Of the 322 players in the 14 teams that competed in the 2013 World Cup: 36% Australian / 18% NZ / 21% English. So from 14 "International Teams", 75% of all players were born in just those 3 countries. -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Rugby_League_World_Cup_squads
And of the ones "born" in some of the "Home Nations", they spent less than the first year of their life there before moving to their current country. So in all honesty, the true number of "domestic players" is less than 20% for the entire player group.
The rules for the WC allow for 100% of the entire squad to be heritage players, for any nation.
The Irony: The RLIF excepts those in developing countries to grow the game, with very little if any financial support. So this means the players, coaches, administrators, who in most cases are 100% volunteers, do all the hard work at the grass roots level. They spend their own money, give up their seasons, etc. Just the same as players and coaches do in the "Big Three" at any level under NRL. They work jobs, train, play, travel, pay for hotels, car rentals, update websites, pay for advertising, operate the ticket gate on game day, wash the gear, line the fields, etc. etc. etc.
Yet there is not a single rule to protect these players, when it comes time to represent their nation in what we are told, is the greatest honor in our sport.
Minimum domestic player number MUST be added to the rules to protect those who are giving this game more than any other group of people in its international development.
There are two BIG ISSUES, with the current International Player Rules that need to be addressed:
(i) Players changing nations, or choosing nations based on heritage, mostly in sight of money. It is hard to come down on players who are making their living for doing that, BUT they should not be allowed change inside a WC cycle. And NO PLAYER should ever be allowed play for more than 2 nations. (ii) The number of domestic players selected in National teams needs to be mandated. For the game to grow outside current nations, there must be domestic competitions. The only way this happens is if there is some kind of protection for the domestic players when it comes to international games.
Personally I would like to see 51% of all SQUADS made up of domestic players. This would mean all national teams are "a majority" of domestic players. And in the WC where SQUADS are 24 players, this means 13 must be domestic and 11 can be heritage players.
It is fair to say that the 11 heritage players would be named in the 17 name team for games. If a national needs more than 11 players in a team who are heritage players, then they need to do more work on the domestic front.
This gives domestic players the opportunity to be coached, and experience the game at it's highest level, AND be rewarded by having the HONOR of representing their HOME NATION.
It also gives domestic fans, supporters, team mates, sponsors, etc. a TRUE CONNECTION with the team, by seeing faces and names they are familiar with.
And for clarity, I consider a DOMESTIC PLAYER, any player who is eligible as a Citizen or Resident based on current RLIF rules, who has registered and played a minimum of one season in his selected country.
This means eligible players from a country who have played one or more seasons in their homeland, but now playing overseas to gain experience, etc. count as domestic. International players who qualify thru "Heritage Citizenship" who have committed to at least a season in their selected country (thus helping grow the domestic game) would also be domestic players.
Yet those heritage players who reside outside of their "selected" country, and thus not directly contributed to the domestic growth of the game, would be one of the "49" percent heritage players.
They rules must protect the best domestic players in developing nations, who are not only playing for free, but in MOST cases paying to play, personally funding the development, etc. And an incentive given to Heritage players who are willing to spend a season in their "selected overseas nation" to grow the game.
