It is a sign of how much the game has grown in Melbourne since 1997 - and the impact that taking Origin to other cities in coming years is likely have  - that this year's rival coaches Laurie Daley and Mal Meninga held a press conference at the MCG on Monday attended by dozens of media representatives from NSW, Queensland and Victoria.

In comparison, Raudonikis and his Maroons counterpart Paul Vautin had to resort to targeting curious onlookers at Melbourne Central shopping centre or attending AFL matches to be interviewed by the local media.

Invariably, most of the questions they were asked were about "the biff" and while any player who throws a punch on Wednesday night faces a 10 minute stint in the sinbin, fighting was discreetly encouraged 18 years ago as a way to help promote the game to a southern audience.

The Blues trained on an oval at Melbourne University, which was accessible to anyone but the only locals who came to watch were involved in the Victorian Rugby League competition, including some who told the story about how Matthew Johns and Stephen Crowe had once played for their team under false names during a weekend off with Newcastle and no-one recognised them.

After one session, Raudonikis approached this reporter to confess that he was planning to start Illawarra's John Simon at halfback, switch Manly's Geoff Toovey to hooker in place of the injured Andrew Johns and bench Raper but he didn't want the Maroons to know.

No other media were present, and an ethical dilemma was only avoided when Vautin - believed to have been tipped off by a bookmaker - suggested after Queensland's next training session that he had mail from the NSW camp that Raper would not start.

As it turned out, Raper did not even get on the field and Simon kicked a field goal to secure a series winning 15-14 victory for the Blues but this anecdote is intended to demonstrate how far the game has come in Melbourne rather than the complex relationships that sometimes still exist between coaches and the media.

After attracting a crowd of just 25,015 at the MCG for the match, which was played during the height of the Super League war, ARL chief executive Neil Whittaker said: "Obviously we would have liked more but the atmosphere was good, people down here seem to be learning the rules, and those who were here saw a great game and went home happy".

Despite the establishment of the Storm in 1998, Origin did not return to Melbourne until 2006 as part of a last ditch plan to ensure the club's survival amid a push for a Central Coast team to join Gold Coast in the premiership the following season.

But after two more visits to Melbourne in 2009 and 2012, Origin has outgrown Etihad Stadium and with more than 85,000 tickets already sold for Wednesday night's match at the MCG the attendance record of 88,336 at ANZ Stadium in 1999 is set to be broken.

With the series on the line and the awareness of the game in Melbourne, the match may also exceed the 4.118 million television viewers who made last year's corresponding match the most watched program of 2014 - ahead of Origin I (4.093m) and the NRL grand final (3.965m).

Last month's season opener was the most watched television program so far this year, drawing a national audience of 3.620 million that included 380,000 viewers in Melbourne and 109,000 in Perth.

The NRL has already scheduled another Origin at the MCG in 2018 as part of a three-year cycle in which NSW hosts two matches next season and Queensland two the following year.

However, with severe doubts about whether two Origins would sell out at ANZ Stadium next season a leading official last week told this column that he believes one match of each series would soon be played at a neutral venue, with Perth and Auckland the most likely locations.