Fiji RLWC squad

[hutch]

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.

 

[Joker's Wild]

You bring in tighter rules like that and you'll see NRL and ESL players play for the big 3 and the big 3 only because that is where the $$ are.

Who is stopping other countries holding mid season tests? Tonga and Samoa played mid season this very year

It simply isnt as black and white as you are making out mate. Id like it to be but the fact is our game isnt strong enough Internationally to impose such restrictions and have a viable product that people, especially casual RL viewers will want to watch. The Fiji side will attract more viewers if Uate and the Sims bros are playing as opposed to them not.

 

[hutch]

You bring in tighter rules like that and you'll see NRL and ESL players play for the big 3 and the big 3 only because that is where the $$ are.

There are only 20 or so spots a year for the Aussie team, that means the other 100 nrl players in this years World Cup will stay at home? I don't think so. Make it more attractive to commit to a country and players will.

Who is stopping other countries holding mid season tests? Tonga and Samoa played mid season this very year

And it was a great game, but we need more of them and we need these countries also playing full strength tests in their actual countries. Why is it ok for 34 Aussie players to stand down from their clubs for 3 games a year but pacific countries have had to fight so hard for one weekend? Why cant nz get their origin rep games off the ground they have been asking for for years. The international weekend is a start, more of these and plenty of players will want to be a part of it.

 

[Joker's Wild]

There are only 20 or so spots a year for the Aussie team, that means the other 100 nrl players in this years World Cup will stay at home? I don't think so. Make it more attractive to commit to a country and players will.

24 in the Aussie squad, 24 in NZ and 24 in England. Thats 72 by my count.

Regardless I agree, they need to make it more attractive but as it stands its hard to compete with the $$ a SOO and Roos jersey comes with as opposed to Tonga, Samoa or Fiji. Most players who have at least an outside chase of making a SOO team will opt not to play for a smaller country if it means they rule themselves out of contention

And it was a great game, but we need more of them and we need these countries also playing full strength tests in their actual countries. Why is it ok for 34 Aussie players to stand down from their clubs for 3 games a year but pacific countries have had to fight so hard for one weekend? Why cant nz get their origin rep games off the ground they have been asking for for years. The international weekend is a start, more of these and plenty of players will want to be a part of it.

Again, not Australias doing. The kiwis need to get off their own arse and get the ball rolling themselves, ditto for the pac islanders.

Its just too convenient to blame Australia for the lack of Int'l games. Its utter tripe

 

[roughyedspud]

i could have sworn ive woke up and its october 1st 2008


and im pretty sure i called a few of you idiots back then too...

 

[Springs]

i could have sworn ive woke up and its october 1st 2008


and im pretty sure i called a few of you idiots back then too...

You could wake up in any week and hutch would be whinging about eligibility being a joke.

Nobody is doubting his fijianess, he simply should not be able to do as he pleases. He has now broken the already weak rules twice, he shouldn't be allowed to play for anybody but Australia in this World Cup. It is a joke, if you can't see that than you're an idiot. What's next, feleti mateo play for England this year, Australia the next and then back to tonga the year after? When does it end?

Overreact much? One player has switched back to his proper nation and suddenly it's 'you're an idiot if you don't think it's a joke' :roll:

For f**k's sake deal with it and shut up. Yeah the rules aren't the best but it's how it is at the moment and Uate playing for Fiji is not hurting anyone.

 

[roughyedspud]

hutch is'nt a idiot though....we just have different views on origin....everything else we agree on pretty much..

 

[Joker's Wild]

i could have sworn ive woke up and its october 1st 2008


and im pretty sure i called a few of you idiots back then too...

Yeah that wouldn't surprise me if you did. Calling names and offering nothing else is pretty much your trademark

 

[hutch]

You could wake up in any week and hutch would be whinging about eligibility being a joke.



Overreact much? One player has switched back to his proper nation and suddenly it's 'you're an idiot if you don't think it's a joke' :roll:

For f**k's sake deal with it and shut up. Yeah the rules aren't the best but it's how it is at the moment and Uate playing for Fiji is not hurting anyone.

As I said, you're an idiot if you don't believe our rules hold our sport back.

 

[roughyedspud]

Yeah that wouldn't surprise me if you did. Calling names and offering nothing else is pretty much your trademark

offered nothing??? lol

look jog on back to whichever section of the board you wasted 14k posts on cos you've sure not used them here on the international board......or else you'd know what i've offered up in terms of fixing international RL...

 

[Joker's Wild]

You offer whinging and little else from the posts Ive read of yours over the years. Yes years champ

Blaming Australia is primary amongst your little list of gripes

 

[Springs]

As I said, you're an idiot if you don't believe our rules hold our sport back.

No, you're a narrow minded f**kwit if you think someone having a different opinion on rules than you makes them an idiot.

 

[roughyedspud]

You offer whinging and little else from the posts Ive read of yours over the years. Yes years champ

Blaming Australia is primary amongst your little list of gripes

lol ok cupcake

 

[hutch]

No, you're a narrow minded f**kwit if you think someone having a different opinion on rules than you makes them an idiot.

Not really, I'm just passionate about international rugby league and want to see it reach its potential. If that upsets tools like you, so be it.

 

[mikkolos]

Not really, I'm just passionate about international rugby league and want to see it reach its potential. If that upsets tools like you, so be it.

I rarely post here, mainly just come in for news and info and such, but yeah, firstly youre not f**ked for calling someone with a differing opinion to you an idiot if they are just talking shit for no reason, clearly not the case here.

How do you expect countries to improve without getting results. It just isnt going to happen. Results arent going to happen without heritage players contributing to performance Heritage players arent going to commit fully for another country because of the monetary benefits, exposure, and frequency of games. The only one out of those 3 reasons that could feasibly change is the frequency of games, which i agree, should definitely increase for smaller nations.

The only people who consider players like uate swapping back ridiculous, and a joke, are the people who are supposedly so passionate and caring about international rugby league that they throw all sense out the window when it comes to improving international rugby league with the intention of keeping it "legitimate" and "pure". Guess what. No soccer fans, the biggest international sport in the world, would even notice if similar things happened in their sport.

Bottom line. Our sport will grow internationally with a successful world cup. Our world cup being successful will depend on countries being competitive and putting on a good show, not being able to brag about having a full team of domestic players. Noone gives a shit.

 

[Evil Homer]

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.

This isn't true, at all. The biggest issue is the lack of a legitimate RLIF and the lack of a structured international schedule for all nations.

The situation right now means that players aren't ever going to commit to nations like Fiji if they have the choice, because Fiji haven't played a legit match with their strongest team since 2009. The same goes for the Cook Islands. Samoa and Tonga have played once. Australia and NZ have played three major tournaments in that time as well as numerous ANZAC tests etc. And when Australia and NZ have far higher match payments, it's a complete no-brainer for any player regardless of who they would prefer to play for. So the result is, we have nation swapping. Eliminate the above issues and the need for nation-swapping would disappear. But right now trying to force top players to commit to nations that don't pay and play 1-2 matches in 4 years isn't ever going to work.

 

[Joker's Wild]

I rarely post here, mainly just come in for news and info and such, but yeah, firstly youre not f**ked for calling someone with a differing opinion to you an idiot if they are just talking shit for no reason, clearly not the case here.

How do you expect countries to improve without getting results. It just isnt going to happen. Results arent going to happen without heritage players contributing to performance Heritage players arent going to commit fully for another country because of the monetary benefits, exposure, and frequency of games. The only one out of those 3 reasons that could feasibly change is the frequency of games, which i agree, should definitely increase for smaller nations.

The only people who consider players like uate swapping back ridiculous, and a joke, are the people who are supposedly so passionate and caring about international rugby league that they throw all sense out the window when it comes to improving international rugby league with the intention of keeping it "legitimate" and "pure". Guess what. No soccer fans, the biggest international sport in the world, would even notice if similar things happened in their sport.

Bottom line. Our sport will grow internationally with a successful world cup. Our world cup being successful will depend on countries being competitive and putting on a good show, not being able to brag about having a full team of domestic players. Noone gives a shit.

This isn't true, at all. The biggest issue is the lack of a legitimate RLIF and the lack of a structured international schedule for all nations.

The situation right now means that players aren't ever going to commit to nations like Fiji if they have the choice, because Fiji haven't played a legit match with their strongest team since 2009. The same goes for the Cook Islands. Samoa and Tonga have played once. Australia and NZ have played three major tournaments in that time as well as numerous ANZAC tests etc. And when Australia and NZ have far higher match payments, it's a complete no-brainer for any player regardless of who they would prefer to play for. So the result is, we have nation swapping. Eliminate the above issues and the need for nation-swapping would disappear. But right now trying to force top players to commit to nations that don't pay and play 1-2 matches in 4 years isn't ever going to work.

Well said gentlemen. Unfortunately your sense is wasted on certain posters in here who cant see past their own narrow ideas about why players play representative RL. Like anyone, they do what is best for their careers given the limited options available to them.

We'd all like to live in the land of lollipops and rainbows but sadly that just isnt reality

 

[hutch]

I rarely post here, mainly just come in for news and info and such, but yeah, firstly youre not f**ked for calling someone with a differing opinion to you an idiot if they are just talking shit for no reason, clearly not the case here.

How do you expect countries to improve without getting results. It just isnt going to happen. Results arent going to happen without heritage players contributing to performance Heritage players arent going to commit fully for another country because of the monetary benefits, exposure, and frequency of games. The only one out of those 3 reasons that could feasibly change is the frequency of games, which i agree, should definitely increase for smaller nations.

The only people who consider players like uate swapping back ridiculous, and a joke, are the people who are supposedly so passionate and caring about international rugby league that they throw all sense out the window when it comes to improving international rugby league with the intention of keeping it "legitimate" and "pure". Guess what. No soccer fans, the biggest international sport in the world, would even notice if similar things happened in their sport.

Bottom line. Our sport will grow internationally with a successful world cup. Our world cup being successful will depend on countries being competitive and putting on a good show, not being able to brag about having a full team of domestic players. Noone gives a shit.

Who said anything about teams full of domestic players? All I said was that there needs to be rules in place to stop players from swapping nations at will, just as other successful sports have done. Our rules are quite lenient already and they are still being broken.
I agree, our sport needs a successful World Cup to grow and this one will be the biggest yet hopefully.

 

[hutch]

This isn't true, at all. The biggest issue is the lack of a legitimate RLIF and the lack of a structured international schedule for all nations.

The situation right now means that players aren't ever going to commit to nations like Fiji if they have the choice, because Fiji haven't played a legit match with their strongest team since 2009. The same goes for the Cook Islands. Samoa and Tonga have played once. Australia and NZ have played three major tournaments in that time as well as numerous ANZAC tests etc. And when Australia and NZ have far higher match payments, it's a complete no-brainer for any player regardless of who they would prefer to play for. So the result is, we have nation swapping. Eliminate the above issues and the need for nation-swapping would disappear. But right now trying to force top players to commit to nations that don't pay and play 1-2 matches in 4 years isn't ever going to work.

Fair points, lack of a strong governing body and meaningful schedule are definitely holding nations such as Fiji back, which I have said along.

 

[hutch]

Well said gentlemen. Unfortunately your sense is wasted on certain posters in here who cant see past their own narrow ideas about why players play representative RL. Like anyone, they do what is best for their careers given the limited options available to them.

We'd all like to live in the land of lollipops and rainbows but sadly that just isnt reality

Please, I have had close mates play for png, Wales, tonga, Italy and Australia. I know exactly why they played for these countries in past world cups and the one coming up and what it means to them and their families.
And I would hardly call my own ideas about rep RL narrow, all I want is for the sport to have long term vision and to stop going for the quick fix. A lot has changed since the 1995 wc, but a lot has also stayed the same which IMO holds our sport back.