Blues coach Brad Fittler has voiced a solution to the ongoing international eligibility debate plaguing representative rugby league, which he believes will allow both State of Origin and international competition “to flourish”.
Under the current eligibility rules, anyone who has lived in either New South Wales or Queensland before the age of 13 can play Origin and also represent an international team – as long as it’s not a rival ‘Tier 1’ nation such as England or New Zealand.
However, issues of eligibility were further exacerbated ahead of this year’s Rugby League World Cup when Blues stars Brian To’o, Stephen Crichton, Daniel Tupou, Jarome Luai, Junior Paulo, Api Koroisau and Siosifa Talakai elected to represent Samoa, Tonga and Fiji respectively to honour their cultural backgrounds.
READ MORE: Wild move results in World Cup’s first red card
READ MORE: England captain’s subtle $1m gay rights protest
READ MORE: Touching Schumacher message revived 10 years on
There are several factors that prevent Samoa and Tonga from being elevated from a ‘Tier 2’ country, regardless of their recent performance at the World Cup.
Addressing gathered media at a KARI Foundation Talented Aboriginal Athletes Program camp, Fittler scoffed at suggestions his players don’t share the same passion for NSW.
“It’s very tricky,” he said.
“For both games to flourish, if you’re born in NSW or Queensland at a certain age – at the moment it’s 13 – then you should be eligible to play for NSW or Queensland.
“How you want to deal with the international arena, that’s a little bit more challenging because there are World Cups, and players could nominate to play for Australia and then be able to move on to another nation.
“So I think there are details [we need to work on] around that.
“At the end of the day, State of Origin should be for people who were born or lived in NSW or Queensland before the age of 13.
“That’s not changing any rules – that’s doing nothing.
“What we do with international football probably needs a little more detail, but those are the rules in Origin and there’s no need for them to change.”
When Victor Radley decided to represent England at the World Cup – therefore forfeiting his chance to pull on a blue jersey – Fittler said that anyone from either of the other ‘Tier 1’ nations should also be able to play Origin, provided they meet the age criteria.
“If you spend your high school here, it means you’ve been nurtured by NSW or Queensland, and you get to play Origin,” Fittler said on Wide World of Sports’ Freddy and the Eighth at the time.
“State of Origin doesn’t have to change – you just need to get rid of the tiering system in international football.”
Fittler also made an example of Raiders centre Sebastian Kris who played for NSW’s under-18s side in 2018 but represented New Zealand at the World Cup.
“Sebastian Kris just played for New Zealand after he played for NSW ever since he was 15,” he said.
“I wonder why these players don’t have the chance or the opportunity to play for NSW because of the heritage of their father, and they get the ability to play international football at some stage of their career.”
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
Rugby League World Cup 2022 team of the tournament: Kangaroos outdone by final foe Samoa
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
