Monday Buzz: Semi Radradra’s State of Origin eligibility needs to be fixed
THE outrageous situation in which Semi Radradra can play for Australia but not his home state NSW must be fixed, writes PHIL ROTHFIELD.
IT’S very easy to sit back and say Semi Radradra can’t play for NSW because it’s against the qualification rules. Full stop. End of story.
That’s what a tired old rugby league administration would do.
If rules weren’t changed we’d still have unlimited tackle football, all-in brawls, punches to the head, balls being fed into the centre of scrums, no concussion tests, sand instead of kicking tees, penalty goals from scrum infringements, teams five metres back rather than 10, and no video reviews of tries.
Todd Greenberg was given the job as our next chief executive because, among other things, he is innovative.
He can recognise a problem and act on it.
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Right now Radradra is rugby league’s No. 1 personality player. He has a massive cult following in Sydney’s west and right across the game.
He is one of the most exciting new players to emerge in rugby league in the past 20 years.
He is the best winger in the world, bar none.
He played his first rugby league in Australia, in Parramatta, NSW. He is an Australian resident.
When league Immortal Bob Fulton, super coach Wayne Bennett and former Kangaroos coach Tim Sheens sat down four years ago to draw up a new selection criteria, they didn’t take into account players like the “Semi-Trailer”.
They introduced a rule that you play for the state where you were either born or played your junior rugby league under the age of 13.
There was no allowance made for Fijian rugby union converts like this great winger.
Now we have an outrageous situation in which he can wear the green and gold of Australia but not the sky blue of his home state NSW.
If anything, it should be the other way around to protect Fiji’s interests in international rugby league.
Let him play for NSW but not Australia. But that wouldn’t be fair, either. He should be allowed to choose.
One advantage rugby league has over rival sports like soccer and rugby union is that rule changes don’t have to go through a long and tedious process with an international board like FIFA.
Every season we change the rules to improve the game.
Now we have Fulton, a member of the selection criteria committee and one of the game’s most respected figures, saying the rule needs to be adjusted.
This case is a good early test for Greenberg’s leadership.
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