Kiwis can't compete with Origin cash

KIWI coaching great Graham Lowe fears $50,000 Origin match payments could destroy New Zealand's rugby league competitiveness.

KIWI coaching great Graham Lowe has challenged international rugby league to "completely reinvent itself" as $50,000 Origin match payments threaten to destroy New Zealand's competitiveness.

Bulldogs prop Sam Kasiano is the latest pin-up boy for the representative tug-of-war, with Queensland coach Mal Meninga having made overtures for the Auckland-born juggernaut to switch his allegiance.

Kasiano is yet to make a decision, but that could change as soon as this weekend should there be injury vacancies in Queensland's forward pack ahead of Origin II selection on Monday.

Although his new three-year contract with Canterbury nominates allegiance to New Zealand, the 133kg dynamo remains keen to wear Maroon after Meninga courted him over the phone a few months ago. Should he follow Kiwi compatriot James Tamou and change allegiance in pursuit of Origin glory, the double defection would be an enormous blow to trans-Tasman rivalry.

And with elite players pushing for Origin match payments to be increased from $20,000 to $50,000 from next year, the carrot for eligible Kiwis to abandon their homeland could soon prove irresistible.

Still just 21 years old, Kasiano could potentially earn an additional $1.5 million representing Queensland over the next decade compared to a meagre $5,000 per game with New Zealand.

The perfect storm of pay disparity and the NRL's booming proportion of Polynesian-blooded players has left proud Kiwis such as Lowe deeply concerned. The only New Zealander to coach Origin, Lowe believes a revolution is needed to secure the viability of international rugby league. Lowe argued for the addition of a Pacifica team - representing island nations Tonga, Samoa and Fiji - to prevent Australia from warehousing the best talent via Origin's financial allure.

"This is a big issue for the game and it's about far more than money," Lowe said.

"The international game needs to completely reinvent itself - just as State of Origin did in 1980. That year the series was dead, so they tried the Origin concept for the third game and a revolution happened. International rugby league has to do the same thing, because at the moment it's a toothless tiger.

"There's no way it can compete financially with Origin, so it has to change to generate more money."

Lowe said the Polynesian players weren't "represented properly or respectfully" at present. "There's no decent international competition for them and that has to be addressed," he continued.

"I think if you had a Pacifica team representing the island nations it would blow the international game apart."

Kasiano crossed the ditch to live with extended family in Brisbane when he was 16, but has never worn a representative jersey.

The closest was this year's Anzac Test, when Kiwi coach Steve Kearney trimmed him from an extended squad to play Australia on April 20.

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