Richards Irish

[Big Bunny]

From the SMH:

PAT TURNS PADDY: Wests Tigers winger Pat Richards is looking forward to returning to Australia at the end of his three-year deal with Wigan - as part of the Irish squad in town for the 2008 World Cup. "There's a very good possibility," Richards, who scored two tries last Friday against Cronulla, told Sin Bin. "If it comes up, I'll definitely play for them. My mum and dad are both Irish … I'm 100 per cent Irish." What about playing for Great Britain? "It's too far down the track to even think about," he said. England-born Parramatta hooker Ian Henderson might, however, make himself available for the Lions after signing with Bradford.

 

[thommo4pm]

This is good news.
Rugby League is the only sport in the world who doesn't like to let players or competitors play for a country of their choice.

The All Blacks last week, had some Fijian guy who had been in NZ for 3 years, he scored 4 try's for them.
Prior to those 3 years he was born and bred in Fiji.

This is how their game has grown, they are not too concerned about players being eligible for other countries so why should we be?

If there is a link to another country as is the case with the players mentioned then they should be able to play for the country of choice.

 

[hutch]

i dont think its good news, its just another aussie representing a different country. it will be good news when born and bred irish players represent ireland, that is the day i cant wait for. i really hope the 2008 irish team is not completely made up of english and australians like the last one.

 

[yankeeboy]

I really hope that the Irish don't compete in the 2008 World Cup. It is unfair that the British Isles should play as the "British Isles" in every competition except for the WC, and then expect to get 4 of the 10/12 teams.

There should be one GB team, not 4 English teams masquerading as "Scotland," "Wales," and "Ireland."

The only other thing I would approve of would be a "Celtic Tigers" side like RU has proposed. Hopefully any side would be composed of Natives and not of Poms with Celtic blood.

 

[carlnz]

i dont think its good news, its just another aussie representing a different country. it will be good news when born and bred irish players represent ireland, that is the day i cant wait for. i really hope the 2008 irish team is not completely made up of english and australians like the last one.

What do you mean!! His parents are Irish! What about Australia with Carrol and Thorn? He is Irish so good on home..hope he plays European Cup this year for them!

 

[League Freak™]

If Richards wants to become a naturalized Irish citizen...then great.

But if he is just going to take the place of a REAL Irish player so he can get a run....forget it!

 

[In-goal]

I think richards would be a dual citizen due to his direct links with Ireland, therefore im happy for him and RLI.

 

[girvie]

If the Nathan and Jason Cayless, Richard Swain etc can play for NZ then i think it is great that Richards wants to play for Ireland.

 

[dimitri]

i dont have a problem with it

he obviously considers himself very irish

and to make a decision 3 years out from the cup obviously shows how much it would mean to him!

 

[gladiator]

I think the problem international league faces at present is not that players like Richards should be stopped from playing for a addopted country but that a whole team must not be made up from non local players.
The more local players the more creditability the national team would have. But by adding afew players of Richards quality to a emerging nation would be of much benifit to local amature players and improve the teams overall standard.
In a sense it's to be incouraged as part of that nations development.
League must never however repeat the Lebonon 2000 world cup situation where not a single local player was a member of that team. Due to the fact no local comp exsisted.
Some sort of percentage ceiling must be put in place regarding the number of complusery local players per team for any nation contesting a major international competition.
If no local comp, should not be allowed to even attempt to qualify for world cups etc.

 

[dimitri]

I think the problem international league faces at present is not that players like Richards should be stopped from playing for a addopted country but that a whole team must not be made up from non local players.
The more local players the more creditability the national team would have. But by adding afew players of Richards quality to a emerging nation would be of much benifit to local amature players and improve the teams overall standard.
In a sense it's to be incouraged as part of that nations development.
League must never however repeat the Lebonon 2000 world cup situation where not a single local player was a member of that team. Due to the fact no local comp exsisted.
Some sort of percentage ceiling must be put in place regarding the number of complusery local players per team for any nation contesting a major international competition.
If no local comp, should not be allowed to even attempt to qualify for world cups etc.

but that lebanese side did have many players born in lebanon involved


and look at all the good it has done for lebanese league since

there is no way it could be considered a failure

 

[The Tank]

He said " My mum and dad are both Irish … I'm 100 per cent Irish".

He hasn't represented Australia yet so if he commits to Ireland, not only leading up to, but also beyond the 2008 World Cup I think it's fantastic.

 

[PARRA_FAN]

Richards obviously feels he'll get a better opportunity playing for Ireland, and thats good for him. Wasnt he born in Ireland?

 

[gladiator]

but that lebanese side did have many players born in lebanon involved


and look at all the good it has done for lebanese league since

there is no way it could be considered a failure

League being established in Lebanon was one of the few good points to come out of the 2000 WC. It acheived that purpose.
But the international game copped a lot of flack and deservedly so.
The Lebanese team that played in the 2000 tournament could have played a number of promotional matchs in Lebanon over the following year and acheived the same result.
Iam all for teams such as Malta, Greece, Italy using their OZ based/qualified players to play promotional matchs in the hope of establishing the game in those countries. But they must not be allowed to compete in major tournaments until local comps are put in place.
WC are ment to be the show peice of the international game and loses alot of credibility when manufactured teams are allowed to particpate
And international league is desperate for all the creditabilty it can get.

 

[Sun_Down]

If Richards wants to become a naturalized Irish citizen...then great.

But if he is just going to take the place of a REAL Irish player so he can get a run....forget it!

Well put

 

[hutch]

What do you mean!! His parents are Irish! What about Australia with Carrol and Thorn? He is Irish so good on home..hope he plays European Cup this year for them!

i know the bloke, he doesnt consider himself irish. but if he does have every intention of playing for ireland, then he has the right to. if the team is full of players like him then it is not an irish team, it is an irish/australian team. i just hope that we have learnt from previous mistakes. no player should ever be able to represent more than one country, we have to use the gp rule carefully, or at least put a quota on it.

national teams have to have some connection to the country itself. richards parents may be irish, but he was born in australia, grew up playing rugby league in australia. he is an aussie. if he has every intention of making himself available every time ireland play a game, and wants to promote the game in ireland, then sign him up. if he is using it as an excuse to play in the world cup, then he shouldnt be allowed to play.

as for carroll and thorn, the real joke is that they played for nz, but that is in another thread.

 

[ali]

I'm ok with it as he sounds genuinly keen. Hopefully Ireland will still have Carney by 2008, and there will be other players like Carl De Chenu (??? spelling) running around in professional RL. I think they have one of the fastest growing domestic RL comps, so the signs look positive.

 

[League Freak™]

I could play for three different nations in Rugby League and if I decided to move somewhere else for just three years...I could add a fourth to that list.


Im as much of an Aussie as you will find...but as a League player, I would realise that my price goes up if I play international football. I might not be good enough to play for Australia...but hey....why not play a few tests for some country I dont really care about.

 

[greenos]

Thorn has never played for New Zealand in League!!

 

[JK]

No but playing rugby for them is bad enough.

Still, that is their problem.