A UK "state of origin" is a complete none starter.
No one, player or fan, is going to get wound up playing for or supporting a manufactured team be it "West" or "East".
People here have their county loyalties but Lancs v Yorks would not work with players from London and Celtic being shoehorned into one or the other sides.
The Aussies are fortunate in that they have managed to turn SoO into "State v State, Mate v Mate" to the extent its as fierce a competition as it is.
We simply can't mimic that in the UK by manufacturing sides like "West" and "East".
If we want something to prepare teams for internationals it's long overdue that we play regular games against France. In the short term this would be one sided but over time the French would benefit I am sure and provide meaningful opposition and importantly there is a genuine rivalry there.
Instead the RFL puts it's efforts into side shows like Murrayfield Magic that do absolutely nothing to improve the standard of the domestic competition or promote International Rugby League. The fact we do this is Nigel Woods at his most irrelevant best.
Dave