Semi Radradra shouldn’t be allowed to play for NSW or Australia, writes Darren Lockyer
THE hysteria over Semi Radradra’s desire to play Origin for NSW and Test football for Australia has spotlighted some major issues with representative football.
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THE hysteria over Semi Radradra’s desire to play State of Origin for NSW and Test football for Australia has spotlighted some major issues with representative football.
On Thursday night, we learned Radradra had submitted paperwork with the Rugby League International Federation, formally applying to play for Australia.
As a result, there is also a push for Radradra to be eligible for State of Origin, which is understandable given his standing as one of the most formidable wingers in the NRL.
I don’t believe Radradra should be allowed to wear either the sky blue or the green and gold jumpers. I feel as strongly about that as I do about the situation involving Luke Keary, who should be eligible to play Origin for Queensland.
Semi was born in Fiji, holds a Fijian passport and has spent 19 of his 23 years living in Fiji.
He is as Fijian as kava.
The bigger issue here is why Radradra wants to play Origin, how the code can help minnow nations and what must be done to make international rugby league robust and relevant.
If international football is an important pillar of the ARL Commission’s charter, which I believe it is, playing for minnow nations needs to be incentivised.
I don’t blame Radradra for wanting to play for NSW and Australia.
Three games of Origin nets a player $90,000. A 30-game Origin career can earn you $900,000. That’s a huge financial carrot for any first-grade player when the average NRL career, statistically, is around two or three seasons.
If we open up State of Origin to every talented Fijian, Samoan, Kiwi or French player, it not only erodes the fabric of Origin football, it sounds the death knell for the international game.
The answer is giving a player like Radradra an avenue to perform internationally, with his country of birth, and be appropriately remunerated for it.
When Fiji made the 2008 World Cup semi-final, their players were paid a daily allowance of $125. Their non-NRL players would eat for free at hotel buffets, saving their allowance for their poverty-stricken families back home in Fiji.
This is the human backdrop to Radradra’s arrival in the NRL. It is why rugby league authorities need to get serious about funding levels to minnow nations to ensure a Semi Radradra doesn’t turn his back on Fiji.
Fiji and PNG barely play meaningful internationals outside of the World Cup so I would like to see the Four Nations tournament expanded to six. Rugby in the northern hemisphere has great success with their Six Nations and a similar concept would allow Fiji, PNG and Samoa to compete regularly against Australia, New Zealand and England.
Ten or 15 years ago, rugby league was not well enough resourced to care for the international game but in the past two years, the ARL Commission has banked $100 million. Let’s bankroll international rugby league and pay Radradra what he deserves as a professional Fijian talent.
The Radradra debate leads me to the issue surrounding Keary, who has been deemed a NSW player despite attending Queensland’s Emerging Origin camp in 2012.
Under the current criteria, Keary qualifies for NSW, but surely birthplace should count.
Luke was born in Ipswich, and lived the first 10 years of his life in Queensland.
This is not about Queensland poaching a NSW-aligned player. If Keary feels he is a Queenslander, it seems wrong to deny him the opportunity to play for Queensland.
The eligibility rules will never be perfect, but hopefully the Radradra and Keary cases spark a change for the better.
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