What Australia needs to do for the World game

[mark2]

With the RLWC Final nearly upon us its time for the Aussies to take a look at what they can do for the world game.

The fact is Australia has more players playing Rugby League than all the other nations combined!

Australia also has the strongest domestic competition, these are facts, not opinions.

So the Aussies need to be more relaxed in their attitude to player selection.

Why do they insist on taking players from other countries when they have a massive player pool to call on? (a certain Fijian prop, Hunt, even taking players out of another teams squad).

Also why wont they Australian team play without an Australian ref??


The Australian team is so far in front of everybody else why not make the playing field a little leveler??

 

[ShadesOfTheSun]

Hunt and Civoneceva chose to make themselves eligible for Australia, rather than for NZ or Fiji. The fact is that if they weren't selected for the Kangaroos, they would not be playing in the RLWC at all.

As for the referee issue, the Australia-Fiji semi final had an ESL ref. In any case, though, I fail to see how an Australian referee - knowing that because he is Australian, any leeway that he gives Australia is going to be heavily scrutinised and criticised - would really benefit Australia except insofar as he would presumably be more used to the NRL interpretation of the rules. If the issue is a question of differing styles beween the two competitions, then we need to ask ourselves if there are any 'neutral' referees who straddle the divide between the ESL and the NRL. If not, then Australia, as the hosts of the RLWC, should have the right to insist that referees adhere by the interpretations of their game.

 

[ozbash]

If not, then Australia, as the hosts of the RLWC, should have the right to insist that referees adhere by the interpretations of their game.

"their game" ?

 

[ShadesOfTheSun]

The NRL and the SL are significantly different in their rules and the interpretations thereof that I don't see much problem in viewing them as separate games.

Oh, and I'm from Canada, and really have no love for the Australian team whatsoever.

 

[Rastus_in_Melbourne]

Yeah it's a bit rough, letting an Australian citizen play for the Australian team.

 

[screeny]

Don't the Aussies have to care about the world game first?

 

[hutch]

With the RLWC Final nearly upon us its time for the Aussies to take a look at what they can do for the world game.

The fact is Australia has more players playing Rugby League than all the other nations combined!

Australia also has the strongest domestic competition, these are facts, not opinions.

So the Aussies need to be more relaxed in their attitude to player selection.

true

Why do they insist on taking players from other countries when they have a massive player pool to call on? (a certain Fijian prop, Hunt, even taking players out of another teams squad).

they havnt taken these players from anywhere, they are australian and have every right to play for their country. if anything, australia have provided every team except england with players. as for taking tupou from the tongan squad, he shouldnt have even been in the tongan squad. he plays for australia and did so 6 months before the world cup. tonga should stop relying on other countries to develop their players and put some strategies in place to develop their own players. there is no problem with players of tongan descent playing for their country of heritage, just as long as they are serious about developing and promoting rugby league in tonga, not just playing for them to get a game as most of their players did at this world cup, and it showed on the field.

Also why wont they Australian team play without an Australian ref??

because the rlif is run by idiots who think the nrl is the be all and end all. wouldnt have made any difference to any games or scorelines though.

The Australian team is so far in front of everybody else why not make the playing field a little leveler??

we should definately be trying to improve the standard of world rugby league, and it is up to australia to try to improve and promote rugby league in places like the pacific, but not by providing all their players. we need to give these teams more meaningful internationals and tournaments, at origin time and also post nrl season. these countries, especially png and fiji can no longer be ignored.

 

[mark2]

I think there is a bit of point missinghere.

If you take Civinoceva, Hunt and Topou out of the Australian team and replace them with the next in line the drop in standard of the team would be less than 1%, but add say Fiji born Civinoceva to the Batis and you would have a massive increase in the Fijian team standard.

Its all about Australia looking beyond their own domestic game.

If we are serious about developing the sport then these are the things we must implement.

Its alright being coy and saying teams should develop their own stars over night to compete, but the truth is they never will be able to unless they get a helping hand.

 

[ShadesOfTheSun]

I think there is a bit of point missinghere.

If you take Civinoceva, Hunt and Topou out of the Australian team and replace them with the next in line the drop in standard of the team would be less than 1%, but add say Fiji born Civinoceva to the Batis and you would have a massive increase in the Fijian team standard.

Reiterating: Civinoceva opted to pledge his allegiance to Australia, and not to Fiji. Even if Australia were to refuse to select him for the RLWC, under the current eligibility laws, he could not be selected for Fiji. The same goes for Hunt and Tupou - they either play for Australia or they don't play at all. Simple as that.

 

[mark2]

Reiterating: Civinoceva opted to pledge his allegiance to Australia, and not to Fiji. .

The Fijian born, who had already represented Fiji player!!

You are again missing the point, if Australia looked at a player like Civinoceva and said that they would be able to select a player of equal standing and allow Civinocea to play for Fiji the game of Rugby League would benefit massively.

Its about be selfless for the benefit of the game.

 

[roopy]

Its about be selfless for the benefit of the game.

It wouldn't be all that selfless for Australia to make the international game happen.
At the end of the day, a huge percentage of the money from this world cup, and therefore from International RL, is ending up in australian pockets.

If the game were to take off internationally it would be the kangaroos, aussie coaches, NRL teams and even aussie merchandise companies and sponsers who would be dragging in the big bucks that arn't in the game now.

 

[ShadesOfTheSun]

The Fijian born, who had already represented Fiji player!!

You are again missing the point, if Australia looked at a player like Civinoceva and said that they would be able to select a player of equal standing and allow Civinocea to play for Fiji the game of Rugby League would benefit massively.

Its about be selfless for the benefit of the game.

No, you are missing the point. Australia does not dictate the eligibility rules. They have no right to say who Civinoceva can or cannot play for except the Kangaroos. Even if they were to say 'we're not picking him', he would still not be eligible for Fiji because he's recently played for the Kangaroos and the Maroons. The eligibility rules do not allow one side to give their past players 'permission' to play for another country.

That being the case, if Civinoceva were not picked for Australia, he would not be playing for Fiji. He would not be playing at all.

 

[Glen from the Mount]

When Civinoceva made his "choice" to play for Australia, it was an easy choice as Fiji really played any internationals. Also, there were the financial considerations - How much would he have made playing for Fiji compared to playing for Qld and Aust. Easy choice and he made the right one.

 

[mark2]

Jeeez how hard is this?? If Australia had not picked the FIJIAN Civinoceva to play for them whenever they did he would be playing for Fiji!!

In a hypothetical situation for the betterment of the game, say a Tongan player emerges from the Tongan comp and moves to Australia as things stand at the minute the ARL would entice him to switch to play for the Kangeroos, that cannot be right!!

 

[hutch]

The Fijian born, who had already represented Fiji player!!

You are again missing the point, if Australia looked at a player like Civinoceva and said that they would be able to select a player of equal standing and allow Civinocea to play for Fiji the game of Rugby League would benefit massively.

Its about be selfless for the benefit of the game.

civonoceva has never played for fiji. if you read one of the article in the daily tele last week he said that while he was proud of the way fiji had progressed, and he would continue to support young fijian kids in rugby league, he has never had any urge to play for them. he is an australian and has always dreamt of playing for qld and australia.

fiji would obviously benefit by having civo in their side, any team would, but filling teams with aussies is not the answer to improving international rugby league. its a quick fix, look how far teams such as samoa and tonga are behind png and fiji. they have done hardly any development at all, and payed the price at this world cup. having 8 teams of aussies from different backgrounds is not international rugby league.

 

[hutch]

Jeeez how hard is this?? If Australia had not picked the FIJIAN Civinoceva to play for them whenever they did he would be playing for Fiji!!

In a hypothetical situation for the betterment of the game, say a Tongan player emerges from the Tongan comp and moves to Australia as things stand at the minute the ARL would entice him to switch to play for the Kangeroos, that cannot be right!!

this has never happened though. there has never, ever been a player signed to move to australia who has playde for ther kangaroos, and the only player to have done so in origin is craig smith, which was a farce which will never happen again.

 

[hutch]

When Civinoceva made his "choice" to play for Australia, it was an easy choice as Fiji really played any internationals. Also, there were the financial considerations - How much would he have made playing for Fiji compared to playing for Qld and Aust. Easy choice and he made the right one.

he didnt make a choice, its all he ever wanted to do.

 

[roopy]

he has never had any urge to play for them.

He was writing articles 3 or 4 years ago saying that his Australian career would be over by 2008 so he would like to finish his career by playing for Fiji in the WC.
Up till last year most people had him pencilled in for Fiji.
I'd like to see him swap now, just because it would boost Fiji if he had a few games for them in the Pacific Cup next year.

 

[hutch]

He was writing articles 3 or 4 years ago saying that his Australian career would be over by 2008 so he would like to finish his career by playing for Fiji in the WC.
Up till last year most people had him pencilled in for Fiji.
I'd like to see him swap now, just because it would boost Fiji if he had a few games for them in the Pacific Cup next year.

one of the biggest jokes in our game, if not the biggest joke is allowing players to switch nations almost at will.

 

[alexc]

Why the hell would Civo play for Fiji when he is easily the best Australian prop? Also I doubt Fiji are paying their players 10k a game or whatever it is.

Rugby League loses so much credibility with this player switch bs. Also I'll give you the tip... international league dont have much credibility.