Highlights, Lowlights: Origin qualification up for discussion; Storming Souths; Inexplicably Haas

Having already signed Nick Cotric, the Bulldogs are now considering an approach to an injury-prone Broncos star to switch to Belmore next year. PLUS: why South Sydney featured as a highlight despite defeat.

Peter V’landys wants to put a working group together to look at State of Origin eligibility rules.

In the old days the game’s showpiece event was billed as a contest between the 34 best players from the NRL competition.

The landscape has changed so much since the qualification rules were last altered 10 years ago.

Kayo is your ticket to the 2020 NRL Telstra Premiership. Every game of every round Live & On-Demand with no-ad breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >

Tevita Pangai Junior would be one player to benefit from any proposed changes.

NRL NEWS

Saint, Sinner, Shoosh: NRL coach now an Uber driver

Buzz: Mentor can keep disgruntled star at Bulldogs

There has since been an influx of Polynesian boys, many of whom played their first junior football in either NSW or Queensland.

No one wants to turn this into an All-Stars game.

State against state, mate against mate and the bitter rivalry is what it’s all about.

Still, it’s at least worth a discussion, according to Origin coaches Brad Fittler and Kevin Walters.

“There’s some examples like Will Hopoate, Tevita Pangai and Daniel Tupou,” Fittler said.

“They went to school in NSW and Queensland. They grew up supporting Origin but they’ve elected to play for the Pacific nations which is great for international football.

“But it shouldn’t rule them out of Origin? Not necessarily.”

The likes of Sonny Bill Williams, Benji Marshall, Kieran Foran and Kevin Proctor all went to school in NSW and Queensland but couldn’t play Origin because they chose New Zealand.

“It’s something we should chat about,” says Maroons coach Kevin Walters.

“The game is changing all the time and this is the 40th year of Origin.

“We need to be careful about who wears the jersey but there are some players from both states we could definitely look at and consider for selection.”

Check out the highlights, lowlights and talking points from another big weekend in sport.

Souths got close to pulling off one of the biggest comeback wins in NRL history.

HIGHLIGHT

South Sydney’s stunning final 15 minutes against the Knights, with three glorious tries that turned the game into a heart-stopping thriller and a result the never-say-die Rabbitohs very nearly pinched.

LOWLIGHT

Channel 9 handed out its VB Hard Earned Award on Friday night to Broncos front-rower Payne Haas despite his side being flogged 48-0 by the Wests Tigers. Seriously, what game were they watching? Haas wasn’t even among the top dozen players. This is a complete farce.

LOWLIGHT II

The referees’ refusal to use the sin bin for blatant foul-play incidents. Bulldogs half Kieran Foran was hit high and late by Tariq Sims and had to be taken off for an HIA. Sims stayed on the field. Foran didn’t return.

SPOTTED

Former Channel 9 Footy Show star Beau Ryan on the Gold Coast enjoying the school holidays with his family.

SPOTTED II

The great Kiwi halfback, Gary Freeman, still playing lower grade rugby union at 58 for Beecroft. There’s mail he even got a yellow card. Onya Whiz.

Adam O’Brien is rivalling Craig Bellamy for his box antics.

SPOTTED III

The Knights’ Adam O’Brien throwing out a challenge to Craig Bellamy as the maddest NRL coach with his box antics against the Rabbitohs on Saturday night.

SHOOSH

Having already signed Nick Cotric, the Bulldogs are now considering an approach to injury-prone Brisbane Broncos star Jack Bird to switch to Belmore next year.

ROUGH INITIATION

It was a tough afternoon for caretaker Bulldogs coach Steve Georgallis in Wollongong on Saturday. The TV feed into the coach’s box wasn’t working and he missed a number of crucial replays.

Interim coach Steve Georgallis had to put up with a poor TV feed against the Dragons.

360 VIEW

Catch you Monday night on NRL 360 on Fox Sports at 6.30pm with Ben Ikin, Paul Kent and James Hooper to discuss all the biggest issues from round 10 of the competition.

Sharks cutting costs

The Cronulla Sharks continue to slash spending in their football department with recruitment chief Grant Jones being made redundant on Friday.

The Sharks insist it was a cost-cutting measure and the role will now be shared by general manager Phil Moss and others on staff.

There are, however, rumours that Jones had a disagreement with coach John Morris in the week before his sudden departure.