I'd prefer a probables vs possibles type game with tour places genuinely up for grabs - and not for the crowd etc but as a genuine selection test. The Yorks-Lancs thing has never really worked and probably never will.

I'd love the RL to bring back roses games, but do it properly. Promote it, national TV, pay the players. Maybe do a draw for which stadia host the games. So one year it could be at St Helens, Cas and Wigan. The year after at Leeds, Warrington and Doncaster?

I think the passion for a Yorkshire side is their but Lancashire is a bit of a different matter as it is broken up a bit more now and most of the sides dont actually come from Lancashire (its more greater Manchester/Chesire/Merseyside isnt it???)

You often hear the chant 'Yorkshire, Yorkshire, Yorkshire' at games but never 'Lancashire, Lancashire, Lancashire'

This is why the concept didn't and will never work

The above has more to do with the fact that Yorkshire folk tend to identify with county first and town second. Hence when you ask someone from say, Leeds, where they come from, they are likely to say 'Yorkshire' whereas the same question to a Manc would get the reply 'Manchester'.

True but I thinks its more to do with the fact there are very few top RL clubs actually in Lancashire

On sky they have just been saying it was taken seriously by the players at first in aus. If we can do the same over here then it could grow into something big. It's never going to be as big as in aus but would it not be great to have a 3 game series between East and West with dirt cheap tickets selling out Saints new stadium, the HJ and the Galpharm? Just to get the rivelry going. If it was a genuine exercise for picking the England team then the players would take it seriously and it could be an awesome contest. There is no point being disapointed when it looks rubbish in comparison to aus because RL is massive in aus.

Having been born in Warrington in the 1950s I regard myself as Lancastrian even though the town was 'moved' in the 1970s to fall into Chesire. I bet you'll find that most folks from such new 'counties' as Greater Manchester etc still consider themselves as Lancashire folk. The only exception would probably be Merseyside - and then really only Liverpool itself, a town that has always seemed somehow different from the rest of Lancs.

I'm an 80s child from Warrington and I don't feel any link to Lancashire at all. My address has always been Warrington, Cheshire. To me Lancashire = Blackburn and Burnley area.

There is no clean cut dividing factor here, there is no regional banner we can grow an allegiance to that actually has some factual basis.

East v West.

Like I said if the players took it seriously and it was a genuine audition for England then it would work.

What about cockneys and the Welsh-LMS, Clubb

I believe in the last Roses Dom Peters(London Broncos) played for Lancs-

You've also forgotten those players born in other countries who commit to SOO

It will never take of whilst it remains between two socially deprived counties-The industrial revolution is over-

You already have a Yorks v Lancs type thing.

Its called Leeds v Wigan

Thats like saying Aus already has Brisbane v Sydney!

This, I've said it for years.

East vs West, with the Pennines midway between Oldham and Halifax marking the border. How far south you go would need to be decided but I would say Sheffield for the east and Wrexham for the west marking the furthest south border.

Thing is, it won't ever be as big as SOO. But we can build it into a major event. What we need to do is build it and market it correctly. Bill it not only as not only 'us vs them', but also as an England (and in some cases, Wales) trial. Curtain raisers such as amateur finals, youth internationals, even a 9s/7s comp. Get ex-players and some current players talking about the rivalry (I'm sure Saints and Leeds players could manage that), and produce classic kits similar to SOO but in our colours. We want our international players used to high intensity, this is one way of delivering that.

Play at various grounds, rotating 2 games in one area year on year: one year Wigan, Hull, Warrington; the next year Leeds, Saints, Huddersfield, etc.

I have never lived in either Yorkshire or Lancashire but from what I've learned from talking to people from both counties they really dont like each other a lot.

Personally I cant see why this so called 'Origin' series didnt really catch on especially as these 2 counties are arguably the most popular places for RL in the UK

How do you involve quins though? I would give them to the west.

Every big rugby league event in this country has taken time to grow. The GF started with a crowd of 40k I think.

We can't compare ourselves to aus, it just isn't a fair comparsion, but we could have our own quality event.

Start off in small stadiums and create demand for tickets and the the event can grow. This is whats wrong with the magic weekend, there is no demand because it's easy to get a ticket, move it to blackpool with the derbies!

Would you not rather have home internationals? Include everyone?

The teams at the time were not that great. Games were played infront of poor crowds because of poor marketing and people would cheer for their own players whichever team they were playing for. The players did not take it seriously straight away.

Strange.

I think if I was a league loving Yorkshireman nothing would give me more pleasure than putting on a jumper with a white rose on it and smashing my Lancashire opponent all over the park.

And you would think the fans would love watching it too

We should give it another go anyway, like we said its never going to be like origin but it could be a more tame version on a smaller scale. I'm pretty sure the rugby would be better than what we see in super league week in week out as that has been poor last few years.

Drop the Magic Weekend and adopt the one game as a big day out...

Because as I've written already 'Lancashire' is not as straight forward as you think, most of the teams you think are from Lancashire aren't, you can't manufacture passion

*Old Territory*

Yes, they are...

Quote ="christopher"Because as I've written already 'Lancashire' is not as straight forward as you think, most of the teams you think are from Lancashire aren't, you can't manufacture passion'" Most Wiganers I know class themselves as being from Lancashire not Greater Manchester. I have family from Southport and not one of them considers themself to be from Merseyside. As one of the previous posts said, Merseyside is more like an ego massage for scousers than a real county. www.forl.co.uk

Quote ="christopher"Because as I've written already 'Lancashire' is not as straight forward as you think, most of the teams you think are from Lancashire aren't, you can't manufacture passion'" Most Wiganers I know class themselves as being from Lancashire not Greater Manchester. I have family from Southport and not one of them considers themself to be from Merseyside. As one of the previous posts said, Merseyside is more like an ego massage for scousers than a real county. www.forl.co.uk

so why did the games not generate interest and why do you never hear chants of 'Lancashire, Lancashire, Lancashire' I would also suggest that people of the younger generation don't see themslves as Lancastrian, simply because they never have been.

I would love proper war of the roses games (which is what it should be called, not 'origin') but unfortunately the passion or interest for the game just isn't there

I've always liked the idea of an Origin style series, whether it be Yorks/Lancs or East/West, to be used as spectacle for the game in place of the Magic weekend and as a serious selection process for the international squad. I'd say have one game in Leeds/Hull etc, one in Wire/Wigan and then one 'expansion' venue that isn't too far away e.g. Sheffield, Barnsley, Doncaster, Bolton, Stoke etc. The RFL could even take it further up to the North East. If the RFL were to bring this in they would hopefully learn from the last Four Nations and have a better ticket pricing structure to make it a success; the empty stands along the side of the pitch, where the pricier tickets were, was just embarrassing.

I would imagine that if the RFL were ever to bring in a representative comp it would more likely be a mid season round robin between England, Wales and France with the slim possbility of a 'Rest of the World' team. I would have thought the RFL are more keen to bring up Wales and France to compete with England. But, of course this is unlikely to happen until France have at least one more SL team, Crusaders better establish themselves, the Scorpions are fighting it out at the top of the championship and more Welsh players are playing first team rugby across other SL clubs.