Rugby league news: Bennett issues blunt warning over Origin eligibility row in wake of World Cup
Wayne Bennett says the success of the World Cup should be a wake up call for everyone who supports State of Origin, writes Paul Crawley.
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Wayne Bennett is now backing a State of Origin eligibility overhaul so World Cup heroes who grew up in Queensland and NSW are not blocked from playing Origin in the future.
It comes as the Queensland super coach also pointed to record World Cup TV ratings as a wake-up call to everyone standing in the way of the international game’s development.
“Let’s stop the bulls***,” Bennett fired, after learning 617,000 people had tuned into Fox Sports and Kayo in Australia alone to watch the World Cup final between the Kangaroos and Samoa.
“It’s not that complicated.
“Everyone needs to think about what is in the game’s best interests here.
“We have to acknowledge where international football is heading.
“We had more than 600,000 people who got up in the middle of the night to watch that game.
“That shows there is a market for it, and we are in the entertainment business.”
To put Australia’s World Cup TV ratings in perspective, the audience on Fox and Kayo for the final was about three times as many people who would get up to watch the US Masters golf tournament here, while the average for each men’s game was 97,000.
Over in England there was also record TV ratings on free-to-air. The semi-final between England and Samoa attracted 2.38 million viewers on the BBC, which was 21.2 per cent of the overall market, while more people than ever also tuned in on continents throughout the world.
Bennett concedes previously he was with the old school brigade who didn’t want anyone representing another tier one nation still to be eligible to play Origin.
But he’s now backing the calls for change on the strict proviso you still need to have grown up playing junior footy in Queensland and NSW.
The NRL is currently considering making an amendment if Samoa or Tonga are elevated to tier one nations.
Under the current rules if Samoa was to become a tier one nation the likes of Junior Paulo, Jarome Luai, Stephen Crichton and Brian To’o, as well as young Joseph Suaalii, would not be allowed to play Origin in the future.
It also rules out Victor Radley because he chose England because of his father’s heritage.
“What I’m saying is the criteria to play for Queensland and NSW must not change,” Bennett added.
“But what should change is that players should be available for selection for a whole lot of countries outside Australia.
“Victor Radley should be allowed to play for NSW and also play for England. But he will never play for Australia.
“He made that choice. But he still ticks all the boxes to play Origin because he grew up playing his football in NSW.
“What a lot of people seem to be struggling to understand is that these players like Junior Paulo and Jarome Luai and Brian To’o, they’ve all grown up in Sydney.
“So under the criteria as it is now they qualify for Origin.
“Then you have a bloke like Tom Burgess, who doesn’t tick the boxes, because Tom grew up in England. So he shouldn’t be playing Origin.
“Herbie Farnworth is another who doesn’t tick the boxes (because he didn’t move to Australia until his late teens).
“So the criteria stays the same in that respect.
“But we have to acknowledge where international football is heading.”
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Queensland Rugby League boss Bruce Hatcher will fight any proposed changed to State of Origin eligibility laws, fearing they would destroy the time-honoured fabric of the contest.
The NRL is expected to consider overhauling the State of Origin eligibility laws if Samoa and Tonga are elevated to tier one nations in the wake of their World Cup performances.
Samoa made the final against Australia and Tonga have beaten New Zealand and Australia.
Under current rules if Samoa became a tier one nation the likes of Jarome Luai and Junior Paulo would have to choose between playing for NSW and Samoa.
There is a push to allow tier one nation players to be eligible for Origin which would mean England and New Zealand players would also be available for Origin.
Hatcher is strongly against it because he feels it takes away from the tribal element of Origin which has made it so special.
“I am a great believer in leaving Origin as it stands,’’ Hatcher told News Corp.
“The rules have worked very well. I would be very reluctant to tinker with them. There is a lot of pride in playing for Queensland. It’s different. It’s unique.
“It has worked well as it is. I have got no problem with people being concerned about expanding the interests of international football but I wouldn’t want to make people play for Queensland whose major objective is playing for the country of their birth (other than Australia).
“In other areas of life such as business many things are centralised and controlled out of Sydney and that becomes a fact of life for a lot of Queenslanders in their working lives.
“But State of Origin is one thing where it can be different. It started with Arthur Beetson and it was almost as if one era ended and another started because of his passion for the jersey.
“Then Mal Meninga spelt out what it meant to play for Queensland and that still exists.
“Origin is special. It captures the interest of a lot of people including those who only watch rugby league for that period.
“I think it is very important to have pathways in international rugby league but the pathway to playing for Australia should be to play for NSW and Queensland.’’
Origin enforcer Paul Gallen said he would like to see the tier system abolished and players from all nations eligible to play for Origin if they had played their first game in an Australia state by age 13.
“At the start of your career, you nominate which country you want to play for, then where you play your first game at the age of 13, that’s where you play Origin,” Gallen told Code Sport.
“I’ve got no problem with that at all.’’
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Originally published as Rugby league news: Bennett issues blunt warning over Origin eligibility row in wake of World Cup
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