4 nations 4th team

[MountainMan]

big potential for Samoa if they were to get the more top tier NRl players e.g Matai,Taufua,SBW,Nuuisala,Milford etc

 

[Scubby]

what nigel wood nees to do is actually publish the eligibilty laws so there can be no doubts or queries as to what the laws are because everyone from players,coaches,adminstrators & journos all have different answers...

take feleti mateo,scott carter publicly stated he was a tongan player until he actually plays for australia,nsw selection meant nothing....then he missed out on the world cup because someone told tonga he couldn't play because he "elected" to switch nations....

thats bollocks....danny brough "elected" to switch from scotland to england....and still played for scotland

Canberra will not make the play-offs so watch out for a strategic selection for the PM XIII to play PNG. Then Tim Sheens leaving everybody hanging until a week from the first game.

That is usually the Aussie way.

Or he could just come out after the regular rounds and say Milford isn't in my plans for the Kangaroos and Samoa can get on with actually preparing for a campaign.

 

[ozenzud]

It just lacks vision, that the NRL concentrates all it's resources on hyping the SOO beyond what any reasonable person would see as sensible, and ignoring to ENORMOUS potential of the pacific islands.


In any short term period, Oz will win any series. But if there is a onging, financially rewarding, sustainable comp, imagine if we had Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, PNG, NZ, maybe the Cooks and other islands on a lower tier, competing regularly, each year in meaningful test matches. Yes, watching Oz win every game is boring, but watching the next tier down is excellent. That Samoa/Tonga match last year was an absolute cracker!

If we could get a number of players committing to these test match sides rather than a foot in both camps would be the ultimate and give RL a boost throughout the pacific and probably the world.

 

[paulmac]

How good would it be to see SBW in a Samoan jersey v the Kearney coached kiwis.I reckon the hype around that would be front and back page here and in NZ.Seriously Samoa could spring an upset if they could get a few players to answer Samoas call.Matai ,SBW ,FPN, Thomas Leulai and Milford in the halves etc

 

[roughyedspud]

Canberra will not make the play-offs so watch out for a strategic selection for the PM XIII to play PNG. Then Tim Sheens leaving everybody hanging until a week from the first game.

That is usually the Aussie way.

Or he could just come out after the regular rounds and say Milford isn't in my plans for the Kangaroos and Samoa can get on with actually preparing for a campaign.

playing for the pm13 side means nothing

 

[Scubby]

playing for the pm13 side means nothing

Maybe not, but it will mean all this p***y mess will continue right up to the eve of the tournament.

Sheens will want everything stacked in his favour including having every position covered x 3 until he has to name a final squad. The RLIF will let them too.

 

[1 Eyed TEZZA]

How good would it be to see SBW in a Samoan jersey v the Kearney coached kiwis.I reckon the hype around that would be front and back page here and in NZ.Seriously Samoa could spring an upset if they could get a few players to answer Samoas call.Matai ,SBW ,FPN, Thomas Leulai and Milford in the halves etc

Re SBW, I think it would look pretty shit seeing as he's not Samoan.

 

[hitman51]

Re SBW, I think it would look pretty shit seeing as he's not Samoan.

:roll:

 

[minorthreat]

Re SBW, I think it would look pretty shit seeing as he's not Samoan.

Hes as Samoan as Milford is.

 

[hutch]

Hes as Samoan as Milford is.

Almost. Sbw has one Samoan parent, Milford two. Both qualify the same way tho.

 

[deal.with.it]

Samoa has complained that they can never build consistency by having the same team play. Picking SBW and Millford would be very shortsighted.

There is nothing stopping Samoa picking players that aren't eligible for origin, and pose little risk of changing allegiences.

 

[roughyedspud]

have samoa actually complained though??

pacific teams have a history of congratulating players that "progress" to origin..

 

[roughyedspud]

can we get a comprehensive list of what the state of play is with the domestic leagues in the pacific?


PNG & fiji are'nt really a concern,the cooks league is relative to the size of the island(6-8 teams? iirc)

but what about tonga & samoa??.....google search chuck up nothing

 

[deal.with.it]

Yes on their facebook page they have in the week leading to the pacific test

 

[roughyedspud]

complained to who though??...the RLIF or just a whinging facebook status???

 

[deal.with.it]

both

 

[roughyedspud]

if seen the facebook thing...