New Zealand 2 will deal a massive blow to NZ rugby

[Wb1234]

It definitely was once upon a time mate, I remember clearly because there were so many no-name Queenslanders in the OZ side over my favourite New South Welshman purely because Qld had won Origin.

Remember the origin where they had a mid origin tour of nz? Where terry fearnley left out qld players

Then the final game they scored and Greg Dowling went up to fearnley on the bench and screamed looked at the scoreboard

That was peak origin

Every single year the king would win games all by himself

Man I hated him

 

[flippikat]

It definitely was once upon a time mate, I remember clearly because there were so many no-name Queenslanders in the OZ side over my favourite New South Welshman purely because Qld had won Origin.

Precisely.

While being in a winning Origin team doesn't guarantee a Kangaroos spot, it certainly helps.

 

[Wb1234]

At least the conversation has started..

NRL new 2025: Phil Gould backs State of Origin eligibility overhaul, internationals | ANALYSIS

See how this gets messy ?

 

[Gobsmacked]

It definitely was once upon a time mate, I remember clearly because there were so many no-name Queenslanders in the OZ side over my favourite New South Welshman purely because Qld had won Origin.

It's never been a f**king " trial "

 

[Gobsmacked]

By this logic all NRL games are just " trials " for Origin.

 

[Wb1234]

By this logic all NRL games are just " trials " for Origin.

City country used to be a trial for origin until it wasn’t

 

[Mother Nature's Son]

It's never been a f**king " trial "

Bloody hell, ok, yes first and foremost it was NSW vs. Qld, but it also did decide who played for Australia that year.

 

[Perth Red]

Bloody hell, ok, yes first and foremost it was NSW vs. Qld, but it also did decide who played for Australia that year.

Has t for Avery long time. When qlnd kept winning and winning and winning yet plenty of nsw players got picked for kanagaroos it lost any legitimacy of being a trial for test team.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Only in the last 2 decades could you say that the best 17 aren't all Australian and it's increasingly not the case.
It's what we want for the international game.
Origin won't be the pinnacle of the sport for much longer, a decade at best.

I love the trajectory of the international game, but the top 17 are overwhelming Australian

Edwards
To'o
Latrell
Turbo / Crichton
Lomax / Coates
Luai / Munster
Cleary
Haas
Grant
JFH
Crichton
Martin
Yeo

Carrigan
Tino
Leota
Ponga

Only S. Crichton and JFH on that list aren't Australian born and developed

 

[titoelcolombiano]

1. Uncouple SOO from international eligibility
2. Pick an international team and once you have played for them, no switching ever

Allows a player playing for any international team to play origin, provided they meet the Origin eligibility rules (AFB, Radley, Ponga are great examples)

Removing the nation switching gives more credibility to the international game

 

[Gobsmacked]

I love the trajectory of the international game, but the top 17 are overwhelming Australian

Edwards
To'o
Latrell
Turbo / Crichton
Lomax / Coates
Luai / Munster
Cleary
Haas
Grant
JFH
Crichton
Martin
Yeo

Carrigan
Tino
Leota
Ponga

Only S. Crichton and JFH on that list aren't Australian born and developed

Very debatable and pending availability on half that team. Farnsworth, olukoato, Tapanie are a few that come to mind and you might loose Haas and Ponga if it weren't for Origin

 

[Gobsmacked]

1. Uncouple SOO from international eligibility
2. Pick an international team and once you have played for them, no switching ever

Allows a player playing for any international team to play origin, provided they meet the Origin eligibility rules (AFB, Radley, Ponga are great examples)

Removing the nation switching gives more credibility to the international game

Teddy played for Italy and I don’t think I'd want that changed, it's really helpful for developing nations. I think There's England, France, Australia, Samoa, Tonga, NZ, PNG and FIJI that should be tier 1 and once you've picked your tier 1 nation that can't change.
Origin definitely needs to be decoupled from internationals.

 

[Mother Nature's Son]

So if you throw Origin eligibility rules out the window who does someone like Herbie Farnworth play for ? Queensland ? Thus Queensland only having 4 teams and NSW having 9 doesn`t that mean they are much more likely to have foreign players thereby have more to choose from ? This strikes me as an unfair advantage that QLD won`t cop.

Or do we have the ridiculous situation where someone like Farnsworth can play for whoever he wants.

 

[Perth Red]

So if you throw Origin eligibility rules out the window who does someone like Herbie Farnworth play for ? Queensland ? Thus Queensland only having 4 teams and NSW having 9 doesn`t that mean they are much more likely to have foreign players thereby have more to choose from ? This strikes me as an unfair advantage that QLD won`t cop.

Or do we have the ridiculous situation where someone like Farnsworth can play for whoever he wants.

No one is suggesting changing the eligibility rules in terms of Jnr playing location and age to be eligible. Just not treating Int allegiance differently.

Farnworth will never be eligible for Origin as he didnt play in either state before age of 13. No one is suggesting changing that. Radley however who was born and has played in NSW all his life should be eligible for NSw, even if he chooses to play for england.

 

[flippikat]

Back to topic, disturbing chat on the Bears thread about the Perth Bears potentially falling over & speculation on the chance that the Bears become NZ2 (based in Christchurch).

A red & black team, based in Christchurch?? Now that would be a hard sell to anyone north of the Waimakariri river or south of the Rakaia.

 

[Trifili13]

Back to topic, disturbing chat on the Bears thread about the Perth Bears potentially falling over & speculation on the chance that the Bears become NZ2 (based in Christchurch).

A red & black team, based in Christchurch?? Now that would be a hard sell to anyone north of the Waimakariri river or south of the Rakaia.

Obviously colours match. Serious question, would a Christchurch based team accept a linkage to the Bears?

 

[Trifili13]

Just read your comment in the Perth thread.

 

[Gobsmacked]

Back to topic, disturbing chat on the Bears thread about the Perth Bears potentially falling over & speculation on the chance that the Bears become NZ2 (based in Christchurch).

A red & black team, based in Christchurch?? Now that would be a hard sell to anyone north of the Waimakariri river or south of the Rakaia.

Speculation from where exactly?

 

[T-Boon]

Aside from Soccer we have always been a backwater for other sports and even stuff like music despite having a good amount of Rugby Union and Cricket clubs.....even Boxing people will watch the big fights but our local pro scene is very poor.

There is the BLOT outdoor show on YouTube. He is a funny bastard.

 

[T-Boon]

Obviously colours match. Serious question, would a Christchurch based team accept a linkage to the Bears?

does NZ have any type of bear?

Anyway I’d have a second NZ team in as the next expansion team. ASAP.