Papalii turns his back on Kiwis

[RL The greatest game]

This just shows what a farce SOO is becoming

 

[Penrose Warrior]

I fail to see how that means anything anyway. Find me a quote where he says he is 100% Australian, all it means is that a Kiwi is going to play for QLD. Congrats.

If someone says they are 100% Aucklander, do you presume that flows on as far as being a Kiwi is concerned. I sure do.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

I actually can't believe we chose guys like Alex Glenn over him for the ANZAC test. I thought at the time that this could come back to haunt us.

It's a ridiculous situation when selection decisions come down to 'mmm he might decide he wants to play for someone when he's older and more wise to the world, better play him now'.

Alex Glenn is a fine footballer and deserves to be in our best XVII every time.

 

[Mixmasterreece]

If someone says they are 100% Aucklander, do you presume that flows on as far as being a Kiwi is concerned. I sure do.

Completely different situation. By him saying he's 100% QLD, there is a financial gain. It's come to a point now that when someone says they are QLD or NSW that it doesn't automatically mean they consider themselves Australian.

It's pretty obvious from his quotes that ideally he would opt to play for NZ internationally but also to play state of O for financial gain.

I would contend that our old mate 'Aussie jim' with all of his mao...aborigine tattoos considered himself to be 100% NSW when it came to state football but never thought of himself as an Aussie.

Quite possibly next year, you could see Kasiano, Papalii, Tamou & Teo all lining up in Origin. i struggle to see how that's not diluting the origin concept.

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

Don't have a problem with this. Yes he was born in NZ, but if he's been in QLD almost as long as he can remember he can call himself a QLDer as much as anyone.

The problem is blokes who move here when they're 15 and declare for Origin/Aus rather than their home country.

My thoughts exactly
As a Kiwi who moved over here when i was 4 from England, If i had offers from both England and NZ to represent the country, I wouldnt even hesitate to say NZ.

 

[Fast Eddie]

If someone says they are 100% Aucklander, do you presume that flows on as far as being a Kiwi is concerned. I sure do.

Lol, you mean like those 10's of thousands of nzers who move to australia and start supporting an origin side and say shit like 'i'm maroon to i die' 'nsw for life' blah blah etc do you think they are all australian or are identfying themselves as australians by saying that kind of thing. all it means is that they identify with a particular part of australia more than another part of australia.

 

[some11]

f**k Origin, why does some piss arsed state comp take precedent over the pinnacle of any sport, repping your country of birth ?

Mate I know you're angry but that is just a ridiculous question, Origin sells out stadiums and rates its tits off.

It's the jewel in the crown of Rugby League.

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

Mate I know you're angry but that is just a ridiculous question, Origin sells out stadiums and rates its tits off.

It's the jewel in the crown of Rugby League.

That's true, and for any league fan who actually wants to see league propser that's a horribly depressing truth.

 

[Mixmasterreece]

My thoughts exactly
As a Kiwi who moved over here when i was 4 from England, If i had offers from both England and NZ to represent the country, I wouldnt even hesitate to say NZ.

But again, that's not the point.

It would be the equivalent of you being in a tug of war between England and Auckland, with you declaring I'm '100% Aucklander', that doesn't mean you want to play for the kiwis, just Auckland in some city v city cash grab.

Josh may well land up representing Australia by default. If he'd come out proclaiming to be torn between 'NZ and Aus' that would be a different equation, but in the press he's always talked about 'NZ v QLD'. There may well be a generation of Kiwi born aussies in the future trotting out in the green and gold, not giving a crap about the national jersey having solely pledged their international allegiance inorder to win origin jerseys. That weakens International footy and origin in one foul swoop - everyone loses.

 

[Mixmasterreece]

Now official

Josh Papalii will turn his back on New Zealand to chase a place in the Queensland State of Origin side.
Papalii has agonised over his decision for the last week after being named in New Zealand's train-on squad for next month's Test against Australia in Townsville
.
The 20 year old announced his decision to turn down the spot in New Zealand's squad at a press conference at Raiders HQ this afternoon.


Papalii was born in Auckland, but played all his junior football with Souths Logan, traditionally a fertile breeding ground for the Raiders.


Raiders boss Don Furner met with Papalii on Thursday last week, and the club is looking to extend his current contract which expires at the end of next year.


"He didn't leave [New Zealand] at 16 like a Benji Marshall or a [Sam] Kasiano, he left at six," Furner said.
"He didn't even know what rugby league was when he went to Souths Logan, he wanted to play rugby union, but the closest club played rugby league."


"The reality is if he stayed in New Zealand, he probably would have played rugby union."


Papalii's boyhood idol is Ruben Wiki, and the New Zealand and Raiders great has forged a strong bond with Papalii.


But he also grew up idolising Queensland's Origin stars, including current coach Mal Meninga.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...ue-tugofwar-20120924-26gih.html#ixzz27MBb6KCc
​

 

[Son of Minto]

Look forward to him to continue to get under Gallens skin during Origin

 

[Mixmasterreece]

Hopefully he pisses off to ESL before then.

 

[doogiehowser_md]

The NRL, ARL, QRL, NSWRL and any other league body are run by a bunch of c**k smoking amateurs. I will not waste another minute watching or discussing nor a dollar more supporting the 13 man game! Rugby Union is a far more professional outfit which I hope stamps out league and steals all of its talent as it approaches the next Olympic games just as those incestious canetoads and cockroaches did the Kiwis.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Completely different situation. By him saying he's 100% QLD, there is a financial gain. It's come to a point now that when someone says they are QLD or NSW that it doesn't automatically mean they consider themselves Australian.

It's pretty obvious from his quotes that ideally he would opt to play for NZ internationally but also to play state of O for financial gain.

I would contend that our old mate 'Aussie jim' with all of his mao...aborigine tattoos considered himself to be 100% NSW when it came to state football but never thought of himself as an Aussie.

Quite possibly next year, you could see Kasiano, Papalii, Tamou & Teo all lining up in Origin. i struggle to see how that's not diluting the origin concept.

In Papalii's case, if he had stuck to that 100% Queenslander quote and not played for the Junior Kiwis, I'd have no issue. He's lived there for a long time, and I wouldn't necessarily think he was just doing it for the money. But then he pulled on black, and was quite happy to sign a letter of intent (as pathetic as that premise is).

I completely agree with the last part. If people across the Tasman can continue to toss themselves silly about Origin and say it's state against state and everyone is bleeding maroon/blue, they're having a laugh. And if it starts to take on the appearance of a franchise v franchise match, I and many others will turn off.

 

[Meth]

He isn't making himself eligible for Queensland or Australia for any other reason other than money. Everybody can see that. Australia should have more pride in 'the jewel of the Rugby League crown' and not award their national jerseys to prostitutes.

 

[Usain Bolt]

They should make a rule you can't play for a country or state unless they can pronounce your name properly. This would rule out Papali'i and Tamou:lol:

 

[ozbash]

Mate I know you're angry but that is just a ridiculous question, Origin sells out stadiums and rates its tits off.

It's the jewel in the crown of Rugby League.

We'll see what you think in a few years when the majority of both teams comprise of Kiwis and PI's.

Its started already and the clock is ticking.

 

[Frank_Grimes]

It's absolutely gold that this issue is pretty much only pissing off the people State of Origin was never aimed at nor intended for.

 

[Fast Eddie]

Whats really gold is that this same comp that was not intended for Kiwis is now trying to recruit them.

 

[Frank_Grimes]

Whats really gold is that this same comp that was not intended for Kiwis is now trying to recruit them.

Wrong.

SOO was always about the NSWRL vs QRL. The players that are being recruited are products of those two systems.