World Cup eligibility rules could spill over into 2018 Origin selections
BUZZ: Kiwi players are banned from Origin but Tongan Andrew Fifita can play for NSW and Samoan Josh Papalii can play for Queensland. Is this fair to Jason Taumalolo?
Phil Rothfield
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THE relaxing of player qualification rules for the rugby league World Cup could potentially spill over and create a furore in State of Origin selections from next season.
As it stands, New Zealand players are banned from playing for NSW or Queensland.
Yet Tongan Andrew Fifita can play for the Blues and Samoan Josh Papalii can play for the Maroons.
How is this fair on the Kiwis?
Obviously Polynesian players will now want to play for the Pacific Islands rather than New Zealand if it allows them to play Origin and get among the $100,000-a-player match payments.
League administrators will argue this selection scenario involving tier-two nations is a problem only in World Cup seasons every four years.
Yet the whole idea of having Fifita and Jason Taumalolo playing for the Pacific nations is to lift teams like Tonga to eventually become a tier-one rugby league country and regularly play Test matches.
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It won’t happen this World Cup but maybe by 2021.
So let’s use Taumalolo as an example.
He played his first junior football in Australia in North Queensland at the age of 14.
Does this mean now that he’s not playing for the Kiwis, he should be allowed to play for QLD.
The same as Fifita is.
In recent years we’ve had Semi Radradra playing for Australia yet banned from Origin. If he comes back from French rugby and plays for Fiji is he then allowed to play for NSW?
Like Fifita and Papalii. Like Jarryd Hayne who is also playing for the Fijians and like James Tedesco with the Italians.
Don’t get me wrong. What happened last week with all the player movement is the best thing to ever happen to international rugby league.
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The RLWC suddenly went from a B-grade tournament to a creditable must-watch series.
Almost every game should be reasonably competitive. I seriously can’t wait.
I know broadcasters Channel 7 are expecting much better ratings.
There has been a spike in ticket sales right across the tournament.
For too long rugby league on the world stage had been a joke. No-one cared and games had to be moved out of Sydney because of the lack of interest.
Even your battered old columnist struggles to recall the days when the French were a serious player in international rugby league.
The game now has its best ever opportunity to become a proper international sport and not just a three-way round robin between Australia, New Zealand and England.
Who is to say in 10 years we can’t have six tier-one countries.
But at the same time the credibility of State of Origin needs to be protected and the selection rules revisited and adjusted. You just can’t ban Kiwi players but let the others play.
Maybe introduce a rule that if you played football in Australia prior to turning 15 then you can play for the state where you played your first junior footy.
So Taumalolo could be picked by Kevvy Walters next year.
(It would be fairer than them choosing Macksville’s Greg Inglis.)
Others like Sam Burgess couldn’t because he didn’t arrive here until he was an established player.