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Team list Tuesday vs Warriors - Sat 5:30pm

eels_fan

First Grade
Messages
7,574
With Nanai sitting out training with the hip pointer, even though they are saying he’ll be ok, you’d think Billy may err on the side of caution and hold Hopgood in camp
 

Obscene Assassin

First Grade
Messages
6,309
There’s no way I’d have missed the birth of my kids for any reason.

BTW, Nanai has a hip pointer injury. If he doesn’t play, we won’t have Hopgood.

Daniel Mortimer played through one in the 09 finals series. Is a dead rubber origin game as important as finals?
 

Angry_eel

First Grade
Messages
8,644
It's half the problem the match payments as its with these Samoan idiots infiltrating origin

They are there for the money but not jersey.

Pocketing an extra 90k sounds alright win or lose.
Wow wow wow wow

Hold on to you horses there. What makes you think you think someone like Paulo who's lived in NSW since he was a child doesn't represent NSW? or Jarome Luai who's born in Sydney? I hate Luai but he represents a part of NSW just as much as the next guy.

With that logic, the NSWRL will have to ban Sydney based players from playing Origin because this will happen more and more. Samoans, Tongans, Fijians will play for NSW and play for international teams.
 

Noise

Coach
Messages
18,147
Wow wow wow wow

Hold on to you horses there. What makes you think you think someone like Paulo who's lived in NSW since he was a child doesn't represent NSW? or Jarome Luai who's born in Sydney? I hate Luai but he represents a part of NSW just as much as the next guy.

With that logic, the NSWRL will have to ban Sydney based players from playing Origin because this will happen more and more. Samoans, Tongans, Fijians will play for NSW and play for international teams.
Have rep rounds for Pacifika nations the same weeks as origin. Same match payments as origin. Include NZ and have a points system so there is a winner. Those who want to represent their state or country can do so without money being such a big influence.

Or just make it so that if you represent NSW/Qld then you are making yourself available for Australia selection first. If you don’t get picked for Australia you can get picked for the other nation you are eligible for.
 
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Incorrect

Coach
Messages
12,592
Wow wow wow wow

Hold on to you horses there. What makes you think you think someone like Paulo who's lived in NSW since he was a child doesn't represent NSW? or Jarome Luai who's born in Sydney? I hate Luai but he represents a part of NSW just as much as the next guy.

With that logic, the NSWRL will have to ban Sydney based players from playing Origin because this will happen more and more. Samoans, Tongans, Fijians will play for NSW and play for international teams.
Not a popular opinion but I really think letting players represent countries other than Australia but then also letting them play Origin has diluted the product somewhat, and NSW have been the biggest loser out of this.

We always hear about the need to let these Pacifica players represent their nations, but when?? They've stopped the mid season Tests, so they're effectively representing Tonga, Samoa etc once every 2 to 4 years for a World Cup or some one-off match. The game needs to get serious about international rugby league. Either make it prestigious and a regular part of the league calendar or just wind it up and announce international league as NZ, Australia and Great Britain and be done with it. If they go down the former route, then the international rugby league body (does it still exist?) also needs to ensure match payments for international appearances are the same no matter who you play for. They should be subsidising the smaller nations payments and regardless if you play for Australia or Samoa, you earn the same fee.
 

Angry_eel

First Grade
Messages
8,644
Have rep rounds for Pacifika nations the same weeks as origin. Same match payments as origin. Include NZ and have a points system so there is a winner. Those who want to represent their state or country can do so without money being such a big influence.

Or just make it so that if you represent NSW/Qld then you are making yourself available for Australia selection first. If you don’t get picked for Australia you can get picked for the other nation you are eligible for.
Option 1 will basically dilute Origin not only in terms of players. It would also mean the International game becomes better than Origin which is currently not the case. I am not sure the powers that be want that world.

Option 2 is good and I support it but it would again dilute the best players from International game.

Anyway, my opinion is NSW is just lacking a good leader. Teddy/Cleary aren't the leaders like Johns, Buderus, Gallen.
 

Angry_eel

First Grade
Messages
8,644
Not a popular opinion but I really think letting players represent countries other than Australia but then also letting them play Origin has diluted the product somewhat, and NSW have been the biggest loser out of this.

We always hear about the need to let these Pacifica players represent their nations, but when?? They've stopped the mid season Tests, so they're effectively representing Tonga, Samoa etc once every 2 to 4 years for a World Cup or some one-off match. The game needs to get serious about international rugby league. Either make it prestigious and a regular part of the league calendar or just wind it up and announce international league as NZ, Australia and Great Britain and be done with it. If they go down the former route, then the international rugby league body (does it still exist?) also needs to ensure match payments for international appearances are the same no matter who you play for. They should be subsidising the smaller nations payments and regardless if you play for Australia or Samoa, you earn the same fee.
If you block pacific background players from playing for pacific countries(by blocking them from Origin) then international game suffers where there's no competition to Australia and NZ.

I guess as a game we need to pick what we want. Stronger Origin or Strong International game.
 

Noise

Coach
Messages
18,147
Option 1 will basically dilute Origin not only in terms of players. It would also mean the International game becomes better than Origin which is currently not the case. I am not sure the powers that be want that world.

Option 2 is good and I support it but it would again dilute the best players from International game.

Anyway, my opinion is NSW is just lacking a good leader. Teddy/Cleary aren't the leaders like Johns, Buderus, Gallen.
I reckon origin has already become diluted because that NSW passion that players use to have is somewhat gone and moved to the pacific nations for some players.
 

Angry_eel

First Grade
Messages
8,644
I reckon origin has already become diluted because that NSW passion that players use to have is somewhat gone and moved to the pacific nations for some players.
Well it's not like the NSW selection team was picking the players on passion. Otherwise, Gutherson would have been on the wing or centre at least.
 

Noise

Coach
Messages
18,147
If you block pacific background players from playing for pacific countries(by blocking them from Origin) then international game suffers where there's no competition to Australia and NZ.

I guess as a game we need to pick what we want. Stronger Origin or Strong International game.
Stronger Origin every day of the week. The game doesn’t need a strong international competition but it sure as hell needs origin.
 

Noise

Coach
Messages
18,147
Well it's not like the NSW selection team was picking the players on passion. Otherwise, Gutherson would have been on the wing or centre at least.
Exactly. They are picking some guys who are there for the cash and because it’s a big occasion. Guys who don’t have NSW as their number 1.
 

Angry_eel

First Grade
Messages
8,644
Stronger Origin every day of the week. The game doesn’t need a strong international competition but it sure as hell needs origin.
Who's going to decide that? The Tongans in Western Sydney showed plenty of passion for the international game. More so than we have ever seen.

There's definitely a market there for international game.
 

Noise

Coach
Messages
18,147
Who's going to decide that? The Tongans in Western Sydney showed plenty of passion for the international game. More so than we have ever seen.

There's definitely a market there for international game.
The broadcasters who pay millions of dollars and fund the game. Origin is their biggest money spinner. Has been for decades now. Weaken origin and the money dries up.
 

Angry_eel

First Grade
Messages
8,644
The broadcasters who pay millions of dollars and fund the game. Origin is their biggest money spinner. Has been for decades now. Weaken origin and the money dries up.
Fine but the lack of passion still doesn't work even if you block Pacific players from playing for their home/ancestral nations. The pool of players still remains the same. I assume 30% of players must be of Islander background now.

I think this is a just a racist answer to a complex problem. If Pacific nations are such a problem now, how come NSW lost 8 or 9 series in a row to Qld in the 2010s? The percentage of PI players was lower and the international game sucked until Fifita opted to play for Tonga.
 

Noise

Coach
Messages
18,147
Fine but the lack of passion still doesn't work even if you block Pacific players from playing for their home/ancestral nations. The pool of players still remains the same. I assume 30% of players must be of Islander background now.

I think this is a just a racist answer to a complex problem. If Pacific nations are such a problem now, how come NSW lost 8 or 9 series in a row to Qld in the 2010s? The percentage of PI players was lower and the international game sucked until Fifita opted to play for Tonga.
QLD had a better team with better players. Despite losing 8 in a row no one ever questioned NSW player’s passion or commitment to the side back then.
 

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