SOO questions

[CanadianSteve]

SOO games are the only league games I've actually seen - a tape of Game 1 in 2001, and a computer disc of a game from the early 90's which Willow kindly sent me. May I ask a few questions about the series?

1. Is player eligibility determined by birthplace? How strictly is that enforced?

2. How many NRL players (roughly) are not eligible for SOO? New Zealand players I assume. Are there many Aussie players born in ACT or other states who can't play? Are there many players from other countries (Pacific Islands) in the NRL who can't play?

3. How many more players does NSW have to choose from than Queensland?

 

[kaon]

1. Is player eligibility determined by birthplace? How strictly is that enforced?

A players eligibility is determined by where he was born or where he played his first senior match (or something like that). If these are different states, the player can choose who he wants to play for. If they are the same, the player has to play for that particular state.


2. How many NRL players (roughly) are not eligible for SOO? New Zealand players I assume. Are there many Aussie players born in ACT or other states who can't play? Are there many players from other countries (Pacific Islands) in the NRL who can't play?

At a guess, i'd say 30% of the players who play in the NRL are ineligible to play State of Origin. Most of these players are from New Zealand. Players who also go overseas to play usually don't get picked to play because it's a tactic the ARL (Australian Rugby League) uses to try and keep the best players in Australia.

Players born in the ACT play for NSW because when State of Origin started, the ACT was part of NSW (at least i think it was, i wasn't born in 1980). There are players who were born in other states but played their first senior match in NSW or Qld, they would play for that state. There are others like Matt Peterson who were born and played their first match in another state and i don't know if they can play or not.

3. How many more players does NSW have to choose from than Queensland?

I remember a Qld selector saying during an interview that they had about 56 players available for selection of which all of them were in form. That means NSW has about 200 available to them. The Qld figure does seem a little low.





That's my best effort; if someone has info contrary to that, please post.

 

[kaon]

I should also add that in the past, Qld has picked a number of dubious players in an effort to win. It even got to the stage where the Papua New Guinean captain was also the Qld captain.


In my opinion, this is due to Queenslanders have no sense of pride and the mentality that would see them sell their own mothers to gain any kind of advantage. A fact further demonstrated by them having a large AAMI billboard on their jersey for this year’s series.

 

[Anonymous]

SOO games are the only league games I've actually seen - a tape of Game 1 in 2001, and a computer disc of a game from the early 90's which Willow kindly sent me....

1. Is player eligibility determined by birthplace? How strictly is that enforced?

My understanding is that it has more to do with where the player played his junior football.

I'm not absolutely sure but I think Mat Rogers was born in Sydney. He ended up playing all his senior footy in Sydney. But he was brought up in Qld and played his junior footy there. So therefore he qualified as a queenslander.

Steve, I wondered if you ever got that CD. I'm remember it wasn't perfect and required a good processor and graphics card. Was it watchable?

 

[CanadianSteve]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Kaon, I take it you cheer for NSW in the games?

Willow, yes I did receive a disc on the 2nd try, I believe it was. The first one didn't make it in the mail. It was watchable, not as good as tv but not bad. I'll have to pull it out and watch it again, the only thing I remember was Mal Meninga was the most impressive player. And I think one current player was playing then, would that be Barrett?

 

[JoeD]

It seems strange to me that somebody with a huge amount of rugby league knowledge like Willow doesn't know for sure how players qualify for origin. I wonder if there is any official eligibility rules or not.

 

[Anonymous]

It seems strange to me that somebody with a huge amount of rugby league knowledge like Willow doesn't know for sure how players qualify for origin. I wonder if there is any official eligibility rules or not.

LOL... it's not strange at all, Joe. I've been winging it for years now. ;-)

But I think it is what I said. I'm sure there is a website somewhere that can help. I'd try Darrl's Rugby League website and the NSWRL website who both have the rules of the game.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Kaon, I take it you cheer for NSW in the games?

Willow, yes I did receive a disc on the 2nd try, I believe it was. The first one didn't make it in the mail. It was watchable, not as good as tv but not bad. I'll have to pull it out and watch it again, the only thing I remember was Mal Meninga was the most impressive player. And I think one current player was playing then, would that be Barrett?

I doubt it. Barrett would have been too young. It was the 1993 Origin wasn't it?

 

[Hass]

The official rules regarding Origin eligibility are:

A player plays for the State where he first played Junior Football after the age of 16.

Of this I am certain.

That is the standard eligibilty rule, however as with most rules there are also exceptions. For instance, a player who has grown up in New South Wales, moved to Queensland when he was 15 and moved back to NSW when he was 18 could request that he played for New South Wales if he preferred.

Players should have to sign a contract when they first enter the NRL stating which State they are aligned to. This would clear up a lot of eligibility concerns.

The ACT is only a small territory within the bounds of New South Wales. Most of its junior footy is not limited to the ACT borders but spills over into country New South Wales areas like Queanbeyan. Hence it makes perfect sense for them to play for New South Wales.

Cheers.

 

[legend]

Steve, if the game was from 1993, you would have been referring to Andrew Gee as the player.

As for the rules, players who originate from Western Asutralia and NT are eligible to play for Qld while players from every other state are eligible to play for NSW. I'm pretty sure this is correct.

 

[CanadianSteve]

I just looked at the introductions to the 93 Origin - the player I was thinking of was Brad Fittler. He still plays, right?

 

[CanadianSteve]

As for the rules, players who originate from Western Australia and NT are eligible to play for Qld while players from every other state are eligible to play for NSW. I'm pretty sure this is correct.

Do the other states produce many players who get to the NRL?

 

[Anonymous]

I just looked at the introductions to the 93 Origin - the player I was thinking of was Brad Fittler. He still plays, right?

Yes, it would have been Fittler playing five eighth. Still playing for Easts.

 

[CanadianSteve]

More questions I thought of:

1. The games are played on Wednesdays, right? Do the players play their NRL game the weekends before and after the SOO game? If so, have they ever studied how many of these players get injured from playing 3 games in a week?

2. Assuming they do play their club game on the previous weekend (Saturday?), how long do the SOO teams get together for - a couple of practices on the Monday and Tuesday? If so, how much effect can the coach really have on the team with so few practices (that's North American for training sessions.)

3. I think in 2001, the series I have a tape of, they took a week off NRL play and played the SOO games on a weekend. That makes more sense to me. In NA, the closest thing to SOO is the All-Star games in MLB, NBA and NHL (though not as intensely competitve as SOO). They always have an "All-Star break", interrupting the season to focus on the showcase game. Why doesn't the NRL do that?

Thanks in advance to anyone who answers what must seem like very basic, or naive, questions to you guys.

 

[salivor]

More questions I thought of:

1. The games are played on Wednesdays, right? Do the players play their NRL game the weekends before and after the SOO game? If so, have they ever studied how many of these players get injured from playing 3 games in a week?

2. Assuming they do play their club game on the previous weekend (Saturday?), how long do the SOO teams get together for - a couple of practices on the Monday and Tuesday? If so, how much effect can the coach really have on the team with so few practices (that's North American for training sessions.)

3. I think in 2001, the series I have a tape of, they took a week off NRL play and played the SOO games on a weekend. That makes more sense to me. In NA, the closest thing to SOO is the All-Star games in MLB, NBA and NHL (though not as intensely competitve as SOO). They always have an "All-Star break", interrupting the season to focus on the showcase game. Why doesn't the NRL do that?

Thanks in advance to anyone who answers what must seem like very basic, or naive, questions to you guys.

Steve the games are played on Wednesdays currently but as you've alluded to with 2001, other days have been tried. I would prefer 3 weeks set out each year for just origin matches. This way the NRL isn't affected expecially since the NRL persists with playing the big teams up against each other during the time depriving the fans of the star players.

Anyway for the first question. No currently the players don't play in the club game the week before. They have to be in camp during that time so they don't play. It depends on them playing the game after origin. Most do but others are injured and others get to have a rest. The Broncos have more origin players than any other team. In our game after origin this year about 7 played and 2 players got rested.

I hope that helps.

 

[CanadianSteve]

Thanks, Bronco. So do the Broncos usually lose the game before the Origin, since they'd be missing a lot of players? How about the games after?

How long is the camp leading up to the Origin game?

Why don't they pause the season for Origin games as in 2001? Do they lose too much money by having a week off the regular schedule?

 

[salivor]

Steve the Broncos have been lucky in the last 2 years as they've had their 2 byes assigned to the games before origin. That meant last year we only had to play one game without all our stars. Amazingly the "baby Broncos" won their game which nobody expected. This year we only have to play one game without the stars again but its against the Bulldogs so its almost certain that we will lose.
As for the games after we lose a high percentage of them but so far our first game backing up this year we won against top of the table Canberra. So all is good for now 8) .

I'm not sure on exactly how long the camp is. I'm pretty sure it starts on the Monday or Tuesday after the latest NRL round. It then goes through that week, through the weekend with the next round of NRL where the origin players don't play and until the actual origin game on the Wednesday. Of course there are breaks in between which has been evident with many NSW players being allowed to return home and watch their teams play this weekend.

I don't know exactly why they don't give origin games their own seperate weeks. I guess the people up top just feels it slows down the momentum of the NRL season by having a break in the middle.

 

[Mystery Man]

Origins are played on Wednesday because the morons who negotiated the TV contract with 9 allowed there to be a condition that enabled 9 to choose what night Origin is played. The NRL wanted to continue with Sunday night Origin in 2002, but 9 demanded that they be moved back to Wednesday night.

Personally, I'd like to see the week off for Origin, with the match played on a Monday night. That way, the NRL doesn't suffer, and 9 still get their week-night ratings.

 

[CanadianSteve]

I assume the Australian team picked to play NZ will have more NSW players than Qld. What do the experts here think: Could NSW beat NZ? Could Qld, given they seem to be weaker this year?

 

[salivor]

Unfortunately I think both NSW and QLD could beat NZ. Steve in 1997 during the Super League war Super League had a competition called the tri series. NSW, QLD and NZ all played each other and NZ lost to both NSW and QLD.
NZ are catching up though, they just about knocked over Australia last year, unfortunately they ran out of a bit of puff in the second half. In 97 and 98 they bet them. Then in 99 they came very close to winning a tri series between England, NZ and Aus. A Wendell Sailor try on fulltime saved Australia from defeat.