Why Andrew Fifita has turned the Rugby League World Cup into a laughing stock

SAM Thaiday was devastated to lose his Australian jersey but Andrew Fifita just gave his away — for ROBERT CRADDOCK, that’s proof there’s something wrong with the World Cup.

Cowboy's Jason Taumalolo with Cronulla's Andrew Fifita after the Cowboys victory in the Cronulla v Cowboys Elimination Final at Allianz Stadium, Sydney. Picture: Brett Costello

HOW do you reckon Sam Thaiday is feeling?

Thaiday was bleeding from every pore when he learnt his 11-year Australian Test career was terminated with his World Cup omission this week.

He was so shattered at not being told of his axing, he vented on social media and to coach Mal Meninga over the phone.

Call him petulant if you like, but you’ve got to admire the way he cherished the jersey he first wore back in 2006.

Andrew Fifita, by comparison, turned his back on an Australian jersey to play for the country of his heritage, Tonga.

Fifita had already been named in the Australian World Cup squad.

Fifita said the decision — which will cost him a handsome five-figure sum — was family driven, so good luck to him.

But it’s just a shame that if he felt so deeply about it, he did not pick up the phone and ring Meninga a few weeks ago and rule himself out of the Australian side.

Instead he was named in two World Cup squads.

While it’s interesting to see a nation like Tonga fortified by the likes of Jason Taumalolo, Fifita and four other defecting Kiwis, it has turned the tournament into a circus of rubbery rules and conflicting, confusing loyalties.

SNUBBED: Why Fifita chose Tonga

FIFITA SPEAKS: I was scared to tell Mal

Can you imagine it happening at the soccer, cricket or any other World Cup — a player waiting until team announcement week and then deciding “actually, I want to play for another country’’?

League fans are growing to accept the “second choice’’ system where a player not chosen for Australia could play for a country like Italy so long as he has some Italian heritage or has even had a bowl of pasta some time in the past six months.

But mass last-minute walkouts have a “musical jerseys’’ feel to them that just makes a mockery of the whole show.

Will Hopoate has pleaded for Fifita not be banned from playing for Australia, but he must now be shunted to the back of queue.

Cowboy's Jason Taumalolo with Cronulla's Andrew Fifita after the Cowboys victory in the Cronulla v Cowboys Elimination Final at Allianz Stadium, Sydney. Picture: Brett Costello

It’s not a matter of being spiteful or getting square.

It’s simply that Australian rugby league Test jerseys should go to people who cherish them.

Many have.

Wally Lewis was once so shattered at missing a Kangaroo tour in 1990 with a broken arm he offered for doctors to “cut me open’’ if it proved his arm was not as badly broken as it was first thought.

You want players who bleed like Thaiday when the jersey is taken off them.

Australia should win the World Cup final by 30 points no matter who they play.

Tonga will be interesting to watch. New Zealand could be big disappointments after a player revolt and England might give a bit of cheek until the final.

The World Cup should be a bit of fun. But it’s hard to treat it too seriously.

Originally published as Why Andrew Fifita has turned the Rugby League World Cup into a laughing stock