The Farce That Is International Rugby League

[Abz]

Yesterday on 10 news, Peter Wallace said that he will be playing for Scotland in the World Cup on the rule that his Grandmother is Scottish. I will ask the question again - why could Robbie Farah not represent Lebanon last year without ruining his chances of playing Origin for 3 years, yet Wallace's rep career doesn't even get threatened?

 

[LordLeague]

Good point but perhaps your title should read "The Farce that is State of Origin"

Lord League

 

[saddog]

Quite simply this is a case of Wallace and the media not knowing the eligibility rules. as Wallace is now a SOO player, and in the mix for Kangaroos election, he can only play for them. If he misses selection in the Aust squad, he would have to apply to have his eligibility changed, and allow him to play for Scotland. At the end of the world cup period, the slate is wiped clean, he could play SOO in 2009 and be eligible for Australia.

With Farah, if he did play with Lebanon in the 2007 WC qualifiers, he would be locked into them until the end of the world cup period, that is whay he backed out when he had the chance after the Tigers finally cleared it.

The question Scotland have to ask themselves is will Wallace simply change his eligibility back to Aust in 2009 if he does play with them at the WC. The answer would appear to be yes, so what do Scotland gain long term?? Are they better to go with guys with cloers ties to their national team, who will be available for internationals in the future??

The short term gain is termpting when you are on the world stage, but maybe looking to the period 2009 - 2013 is what is required, and creating loyal international players who have a passion for the jersey, and are given the opportunity to play in regular meaningful international fixtures.

 

[Abz]

Quite simply this is a case of Wallace and the media not knowing the eligibility rules. as Wallace is now a SOO player, and in the mix for Kangaroos election, he can only play for them. If he misses selection in the Aust squad, he would have to apply to have his eligibility changed, and allow him to play for Scotland. At the end of the world cup period, the slate is wiped clean, he could play SOO in 2009 and be eligible for Australia.

With Farah, if he did play with Lebanon in the 2007 WC qualifiers, he would be locked into them until the end of the world cup period, that is whay he backed out when he had the chance after the Tigers finally cleared it.

The question Scotland have to ask themselves is will Wallace simply change his eligibility back to Aust in 2009 if he does play with them at the WC. The answer would appear to be yes, so what do Scotland gain long term?? Are they better to go with guys with cloers ties to their national team, who will be available for internationals in the future??

The short term gain is termpting when you are on the world stage, but maybe looking to the period 2009 - 2013 is what is required, and creating loyal international players who have a passion for the jersey, and are given the opportunity to play in regular meaningful international fixtures.

Is it as simple as changing eligibility though? Don't you have to represent a country for x amount of years before being eligible?

 

[deluded pom?]

Quite simply this is a case of Wallace and the media not knowing the eligibility rules. as Wallace is now a SOO player, and in the mix for Kangaroos election, he can only play for them. If he misses selection in the Aust squad, he would have to apply to have his eligibility changed, and allow him to play for Scotland.

Why would he have to apply to have his eligibilty changed to Scotland if he'd never played for Australia? Playing SOO is NOT committing yourself to Australia 100% whether the Aussies like it or not. I suggested the scenario whereby a player does what Wallace is considering i.e being chosen for SOO, getting overlooked by Australia and then deciding his international future lies with another nation. The ARL wouldn't have a leg to stand on. SOO is NOT and should NOT be used as a lever to get players to commit to Australia full stop. The whole concept is riddled with pitfalls. if the ARL just want to choose Australia eligible players then they have to realise that the make up of the population means some players are eligible for someone else. I'd like to see the ARL tell the RLIF that Wallace can't play for Scotland because he's already played SOO and only SOO. A complete joke if they ARE allowed to do it.

 

[Mr. Fahrenheit]

3 year rule. Ok abz, there is no international guideline regarding Origin/Tests. As far as Kiwis/Tonga are concerned, they could pick Feleti Mateo from the NSW side, its the ARL that imposes that those who play origin must be Aust. Therefore, whilst anyone can go from QLD/NSW > intl side, the opposite can't happen, because its an ARL rule.

 

[PaulyTom]

He looks Scottish... hahha
Yeah hope the Irish and Scotttish team play more players from that country.

 

[roopy]

I want Petro to tell Aus to get stuffed and go for Fiji.

 

[nadera78]

Why would he have to apply to have his eligibilty changed to Scotland if he'd never played for Australia? Playing SOO is NOT committing yourself to Australia 100% whether the Aussies like it or not. I suggested the scenario whereby a player does what Wallace is considering i.e being chosen for SOO, getting overlooked by Australia and then deciding his international future lies with another nation. The ARL wouldn't have a leg to stand on. SOO is NOT and should NOT be used as a lever to get players to commit to Australia full stop. The whole concept is riddled with pitfalls. if the ARL just want to choose Australia eligible players then they have to realise that the make up of the population means some players are eligible for someone else. I'd like to see the ARL tell the RLIF that Wallace can't play for Scotland because he's already played SOO and only SOO. A complete joke if they ARE allowed to do it.

For some reason, a lot of Aussies seem to have trouble reading. Nowhere does it say that playing Origin makes you ineligible for a country other than Australia. It does say playing for another country makes you ineligible for Origin (as all origin players must be eligible for Australia). But some people seem incapable of realising the difference.