Should we just open Origin up to other nations?

[hutch]

Yes, I can think of plenty. But I can only think of Webb and Fien who had no rightful claim to the Kiwi jersey.

And Beale who forfeited his claim when he played for the junior Kangaroos.

Being born and raised in Australia shouldn't necessarily disqualify you from playing for NZ, or vice versa.

BTW- I edited my post above to make clearer what I meant.

Fair enough, I thought it may have been a typo.

Of course being born and raised in Australia shouldn't disqualify you from the kiwis. I think there has been a few other'dodgy' selections though such as jake Webster, Ben Roberts, zen taia and even frank Pritchard.

The best example is Nathan cayless who was born as raised here, even captained the Australian schoolboys but followed his heart and chose nz over a guaranteed nsw/aus career. He should be used by the nzrl as an ambassador in Australia, he is the only kiwi to captain their country to the rlwc for gods sake and has been barely sighted ever since he retired. He should be much more involved with the kiwis and young players with links to nz just as he had.

 

[Meth]

Fair enough, I thought it may have been a typo.

Of course being born and raised in Australia shouldn't disqualify you from the kiwis. I think there has been a few other'dodgy' selections though such as jake Webster, Ben Roberts, zen taia and even frank Pritchard.

The best example is Nathan cayless who was born as raised here, even captained the Australian schoolboys but followed his heart and chose nz over a guaranteed nsw/aus career. He should be used by the nzrl as an ambassador in Australia, he is the only kiwi to captain their country to the rlwc for gods sake and has been barely sighted ever since he retired. He should be much more involved with the kiwis and young players with links to nz just as he had.

When deciding on eligibility, I run everything through my own personal view on what should determine whether one ought to be eligible to play for a country or not. I'm not sure if it's perfect, but it seems reasonable enough.

For me, it's this-
Were they born in New Zealand?
Do they have a parent who was born in New Zealand, or is a New Zealand citizen?
Did they move to New Zealand before the age of 12?

Zeb Taia was born in New Zealand. Webster, Roberts and Pritchard clearly weren't. I don't about their parents though. Does anyone?

 

[Ernest the Sheep]

Fair enough, I thought it may have been a typo.

Of course being born and raised in Australia shouldn't disqualify you from the kiwis. I think there has been a few other'dodgy' selections though such as jake Webster, Ben Roberts, zen taia and even frank Pritchard.

Andrew Lomu?

where's he these days? He was selected for the Kiwis solely on his name. Not sure how he qualified? I suspect there have been a number of these dodgy Kiwi selections over the years. It was getting away with it in the past that probably gave the NZRL the bravado to really try in on with the Fien selection. Being really dumb also helped.

 

[Joker's Wild]

The NZRL bloke was speaking about Auckland Vs the rest - he had a term for them that I can't recall ATM.

Sounds like City v Country

 

[Joker's Wild]

the so called pull of origin is a myth, no matter how many times you tell yourself it's true. This mystical pull hasn't been enough not to convince dozens of born and raised Ozzies to opt for Kiwi selection. How to you explain that?

Which players are they mate? I doubt any you mention would be 1st or 2nd choice selections for either Qld or NSW

 

[Ernest the Sheep]

Which players are they mate? I doubt any you mention would be 1st or 2nd choice selections for either Qld or NSW

Well, mentioning on those with realistic origin prospects, Cayless certainly, Foran certainly, Pritchard (should have at least got a go considering the number of dud NSW selections over the years), Nightingale certainly, For Qld Hoffman certainly, Beale an outside chance, so that's six there who could have realistically held out for origin, if they wanted.

 

[Joker's Wild]

I can entertain the idea of Cayless and Foran but the rest would have been no certainties

Prichard has had Gallen, Lewis, Bird, Scott and Stewart infront of him. Maybe a bench spot, maybe

Nightingale would not have been chosen over Uate, Hayne, Morris or Gordon. May have gotten a shot when Wolfman and McManus were brought in due to injuries.

Hoffman would not have gotten a fullback gig over Slater, Inglis or Boyd. I doubt he could have beaten out Boyd or Tate for a wing spot either.

Beale could barely hold down a Broncos FG jersey. He would be 100/1 odds of getting a Qld jumper.

2/6 aint bad though

 

[hutch]

Nightinglale would of been a certainty.

 

[Joker's Wild]

Over Hayne, Uate or Morris? Put the crack pipe down

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

Over Hayne, Uate or Morris? Put the crack pipe down

First choice? No certainly not, but when you consider McManus, Quinn, Turner, Grothe, Monaghan, and Williams all got a run during Nightingale's career it's not hard to imagine him with a few Origin caps to his name had he opted to play for NSW.

Besides that, Gus' man crush for him would probably of been enough to get him a few caps.

Pritchard would've gotten a bench spot imo.

Cayless/Foran are no brainers.

Hoffman/Beale, maybe one day, but not a chance at the moment.

 

[Joker's Wild]

I pretty much said all of that above mate

Doesn't change the fact that they were all walk up starts for NZ but would have had to fight for an Origin jersey, making Ernests point a load of BS

 

[eozsmiles]

QLD vs NSW best of 3. Then each play a game against a "rest of the world" team. So the players from other countries can get 2 x $50k, international teams are stronger, and everybody is happy.