This is why international football is a farce.
Pacific Islands will only get competive and have a huge profile when players from the Queensland and NSW states sides are in their team.
Thats a backwards way to look at it. I'd prefer if the smaller nations built there success on players who want to play for their nations above all else. I want it to be so players choose their nations first, instead of it being an option after origin selection. It won't happen over night, and some players of Pacific island origin will still represent australia and new Zealand (because that is their heritage to and it is their right to choose so), but the current system, a dual international system, or opening origin up to all nationalities are huge backwards steps in establishing the international game.
I find id so funny how closely this discussion parallels an older one....
- We have a representative
international competition that is totally uncompetitive because one team (
the Kangaroos) is allowed to hoard all of the best players. THey achieve this because there is an incredibly attractive and lucrative
state-based competition (
State of Origin) that everyone wants to be a part of, so they say "if you want to play
Origin, you need to play in our
National team".
The suggestion now is to remove this link to make
International games more competitive, but some people are against the change because they have a gut feeling that it would damage the credibility of
International comp (apparently people playing for the
nation they were born in is bad...)
Ironically, RL had this exact discussion 37 years ago
- We have a representative
State competition that is totally uncompetitive because one team (
NSW) is allowed to hoard all of the best players. THey achieve this because there is an incredibly attractive and lucrative
club-based competition (
NSWRL) that everyone wants to be a part of, so they say "if you want to play
NSWRL, you need to play in our
State team".
The suggestion now is to remove this link to make
State games more competitive, but some people are against the change because they have a gut feeling that it would damage the credibility of the
State comp (apparently people playing for the
State they were born in is bad...)
Of course, we all know what a failure that rule change turned out to be. Who has ever even heard of STATE OF ORIGIN....
