Parish intends to pick Milford for Samoa Test

[deluded pom?]

Not for the first time, I'm confused. Milford will have pledged for Australia after the 2013 WC. Won't he have to pledge for Samoa again to be eligible for the Pacific Test? How many times can a player switch in one WC cycle?

 

[adamkungl]

Not for the first time, I'm confused. Milford will have pledged for Australia after the 2013 WC. Won't he have to pledge for Samoa again to be eligible for the Pacific Test? How many times can a player switch in one WC cycle?

Once.
It's unclear whether he has declared for Aus, i've seen conflicting articles. He has played for QLD u20s. Usually the ARL forces Origin players to declare for Australia. Maybe it was skimmed over for u20s.

Or maybe the declaration doesnt matter until a test match is played.

In summary, the rules are a joke.

 

[geordie_saint]

Anyone got an email address for the RLIF which isn't a centralised mailbox?

 

[latingringo101]

I'm surprised Bennett has done this, i thought he would have just let him play since he's an avid International RL supporter

 

[betcats]

Bennett is a prick.

 

[Lockyer4President!]

Milford attended a Qld Origin camp where we was stood down for 12 months for an indiscretion. If he wants to be considered for Qld in the future, he should cop this ban on the chin and not go off and play for another country in the meantime. Otherwise what lesson is he learning from the ban? I believe this would be Wayne's line of thinking and I support it 100% if that's the case.

Yeah I can understand Wayne's logic but it's still not something I support.

The RLIF really needs to step in here.

Anyone got an email address for the RLIF which isn't a centralised mailbox?

If someone is PM'ing an address around I'd like to send an email too.

 

[hutch]

It's time to take origin out of the equation. I've long called for only players aligned to Australia to play for Australian states, but it is just ruining our sport. Milford has played for Samoa. He should only be allowed to play for Samoa. If he wanted to switch to Australia at some stage, he should never have been allowed to play for Samoa. It is the only way we are going to grow internationally. Stricter rules, not looser like everyone in rugby league seems to be calling for.

And none of that should impact on whether he is picked for qld next year.

 

[Big Salad]

The biggest impediment to the development of the international game is the 30 week-long premiership season (both NRL & Super League), closely followed by the disparity in match payments between the Kangaroos and the developing nations. There needs to be a genuine window where internationals can be played beyond just one-off Aus-NZ games. Give me Kangaroos games over NRL or Origin any day of the week.

Fix the above and it would go a long way towards elevating internationals above Origin and solving the eligibility issues.

 

[RL The greatest game]

I'm surprised Bennett has done this, i thought he would have just let him play since he's an avid International RL supporter

I'm very surprised as well.

 

[Burns]

There is two sides to a coin and Bennett has control.
The Broncos & England coach is only doing his job, protecting his Broncos play maker from all the controversy. Behind closed doors no-one but the player and coach knows........Why? Why Not?
Anthony Milford has played for Samoa, has a dream to play Origin, means he must commit to Australia.
Milford laced up alongside his uso's would increase interest of the international weekend. Not just Samoa but the entire Pacific, NRL and all registered countries trying to develop the game across the world.
How do we attract young talented athletes, new fans to this code?
Offer them an exciting product!
Grow the Code ‪#‎LakapiLiki‬ ‪#‎RugbyLeague‬
‪#‎TeamRLS‬

https://www.facebook.com/rugbyleaguesamoa/posts/1199667426733192?comment_id=1199671790066089&notif_t=like&notif_id=1461902167630950

From Rugby League Samoa Facebook page.

 

[Raiders_Premiers]

Bennett has never had the game's best interests at heart. This just confirms it.

x 2

Bennett's only looking out for number one and number one only. No one should give any of his constant whinges about the game any weight at all.

 

[deluded pom?]

Can anyone clarify if Milford would have to switch back to be eligible for Samoa? If he does then wouldn't he be ruling himself out of a chance to play for Australia at the WC? I'm not condoning or criticising anyone at the moment, just trying to understand the situation.

 

[Big Pete]

Milford wouldn't be eligible for Australia until after the 2017 World Cup.

If Anthony wants to represent Queensland and Australia then this game would have prevented him from doing so.

Wayne is taking the heat on this but I'm sure there's plenty of people who are thankful he's intervened.

 

[adamkungl]

If Milford is sticking with Aus why not just say that instead of Bennett coming out and refusing to allow him to play?

 

[lockyno1]

Meh his main goal is QLD and Brisbane. Bennett is looking after our side. That's fair enough.

 

[some11]

The time has come to let players play for their damn country of choice and for the system they played their junior footy in.

Payments being equal in this scenario it puts all this bullshit to bed.

 

[Big Pete]

If Milford is sticking with Aus why not just say that instead of Bennett coming out and refusing to allow him to play?

Wayne could have handled it better and had Milford pull out through some injury ala every club coach ever during City v Country but for whatever reason he chose to shoot straight.

It reflects better on Milford. Here's Tony who wants to represent his nation but his big bad coach with a conflict of interest won't allow him. It's a better look than a player who simply used his country as a stepping stone to get to bigger and "better" places.

 

[Big Pete]

Looking into the matter further, I agree that the eligibility rules as they stand are a joke and they seem unclear in certain regards.

I see a lot of conjecture surrounding Milford's eligibility after he represented Queensland in the U/20s Origin clash in 2014. The rules state that an election can only be made after a player represents a country in a senior international clash.

Once a player elects to represent a nation, they should be locked in.

Australia need to adopt the RLIF stance and allow Origin players to represent other nations if they choose to.

Player payments is a tricky issue. In a perfect world, you'd want them to be the same for every country. However, I can see the other side of it. It wouldn't be fair on the players if Australia v New Zealand drew a much larger audience ($$$) than Samoa v Tonga and the players only received a tiny percentage of the pie to compensate for the less popular game.

 

[Son of Minto]

"Milford would rather play for Australia than Samoa but he did not want to offend his heritage or the Samoan team by rejecting them."

http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport...n/news-story/77e1aef2ddc68d818709258718dfafb4

 

[hutch]

Milford wouldn't be eligible for Australia until after the 2017 World Cup.

If Anthony wants to represent Queensland and Australia then this game would have prevented him from doing so.

Wayne is taking the heat on this but I'm sure there's plenty of people who are thankful he's intervened.

He is yet to play for anyone this cycle so technically hasn't switched. He can play for Samoa this year without ruining his chances of playing for Australia next year. Which is of course absolutely ridiculous.