hutch
First Grade
- Messages
- 6,810
It ends when the Int'l game is strong enough to offer players the payment and incentives they deserve to play for the non-big 3 countries AND when the ARL stop forcing SOO players to declare their Int'l alligance to Australia.
The arl can pick whoever they choose for their own domestic rep series. If they want only Australian players playing for Australian states then that is fine. What they shouldn't have the right to do is poach another countries player such as uate, and stop other countries from also holding their own mid season rep/test series. Uate was a Fijian test player, he should not of even be eligible for Australia and nsw and certainly should not be allowed to switch back for the rlwc.
Denying the smaller nations access to players who haven't been selected for Aust/NZ/England doesnt help one bit no matter how much of a "joke" you think it makes of the game. The bigger joke is watching nobodies line up against superstars and getting the stuffing belted out of them. That does far more damage to the credibility of the WC than a couple of players moving teams
Allowing nations to pick players who miss out on the big 3 just for a quick fix is by far the biggest issue damaging the international sport. It is quite simple, tighten the rules regarding nation swapping to either a one nation rule or allowing one switch after a 4 year stand down rule and create a meaningful test schedule for all nations for mid year when the Aussies play origin and post nrl/super league seasons to give players with dual nationality a fairer choice. Nobody is talking about nobodies playing against superstars, it is simply about building foundations so that these countries are competitive in a decades time with a group of committed players representing their country.