Radradra wants to play for Australia

[RedVee]

^ yes.

 

[goodplayer]

. He should not be allowed to switch , radradra and players such as him to play for their country.

but the current rules say yes he can be an aussie kangaroo ;-)
so he chooses that

 

[deluded pom?]

I don't for one minute think Radradra, if he carries his form, will be ignored by Australia as and when he becomes eligible for selection. What disappoints me Is the attitude of Australia, New Zealand and England in selecting players that have already represented other nations. In my eyes they should be confident in their own player development systems to not require these players. The big three should be leading from the front not using the rest of the world to keep themselves at the top of the food chain permanently. What sort of message does it send to an Aussie winger with aspirations and the talent to play for the Kangaroos who gets bumped to accommodate Radradra?

 

[RoosTah]

Not one player in the Socceroos were born in Croatia though. They were all (except one) born and raised in Australia. Unlike Semi "Its my dream to ditch my country and make more money" Radradra.

The point was that it's still fairly common in plenty of sports. There's a bloke named Fekitoa that just debuted for the All Blacks that sounds as 'off the boat Tongan' as they come.

But I agree with ParraEelsNRL; the NRL would do well to promote a Pacific Nations championship to occur alongside Origin.

The only problem with that is it would massively increase the disruption to the club competition, as I don't see them 'taking a break'. Which is a shame, because I've always felt the rep/international season should have its own space.

With 4 million plus tuning into Origin they're not about to change that, but part of me wishes that we could just have it on three consecutive weeks along side something like the Pacific championship and just have no NRL in the same way that Union took a month off for the June internationals.

 

[deal.with.it]

The problem union has with taking a month off is that a lot stop caring/forget about the super 15, in aus anyway.
So the nrl would be reluctant for that.
So we need to have a calendar that suits origin.

I would prefer see origin played over 3 consecutive wednesdays.
When the rep weekend in may is on, every pacific nation should utilise this and organise a test match.
Then at the end of the year, have the 4 nations, pacific cup, euro cup to suit the 2 pro comps.
Its the least amount of trouble for the nrl and will see every nation increase their number of matches and help get players to commit. If radradra new he'd play test for fiji in may and a pacific or 4 nations comp in october, thats gotta help keep him interested.

But at the end of the day, so long as aus offers a tonne more cash, players from poor pacific backgrounds will choose to play for aus. Just look at the wallabies and all blacks.

 

[RoosTah]

The problem union has with taking a month off is that a lot stop caring/forget about the super 15, in aus anyway.

Do they really? Ratings for the Waratahs are pretty stable on both sides - in fact the game against the Highlanders on Sunday was higher than the one against the Chiefs before the break, despite the Highlanders game being a home game and therefore removing about 25,000 potential TV home viewers.

So the nrl would be reluctant for that.
So we need to have a calendar that suits origin.

I would prefer see origin played over 3 consecutive wednesdays.
When the rep weekend in may is on, every pacific nation should utilise this and organise a test match.
Then at the end of the year, have the 4 nations, pacific cup, euro cup to suit the 2 pro comps.

Although I know the economics of the comp just wouldn't allow it, from a fan perspective and pure player perspective in terms seasonal structure logic, my ideal comp would see the NRL shortened by two weeks and start one week earlier without trials, and would then be followed by the SOO on three consecutive weekends two weeks after the GF. This would have a Pacific championship played alongside it, and the season would finish with a 4/3N tournament.

Yeah, won't happen, but I reckon that'd be pretty awesome and would give the season a nice flow on up to the top rep levels.

 

[goodplayer]

this thread is about radradra

 

[Ernest the Sheep]

Why should be be able to play for Australia? I'm not following.

because he will be eligible, and he wants to, DIMWIT!!!

 

[hutch]

because he will be eligible, and he wants to, DIMWIT!!!

F*ck off idiot. He is not an Australian, shouldn't be allowed to play for Australia and we certainly shouldn't be picking him. Not that I think we ever will.

 

[Ernest the Sheep]

why shouldn't he be allowed? if Hurrell, beale, nightingale, webb, fein, to name just a few can play for the kiwis? Seems like double standards to me.

 

[stormbati]

Personally I'd be happy to see him play for Australia but would be upset Fiji lose a top player.

 

[hutch]

why shouldn't he be allowed? if Hurrell, beale, nightingale, webb, fein, to name just a few can play for the kiwis? Seems like double standards to me.

Because he is not an Australian. He is here on a sporting contract. Hurrell, fien and Webb are a joke as well, nothing wrong with the other names you mentioned.

 

[deluded pom?]

Personally I'd be happy to see him play for Australia but would be upset Fiji lose a top player.

Why would you be happy to see a genuine Fijian play for Australia?

 

[Ernest the Sheep]

Some of us believe in freedom of choice,

 

[siv]

Interested to understand what motivates him to turn his back on his native country

After he just play a RL test match this year for them

 

[Ernest the Sheep]

out of interest, what is a non-genuine Fijian?

 

[WellsNZ]

Interested to understand what motivates him to turn his back on his native country

After he just play a RL test match this year for them

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Actually playing somewhat regular international games probably helps too.

 

[hutch]

Some of us believe in freedom of choice,

Nothing wrong with freedom of choice in life.

But in international sport, allowing players to pick and choose ends up with countries such as Fiji losing a player to a country they are not from. He did not emigrate here, he wasn't raised here, he is not even eligible for Australia yet, why should he be able to switch from Fiji to Australia?

 

[Ernest the Sheep]

As I have said, once he is eligible, he is free to do as he pleases. Who are you to second guess his motives?

 

[hutch]

As I have said, once he is eligible, he is free to do as he pleases. Who are you to second guess his motives?

Because my interest is international rugby league. You shouldn't be allowed to switch from Fiji to Australia, especially if you're not an Australian.