Eligibilty thread

[giboz71]

Without wanting to come across as a rude prick, I kind of feel like this defeatist attitude is more the problem rather than the so called stacked Lebanese team.. A handful of NRL players - a mix of has beens and up and comers - should not be the scapegoat for a French loss. They also have a number of current super league players, and players from second tier comps that wouldn't be a dissimilar standard to Q and NSW cup comps where the majority of the Lebanese team is from. I would have thought that France should have nailed this but choked, and the fact they didn't may be a reflection of coaching and attitude rather than standard of players. It is disappointing, but they should have beaten lebanon. Blaming heritage rules is poor considering France has from my understanding good level domestic comps, as well as top level fully professional teams playing in England. Did they have a number of players unavailable, or was this their best possible squad?

Yeh I get all that. And I agree, they only have themselves to blame for the loss.

They are missing some first choice players, Remi Casty being the one big name missing. Morgan Escare is a decent SL fullback and Tony Gigot, another SL back is suspended. A few others as well who slip my mind.

I agree, the lack of professionalism is the problem. A lot of the Aussie based boys playing over there say the same thing, plus their attitude to training etc. This is where a guy like Fittler and NRL based Lebanon players made such a difference. Their professionalism lifted the entire squad. The Lebanon boys played out of their skins on the weekend so full credit to them.

This is where the French are lacking and must improve.

 

[Irish-bulldog]

Yeh I get all that. And I agree, they only have themselves to blame for the loss.

They are missing some first choice players, Remi Casty being the one big name missing. Morgan Escare is a decent SL fullback and Tony Gigot, another SL back is suspended. A few others as well who slip my mind.

I agree, the lack of professionalism is the problem. A lot of the Aussie based boys playing over there say the same thing, plus their attitude to training etc. This is where a guy like Fittler and NRL based Lebanon players made such a difference. Their professionalism lifted the entire squad. The Lebanon boys played out of their skins on the weekend so full credit to them.

This is where the French are lacking and must improve.

Great post ! The small things matter the 1%'s matter. I have been following Ireland on Facebook, along with wales and Scotland, Italy, seems like they are all hitting the piss and enjoying themselves. But this won't help the Irish beat png ! I see a real lack of professionalism from the home nations , not sure what France has been up too.

 

[giboz71]

Great post ! The small things matter the 1%'s matter. I have been following Ireland on Facebook, along with wales and Scotland, Italy, seems like they are all hitting the piss and enjoying themselves. But this won't help the Irish beat png ! I see a real lack of professionalism from the home nations , not sure what France has been up too.

The French boys are taking it serious, but as I say it's the little things. For instance, they are required to fit in some official duties along with their training (e.g. spending time with the French Ambassador in Canberra), but the players wake up and there is no schedule for the day. They just get told last minute what they are doing. Plans change constantly as well and the players just have to keep up.

I know that's only a little thing, but I couldn't imagine that sort of amateur hour at the Kangaroos. They have had months to prepare for the tournament so I would have thought a little thing like scheduling would have been all sorted.

 

[Irish-bulldog]

The French boys are taking it serious, but as I say it's the little things. For instance, they are required to fit in some official duties along with their training (e.g. spending time with the French Ambassador in Canberra), but the players wake up and there is no schedule for the day. They just get told last minute what they are doing. Plans change constantly as well and the players just have to keep up.

I know that's only a little thing, but I couldn't imagine that sort of amateur hour at the Kangaroos. They have had months to prepare for the tournament so I would have thought a little thing like scheduling would have been all sorted.

Agreed, they need to prepare better for major tournaments, otherwise they will never win anything, every country is improving gotta keep up.

 

[the beavers]

from the australian in aug 2017 re wallabies...
"Five of his starting side against the All Blacks on Saturday night have an overseas location on their birth certificates. Five more have foreign heritages."
those numbers would be pretty similar to the lebanese, fijian, samoan sides etc yet some how only rugby league has an eligibility crisis.
look at the long history of south africans in the english cricket side... long after the ban was lifted
how many olympians have we sent to olympics after they switched from other countries..... no one complained then....esp in the case of the canadian moguls guy(cant remeber his name)..because he happened to be a gold medal favourite.

I thouroughly applaud france and the usa for CHOOSING to use domestic players only. But the eligibility rules were available to them too.

Enjoy the world cup
enjoy other countries being competitve
enjoy the possibility of a final the may not automaticlly feature australia and nz

get a bit fired up but am just sick of the deathriding and automatic negativity that seems to follow anything rugby league

 

[Raiderdave]

I already said, because Union is seen as an event. Do you think people who go to see Japan play know who the players are and where they are from? Do you think they spend an hour looking at their wiki pages so they know where the players are born? Do they see Craig Wing is playing and decide they aren't going?

If it was an 8 team World Cup and France were playing Wales in Canberra with 100% national players do you think it would get a bigger crowd than the Lebanon game?

Also go and tell the Fijian players they aren't Fijian, that'd be a laugh.

Union's eligibility laws are as bad as ours if not worse. The residency rule is garbage. The most criticism we get is when Radradra plays for Australia or Rangi Chase plays for England. And I agree with that criticism. But Union does the same. The heritage rule is fine. In fact it's the only way Tonga and Samoa can have a competitive team and that includes in Union. There is not a player in the Tongan team that you couldn't call Tongan, and all the Tongans I know support them to the fullest. The support has also been seen in Tonga and NZ.

And in the last RUWC Samoa and Tonga both had at least 13 heritage players. And both only had 1 or 2 that played in the domestic comp.

yeah
I'll tell Jarrad Hayne is isn't a Fijian
he'll be devasated
I'll also tell Andrew Fifita hes not Tongan , I'll have the audacity to suggest they're both Australian to their faces. I know they'll be shocked but .. ah well , someones gotta tell em.

 

[Raiderdave]

This point that unions eligibility rules are as bad or worse then ours needs to be put in perspective
Most Australians wouldn't know any tongan or samoan union players, or others from most union nations if they fell over them , so its easy to get away with fielding heritage players in their world cup teams

Here in Australia the NRL is the most watched sporting competition in the nation
you wanna put aussie NRL players in Italian , Fijian or Tongan jumpers
people will notice
they're not on board with it & the poor attendances are an indicator
end of!

 

[parrawentyfan]

I don't mind eligibility the through heritage but think it should be limited to parents not grandparents.

 

[Pommy]

yeah
I'll tell Jarrad Hayne is isn't a Fijian
he'll be devasated
I'll also tell Andrew Fifita hes not Tongan , I'll have the audacity to suggest they're both Australian to their faces. I know they'll be shocked but .. ah well , someones gotta tell em.

What is Gareth Widopp out of interest?

 

[whall15]

The problem isn't eligibility really (though you could probably argue that residency should be tightened to citizenship), it's the lack of organisation of international rugby league.

If we had a Pacific Cup every year or second year with Hayne playing exclusively for Fiji; Lolo for Tonga etc and making playing for the smaller nations permanently more viable it wouldn't be a problem really.

 

[Raiderdave]

What is Gareth Widopp out of interest?

who'd know
Ukranian ?

 

[Pommy]

who'd know
Ukranian ?

I thought you were the expert that’s all. He arrived here as a minor if that helps.

 

[Raiderdave]

I thought you were the expert that’s all. He arrived here as a minor if that helps.

well pal , my field of expertise is aussies who've never set foot in the nation they are representing pretending to be other nationalities
Although I'd think Gareth is a lot more of a legit pom then Chris Heighington

 

[Pommy]

well pal , my field of expertise is aussies who've never set foot in the nation they are representing pretending to be other nationalities
Although I'd think Gareth is a lot more of a legit pom then Chris Heighington

It’s a funny situation the World has changed.

I would like to think anyone born or raised in a country would aspire to play for that country. If for whatever reason they are not selected then they should look at taking up other options. But that is just my opinion.

My wife has spent less time in Vietnam than I have, yet she switches between claiming to be Aussie and Viet depending on the situation.
She is very proud to be Aussie and loves the country (sadly for me refusing to leave it) but also loves the culture of her heritage.

I’m not sure it’s easy to say what is black and white in these situations in 2017.

 

[Springs09]

It’s a funny situation the World has changed.

I would like to think anyone born or raised in a country would aspire to play for that country. If for whatever reason they are not selected then they should look at taking up other options. But that is just my opinion.

My wife has spent less time in Vietnam than I have, yet she switches between claiming to be Aussie and Viet depending on the situation.
She is very proud to be Aussie and loves the country (sadly for me refusing to leave it) but also loves the culture of her heritage.

I’m not sure it’s easy to say what is black and white in these situations in 2017.

You serious? Don't you know that your birthplace is all that matters?

Oh except when it comes to Union, if you're unknown by the Australian public then playing for your heritage is all good. It's when you're a big name and play for your heritage that makes it a joke. That's why Tonga v Samoa will be lucky to get 3,000 while the born-and-bred French team sold out Canberra Stadium last week.

 

[Raiderdave]

It’s a funny situation the World has changed.

I would like to think anyone born or raised in a country would aspire to play for that country. If for whatever reason they are not selected then they should look at taking up other options. But that is just my opinion.

My wife has spent less time in Vietnam than I have, yet she switches between claiming to be Aussie and Viet depending on the situation.
She is very proud to be Aussie and loves the country (sadly for me refusing to leave it) but also loves the culture of her heritage.

I’m not sure it’s easy to say what is black and white in these situations in 2017.

the issue is the aussie heritage players turning out for the minnows
All Australians will see is an attempt to bolster the minnows to make them competitive
rightly or wrongly it is black & white for most
they won't care about other sports or development etc
maybe we're being too picky
maybe we're spoilt
its what it is tho

 

[Raiderdave]

You serious? Don't you know that your birthplace is all that matters?

Oh except when it comes to Union, if you're unknown by the Australian public then playing for your heritage is all good. It's when you're a big name and play for your heritage that makes it a joke. That's why Tonga v Samoa will be lucky to get 3,000 while the born-and-bred French team sold out Canberra Stadium last week.

get a grip & join us in the real world
Australians are naturally sceptical & cynical & not easily fooled
are you even Australian ?
if not , don't lecture us
k : ) ?

 

[kiwileaguefan]

yeah
I'll tell Jarrad Hayne is isn't a Fijian
he'll be devasated
I'll also tell Andrew Fifita hes not Tongan , I'll have the audacity to suggest they're both Australian to their faces. I know they'll be shocked but .. ah well , someones gotta tell em.

Hayne looked devastated when he played against Fiji in the 2013 RLWC semi finals and ripped them up

 

[Pommy]

the issue is the aussie heritage players turning out for the minnows
All Australians will see is an attempt to bolster the minnows to make them competitive
rightly or wrongly it is black & white for most
they won't care about other sports or development etc
maybe we're being too picky
maybe we're spoilt
its what it is tho

It’s the World Cup not the Australian Cup.

 

[kiwileaguefan]

https://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/...d-kiwi-kevin-proctors-scottish-switch-attempt

And this is why many Kiwi supporters are calling the RLWC a joke. While he didn't qualify for Scotland, the fact they were willing to accommodate him if he did qualify is pathetic....little wonder there is no domestic comp in Scotland.