http://www.smh.com.au/news/AFL/swans-fi ... 62219.html


