What the viewers want: State of Origin ratings are through the roof, but the showpiece series appears to impact adversely on regular-season attendances. Photo: Getty Images This year's State of Origin series is set to break just about every record by which public interest can be measured - but at what cost to NRL clubs? At a time when attendance figures and television ratings have never been higher for Origin, fans are turning away when NRL matches are played. Last weekend produced the two smallest NRL crowds of the season - 5,288 for Wests Tigers v Melbourne and 6,271 for Penrith v St George Illawarra. In fact, the...
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