I'M going to write about State of Origin. I'm going to write about Wests Tigers and Sam Burgess. Honest.

But first I want to make a couple of follow-up points about everyone's (least?) favourite rugby league subject, following Friday morning's Supreme Court appearance by the NRL and the independent Melbourne Storm directors.

(The case is going to be heard in July, in case you missed it. The NRL wants News Limited included in proceedings.)

There's been some interesting reaction to Monday's Back Page Lead column, which you can read here, in which we tried to point out how much league has to lose from court cases - including one in Queensland regarding Gordon Nuttall - in the coming months.

Many readers agreed that rugby league could be brought to its knees if some of the evidence aired is particularly sour.

But they disagreed with my conclusion that in the interests of integrity and morality, it was a price we should be ready and willing to pay.

On Twitter, whoever posts for Rugby League Player magazine commented: "There needs to be a balance between turning a blind eye to preserve what we have and punishing those who blatantly flaunt it."

Now I think that is gibberish - turning a blind eye to illegality is corruption. Corruption is wrong. But plenty of people share this guy's view.

So maybe it's not rugby league that's rotten to the core. Maybe it's our society. Once a convict settlement, always a convict settlement?

Sometimes when we are at historical crossroads, we lack the perspective to see it. So with the help of Tony Collins' ‘Rugby's Great Split', here's an attempt to put these events into perspective.

Collins writes that in 1896, rugby league was beginning to overrun rugby union. At the time, union clubs suspected Leicester of paying players - the very act which caused the split in the first place.

The RFU launched an investigation - but everyone knew that if Leicester was found guilty, it would simply hop over to the new code - taking some of England's star players with it.

Now, if you have been to the UK you would understand how this would have affected the balance between the codes - to this day and forever.

I'm sure whatever rahrah readers this column has would agree that if Leicester had switched to rugby league at the turn of the 20th century, that code would quite possibly be the dominant form of rugby in the UK today.

Collins writes: "In 1896 the club was found not guilty of paying players ... Northern Union (rugby league) clubs suspected the RFU turned a blind eye to Leicester's indiscretions in order not to force them into the arms of the Northern Union."

And Leicester went on to win the next eight competitions! Eight in a row!

All I have to say to those people advocating a shroud be thrown over cheating in the NRL is that I am glad to be involved in a code that made a decision based on what was right, even if it damages the sport's standing and profitability for decades to come. Even forever.

And I would rather watch in a suburban park a game committed to enforcing its rules, and trying to do the right thing, than go to a packed stadium to see one motivated by expediency and amorality.

Now, State of Origin: it was remarkable to see the likes of Wendell Sailor, Laurie Daley, Shane Webcke, Chris Close and Tom Raudonikis really bristling on television this week with the opening match five days away.

The way that Steve Price told one interviewer the Blues will be "sleeping with the wrestling coach" and David Shillington reckoned Brett White was "not that highly regarded" by the Queenslanders - gold!

We never get quotes like that for the rest of the year.

Look, I've got to admit I don't really comprehend it. In these days of $45 interstate flights, national competitions and networked television and radio programs, how do you muster that much hatred for a neighbouring province in a first-world country?

I don't understand it, but I love it.

And now Wests Tigers. There are so many rumours flying around about what is happening inside their camp right now. I am not going to repeat rumours here, that would be irresponsible in the extreme.

But if anyone at the club is justifying lies in their own minds by saying after a reporter hangs up "it's none of their business'' then you have no justification at all. You're just lying.

What causes a club to lose games is the business of every member, fan and sponsor - the people who provide those within the club with a living.

And finally, congratulations to South Sydney for granting Sam Burgess a release to play for England on June 12.

Your previous stance, and your lack of regard for a Test match, was not befitting a club of your standing and history in the game.