Queensland steal 4 more players!!!

[Mig2006]

You have to be a realist about the situation. The fact is these players are choosing to be available for SOO because in their lifetime, their Pacific Nation won't be playing in front of a full house at Wembley for so many reasons - some of which you have mentioned.

The system is wrong like so many other things in the game....

 

[biggestbroncosfan]

If the game got it's sh!t into gear, the PI teams have every chance..

Fiji got into the QF in the 2008 WC Cup..As much as I hate to make the comparison, if Fiji got into a QF for the other codes WC, it would mean a crowd of 60-80,000 wherever they held it..'

Instead it got 15,000 at a 45,000 stadium because the game I love prefers to sell a provincial tournament rather than a WC that will sell the game to the world..

which is why rugby union is and always will be superior to us because we prefer not to take our game to the world and only to stick to our heartlands we need people in our game who are willing to take risks and take the sport further. I would love for our game to be played all over the world and have more than just the NRL and Super League to follow (to a lesser extent the American and French RL) we have rugby league growing faster then ever in places such as the USA, Italy, Lebanon, Serbia, Jamaica and Canada, French RL is getting stronger every year and hopefully it is not too long before they can have a fully professional league.

In the Pacific we have nations like PNG, Fiji who are leading in developing the game locally while Samoa and Tonga still largely rely on heritage players, for one it does not help when we have Queensland intending to take players such as Ray Thompson, James Segeyaro, Lama Tasi and co.. and NSW with Tony Williams, Aku Uate, Feleti Mateo, Jarryd Hayne etc.. sure they are eligible and have every right to play for them but State of Origin shouldn't be the pinnacle of the game! and I hate how we make it out to be! International RL should be put first, SOO rules should allow players to represent developing countries and help to grow the game in these countries it shouldnt be treated as a rep game for the Australian team, playing week in, week out in the NRL is enough because it is one of the toughest (if not the toughest) sporting competitions in the world.

The point I'm trying to make here is that State of Origin is just a representative game for players who are born in or have resided in QLD or NSW for a certain amount of years IT SHOULDN'T BE TREATED AS THE PINACCLE OF OUR GAME! I wouldn't be surprised if guys like Clint Newton, Anthony Minichello, Aiden Guerra and co.. are called up for State of Origin selection making them ineligible for the USA and Italy so if we want to put a stop to this we need the RLIF to step in, they should have the power to stop players being selected or simply allow players to represent developing countries, that way it keeps everyone happy.

 

[shasha]

FFS I wish people would stop whinging!

Players choose their eligibility, not the State!

And I don't see anyone whinge that Gerard Beale represented the Junior Kangaroos in 2010 and then played for the Kiwi's in 2011.

International Rugby League has proven itself are farce after the WC qualifiers, and it is never going to stop.

 

[Getemonside]

FFS I wish people would stop whinging!

Players choose their eligibility, not the State!

And I don't see anyone whinge that Gerard Beale represented the Junior Kangaroos in 2010 and then played for the Kiwi's in 2011.

International Rugby League has proven itself are farce after the WC qualifiers, and it is never going to stop.

Here here!!

Or Nathan Fien playing for the Kiwis (after playing a SOO) not to mention Tonie Carroll who jumped ship regularly!

Seriously!!!?

 

[expansionist]

as has been stated - the answer is to let SOO players represent nations other than Australia.

2 problems solved: 1. eligibility for SOO and 2. all of a sudden the international game improves

 

[hutch]

For starters, the four players mentioned are all queenslanders and Australians, it's not like qld have gone and raided another country and recruited them.

Secondly, allowing players to play origin and for another country only confirms that origin is looked upon as the pinnacle, not the other way around. We need to make other countries more attractive and as a real alternative to players with dual nationality. Origin is for players aligned to Australia, there is no problem wit this and the arl can pick whoever they like for their own domestic rep game. But other countries should also have the opportunity to play rep games and test matches as well and give players a choice. Some players choose qld such as tasi and co, some choose another country such as reed.

I've said it a million times on here but people need to stop wanting a quick fix. We should be aiming to have island nations ready for 10 years time with a decade of development behind them. A one country for life rule and scheduling for all countries is the best way to progress to the next level as an international sport!

 

[roughyedspud]

For starters, the four players mentioned are all queenslanders and Australians, it's not like qld have gone and raided another country and recruited them.

no...but what it has done is taken 4 players out of the international pool..cos them 4 are never going to be australian test players

Secondly, allowing players to play origin and for another country only confirms that origin is looked upon as the pinnacle, not the other way around. We need to make other countries more attractive and as a real alternative to players with dual nationality. Origin is for players aligned to Australia, there is no problem wit this and the arl can pick whoever they like for their own domestic rep game. But other countries should also have the opportunity to play rep games and test matches as well and give players a choice. Some players choose qld such as tasi and co, some choose another country such as reed.

I've said it a million times on here but people need to stop wanting a quick fix. We should be aiming to have island nations ready for 10 years time with a decade of development behind them. A one country for life rule and scheduling for all countries is the best way to progress to the next level as an international sport!

as we've discussed before...in a ideal world your right.......the islands should play tests during origin....the kiwis should play PNG etc....each island should have a development office in sydney recruiting/developing players off the back of a solid international schedule..

but we don't live in a ideal world....hell 3 of the island nations did'nt even play tests this year..and are unlikely too next year too because of the RLPA.....thats driving potential island players into origin or emerging origin....

like i've said dozens of times before...if we allow players to play origin and for another nation we will make available dozens and dozens of players to other international teams thus drastically improving international RL......also there would be no better development tool than having islanders in origin.....akulia uate could have been the golden child of fijian RL if he was a NSW & FIJI player.....but at the moment the message it sends out is you can play for fiji...but when you good enough you can transfer to australia to play origin...continually stripping fiji of any stars..

this quick fix is the only way of sorting out the mess down there...

 

[Evil Homer]

Origin doesn't stop anyone from playing internationally, they are all still eligible, they can just ignore the ARL as Minichiello did this year. The only way players will choose not to play Origin is if there are standardized payments for all international matches and so it's financially worthwhile for those players to do so.

 

[roughyedspud]

true...but they won't get selected for origin if they do what mini did :lol:


i've said before that surely its against somekind of discrimination law for uate to get a bonus from his newcastle contract for getting a cap for australia,which he does,but not get one for getting a fiji cap

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Poms talking about discrimination. Must be the silly season.

I suppose their national team, Ingerlund United, don't discriminate. You can be from anywhere and play for them.

Maybe Uate and his manager negotiated this bonus. Hmmmm, just maybe that's how it works. Perhaps.

 

[Bluebags1908]

They're all Australian. If they choose to play for some other country it doesn't make them not Australian. If anyone is stealing players it's the countries who recruit these Australian heritage players to play for them.

Sorry, but Ben Te'o and Lama Tasi are NOT Australian. They are born and bred Kiwis.

And Martin Kennedy is a NSWelshman going by the eligibility rules.

 

[Devoted Dragon]

Don't blame Qld for taking advantage of a shit system.

if the shoe fits. wear it.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Sorry, but Ben Te'o and Lama Tasi are NOT Australian. They are born and bred Kiwis.

And Martin Kennedy is a NSWelshman going by the eligibility rules.

The first I ever saw of Te'o was playing for Keebra Park so he was a Gold Coast junior at that stage. And according to wikipedia "Tasi first played rugby league for the Goodna Eagles club in Ipswich, Queensland" which makes him an ARL junior right from the very start.

Who are you to say they are not Australian? Do you know them personally? At the end of the day these players are the only ones who have any right to say. If they are eligible they can play for who they like. Just as the Kiwis pick people like Fien, Nightingale, Pritchard and any number of other ARL juniors.

 

[shasha]

Sorry, but Ben Te'o and Lama Tasi are NOT Australian. They are born and bred Kiwis.

And Martin Kennedy is a NSWelshman going by the eligibility rules.

Neither is Akuila Uate.

Don't see NSW supporters complaining about him. Probably one of their best players throughout the whole Origin Series.

 

[shasha]

The only thing that would be wrong for players getting bonuses in their contract for playing for smaller nations country is that players will all of a sudden finding every single possible way to become eligible for any nation.

Look at Joseph and Junior Paulo, who both have represented Samoa, now representing USA in the WC qualifiers.

It would then become International rugby league for money rather then showing pride of where you are from.

Thats why I don't like seeing Akuila Uate represent Australia. Nothing against him, good person and a great player, but I don't see it as right considering he was born and bred in Fiji. If they were ranked in the top 3 or 4 and were competing on the International stage, then I think it would of been a different situation

 

[franklin2323]

Maybe the players should be asked why they have chosen to be eligible for Qld rather than anyone else.

The all mighty dollar no other reason. If Teo, Uate, McGuire etc considered themselves Australian they wouldn't of taken the field for another country. How many here would play for another country?? I wouldn't

If they same money was offered for a fijian international as a SOO player Uate doesn't switch.

 

[franklin2323]

Neither is Akuila Uate.

Don't see NSW supporters complaining about him. Probably one of their best players throughout the whole Origin Series.

Plenty have. For an extra $100k his now 'Australian'. It's a disgrace

 

[Bluebags1908]

Neither is Akuila Uate.

Don't see NSW supporters complaining about him. Probably one of their best players throughout the whole Origin Series.

I've complained about Uate in the past as well. He shouldn't be playing for NSW.

 

[Bluebags1908]

The first I ever saw of Te'o was playing for Keebra Park so he was a Gold Coast junior at that stage. And according to wikipedia "Tasi first played rugby league for the Goodna Eagles club in Ipswich, Queensland" which makes him an ARL junior right from the very start.

Who are you to say they are not Australian? Do you know them personally? At the end of the day these players are the only ones who have any right to say. If they are eligible they can play for who they like. Just as the Kiwis pick people like Fien, Nightingale, Pritchard and any number of other ARL juniors.

I am aware that according to the rules of where they first play their football they qualify for Australia. And blokes like Petero that moved to Australia as a 3 month old baby are genuine and ligitimate selections in the Queensland and Australian teams.

But what stinks is that a young Kiwi can be born in NZ and grow up and go to primary school there until the age of 11 or whatever and all of a sudden they're not Kiwis anymore just because they were "trained" elsewhere. It's like the first 11 years of their life - living in NZ and learning the Haka and everything about Kiwi culture suddenly doesn't exist.

What a load of crap. If you were born and lived in a country up until the age of 10 or 11 then NOTHING will change the fact that you are a native of that country. No about of generous and arbitary Origin eligibility rules that Aussies wrote will change the fact that they are Kiwis in blood.

And yes, the same goes for Uate playing for NSW. It stinks. He is Fijian.

Nathan Fein playing for NZ also stinks.

And when did cutie move to Australia from NZ? When he was 15? At the time of selection for Australia he would ahve spend most of his life in NZ and all of a sudden he's supposed to be an Aussie? What a joke. He lived the first 15 years of his life in NZ! No amount of "rules" will change that.

And the residency rule is even worse. Rangi Chase playing for England is a joke. He is a Kiwi.

I can accept players playing for their heritage like Nightingale and as he has Kiwi parents and Kiwi blood. Same goes for Heignington and England.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Contradictory much? You can accept a bloke playing for a place his parents lived but not a bloke playing for the country HE lives in. Genius.