Marty Taupau defects Kiwis for Samoa

[adamkungl]

Kiwi players not being allowed to play Origin won't matter if the Kiwis have 3 matches at the same time as Origin.

I like the idea of annual mid year cups based around cultural or regional lines.

During Origin we could have

Polynesian Islands Cup (NZ, Tonga, Samoa, Cooks)

Melanesian Islands Cup (PNG, Fiji, with Vanuatu and Solomon Islands to be added later)

It would be a good point of difference from the now bi-annual Oceania Cup which is split by rankings rather than regions.

 

[deluded pom?]

A three way series for Samoa, Tonga and NZ during Origin?

 

[adamkungl]

A three way series for Samoa, Tonga and NZ during Origin?

Add the always forgotten Cook Islands and you have a far better 4-way

 

[deluded pom?]

Add the always forgotten Cook Islands and you have a far better 4-way

A three game tournament would fit better with a three match Origin series though. Four teams then becomes either a six game tournament or a three game one with semis and a final but that means two teams will only play one game. Unless you add the most pointless game in sport, a third and fourth place play off.

 

[adamkungl]

A three game tournament would fit better with a three match Origin series though. Four teams then becomes either a six game tournament or a three game one with semis and a final but that means two teams will only play one game. Unless you add the most pointless game in sport, a third and fourth place play off.

Huh
A 4 team tournament and a 3 team tournament both take 3 weeks.

Week 1
Tonga v NZ, Samoa v Cooks

Week 2
Tonga v Samoa, NZ v Cooks

Week 3
Tonga v Cooks, NZ v Samoa

 

[Manurewa_Marlins]

He's assuming there'll be a final. In which case, you could do the final post season with a ‘Champions of Champions' between the Polynesian Champs and Malaenesian Champs the week after. It's a sad state of affairs when fans on a forum have better vision for the game than the dickwads in charge. Ah well.

 

[Captain Apollo]

Origin does allow island players to play for them... Only reason Fifita doesn't play origin anymore is because it clashes with international rugby games... I guess the only downhill is Australia will have to be there first choice.... Milford played for Samoa last year and then a week later he was on the bench for SOO the next week... But I do agree SOO is killing the international game cause they take all the limelight away from the international game

You are in error. One of the pre-requisite to be eligible for State of Origin is you must declare to play for Australia. It is explicitly stated as being part of the eligibility rules - https://www.nrl.com/SysSiteAssets/documents/state-of-origin-eligibility-rules.pdf

 

[Manurewa_Marlins]

Then you 'declare' then go back on it, then do the same and again go back on it, rinse repeat.

 

[Clarkent]

A three way series for Samoa, Tonga and NZ during Origin?

I would add Fiji in there as well... They have a pretty stacked team too...

 

[Clarkent]

You are in error. One of the pre-requisite to be eligible for State of Origin is you must declare to play for Australia. It is explicitly stated as being part of the eligibility rules - https://www.nrl.com/SysSiteAssets/documents/state-of-origin-eligibility-rules.pdf

Well that rule went down the toilet after Fifita turned down aussie right after origin for Tonga... If test rugby league didn't clash with origin Fifita would've definitely played origin... He said so himself...

 

[Mixmasterreece]

i Think everyone is pretty keen to see scenes again like we saw with Tonga during the World Cup. Great for the international game.

The unfortunate thing is Tonga and Samoa are now strengthened, but the Kiwis are going to be garbage for a long time. The Kiwi system is small anyway with union dominating, but it’s now clogged with players of pacific island heritage who are likely to not go onto represent the Kiwis. It presents a problem for the NZRL.

It’s also going to be interesting to see how this effects the warriors. The new owners were very vocal about using the warriors to develop future kiwis and if Nz born players with pacific heritage are no longer considered future kiwi players it’s going to be interesting.

Conversely, it might also mean they are more focussed on Māori players and guys like Brandon Smith, Bromwich bros and Jarome Hughes might be retained before they head to Aussie NRL clubs.

 

[adamkungl]

i Think everyone is pretty keen to see scenes again like we saw with Tonga during the World Cup. Great for the international game.

The unfortunate thing is Tonga and Samoa are now strengthened, but the Kiwis are going to be garbage for a long time. The Kiwi system is small anyway with union dominating, but it’s now clogged with players of pacific island heritage who are likely to not go onto represent the Kiwis. It presents a problem for the NZRL.

It’s also going to be interesting to see how this effects the warriors. The new owners were very vocal about using the warriors to develop future kiwis and if Nz born players with pacific heritage are no longer considered future kiwi players it’s going to be interesting.

Conversely, it might also mean they are more focussed on Māori players and guys like Brandon Smith, Bromwich bros and Jarome Hughes might be retained before they head to Aussie NRL clubs.

Some incentive for the NZRL to expand the games reach through the country then.
It's not all bad though, NZ still managed to knock off Aus last year.

 

[Mixmasterreece]

Some incentive for the NZRL to expand the games reach through the country then.
It's not all bad though, NZ still managed to knock off Aus last year.

Without doubt, but it’s chicken and egg. The only time that league has got traction here has been when the kiwis and warriors have been been strong.... and with our pacific players switching I don’t think we’ll be knocking off anyone any time soon.

This has the potential to set league back in NZ by a generation.

 

[Perth Tiger]

Kiwi players not being allowed to play Origin won't matter if the Kiwis have 3 matches at the same time as Origin.

I like the idea of annual mid year cups based around cultural or regional lines.

During Origin we could have

Polynesian Islands Cup (NZ, Tonga, Samoa, Cooks)

Melanesian Islands Cup (PNG, Fiji, with Vanuatu and Solomon Islands to be added later)

It would be a good point of difference from the now bi-annual Oceania Cup which is split by rankings rather than regions.

I would rather Pacific cup A and B with winner of B going up and last in A going down. Could even add C and D when enough teams are ready.

4 teams for each group with no final, ranking based on league tables.

This would allow for teams to grow and would ensure every match counts.

Also I would include USA and Canada in the groups. After all they are pacific nations. If we are serious about growing the game, while having competitive pacific nations is important, We need to develop some nations that have the possibility of contributing serious revenue in the future. Having USA and Canada competing regularly in Pacific Cup B against NRL and qld cup players would fast track there development.

 

[Pommy]

Does it matter if they had played for there nation of heritage first before the kiwis JT, Taupau etc

The timing once again isn’t the best but it’s exciting to see where the international game can go from here.

The timing is the big issue why wait until a week before? It’s just disrespectful to the coach and your team mates. There’s absolutely no excuse for it really.

 

[Pommy]

Add the always forgotten Cook Islands and you have a far better 4-way

Why would you pick cooks over PNG or Fiji? It’s pretty much the Isle of Man in the pacific.

 

[Clarkent]

The timing is the big issue why wait until a week before? It’s just disrespectful to the coach and your team mates. There’s absolutely no excuse for it really.

Disrespectful? Kiwis and kangaroos have been pulling players out of the island nations teams last minute for years... For example Fifita when he got picked for Tonga a few years ago and kangaroos had injury and they had to let the Tongan team know they want Fifita back... When the shoes on the other foot it's disrespectful?

 

[Pommy]

Disrespectful? Kiwis and kangaroos have been pulling players out of the island nations teams last minute for years... For example Fifita when he got picked for Tonga a few years ago and kangaroos had injury and they had to let the Tongan team know they want Fifita back... When the shoes on the other foot it's disrespectful?

No they haven’t players have been doing it. When Fifita dropped Tonga for the kangaroos at the last minute it was disrespectful as well.
None of these teams have the power to pull players from anywhere, it’s all the players.
There’s absolutely no need for players to be doing this when the teams have been named. It not like Tapau was a surprise inclusion for the kiwis.

 

[taste2taste]

Hopefully the next TV deal has 3 stand alone rep weekends.

Aussie can play amongst themselves and the rest of us can have some meaningful internationals.

As others have said, the NRL season is way too long...but that's what the clubs and networks want. It's not only origin but also the NRL that inhibits the growth of the international game.

 

[Pommy]

Hopefully the next TV deal has 3 stand alone rep weekends.

Aussie can play amongst themselves and the rest of us can have some meaningful internationals.

As others have said, the NRL season is way too long...but that's what the clubs and networks want. It's not only origin but also the NRL that inhibits the growth of the international game.

Do the viewing figures for NRL games around origin change like the crowd figures?
The networks want games and previously they never had the option of quality rep games to broadcast if you could fill the weekend with origin then another 2 or 3 games between the islands perhaps it’s something the could get onboard with.