Origin Eligibility

jamesgould

Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
Staff member
Admin
Well I see he's all but switched to Queensland after signing a letter of intent to play for the Kiwis. Moved to Aus when he was 16.

If payments for Origin rise to $50,000 a match as is being touted, then I can't see international rugby league remaining competitive. And Origin will become even more littered with Kiwis, Fijians, PNGers, etc who are in it for the cash.

I see Beaumont said in another thread that NZ should pay their players more for tests - international payments are capped at $7500 to prevent any countries paying overs to tempt a player into playing for them. As well as that, the money the NZRL gets from tests is their major form of income, so it is also needed to fund the domestic game in this country (developing all these players that move over at 16 to make up the NRL).

I also see the Warriors becoming less successful as NZ players move over to qualify for Origin rather than staying in the Warriors system.

Is there a solution? I think it's beginning to make more and more sense that players play for their country of birth.

An annual three test series between Aus and NZ, played straight after Origin, could also become huge and generate as much money as Origin, if given the correct billing.

I don't wanna see Kiwis and Fijians playing Origin though, imo it cheapens the whole concept.
 
Firstly, who?

But yes I agree. Origin is a pretty simple word. If you're born there then that's your origin. The whole swapping & changing is getting ridiculous.
 
Firstly, who?

But yes I agree. Origin is a pretty simple word. If you're born there then that's your origin. The whole swapping & changing is getting ridiculous.

Think he is talking Kasiano??

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Agree 100% James. I hate seeing the likes of Tamou, Uate, Kasiano,etc playing Origin. It should be 1) Based on where you were born ad 2) Based on where you have spent Majority of your life. Also i strongly believe once you have chosen a state or Country to Represent then they should not be able to change EG Uate. Also they should be made to chose as soon as they sign there 1st contract
 
Firstly, who?

But yes I agree. Origin is a pretty simple word. If you're born there then that's your origin. The whole swapping & changing is getting ridiculous.

Oh yeah, sorry - Kasiano. At first I called the topic Sam Kasiano, but then once I posted it I realised not that much of it was really about him, so I changed it.

Leaving the post nonsensical! :lol:
 
Think he is talking Kasiano??

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Agree 100% James. I hate seeing the likes of Tamou, Uate, Kasiano,etc playing Origin. It should be 1) Based on where you were born ad 2) Based on where you have spent Majority of your life. Also i strongly believe once you have chosen a state or Country to Represent then they should not be able to change EG Uate. Also they should be made to chose as soon as they sign there 1st contract

Birth or majority of life is a really good idea! That way Civoniceva could still be Australian, which makes sense since he's lived there from a very young age.
 
It really could be so simple. If you are born in a country you are eligible for that country & if you have lived in a country for 10 years you are eligible for that country. And then getting complicated but you are also allowed eligibility through descent (parents or grandparents) just so players can pick Tonga or Serbia etc. if they're families come from there & they're passionate about it. Players should be made to sign a document declaring which they are eligible for during the week of their NRL debut & if they choose to change allegiance then it is a 3 year stand down period from representative duty (I think anything more is a bit harsh personally).

That way I could choose Australia because I was born there, I could choose New Zealand through my dad or I could choose England through my grandmother. During that year I would be forced to play for the country I chose on my NRL debut until January 1. That day I could change (unlikely for me to do :lol: ) but I would have to not play rep for the next 3 years.

Now that I think about that actually wasn't so simple haha but I think I covered all bases.

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And btw I thought Kasiano already officially pledged to NZ? Weird. :S
 
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Can anyone name another representative team that has players in the squad that weren't born in that region or have parents/grandparents who were born in said region? The only type I can think of is All-star matches around the world and the Pro Bowl for the NFL.

Pretty sure the NRL has an All-stars match....
 
It really could be so simple. If you are born in a country you are eligible for that country & if you have lived in a country for 10 years you are eligible for that country. And then getting complicated but you are also allowed eligibility through descent (parents or grandparents) just so players can pick Tonga or Serbia etc. if they're families come from there & they're passionate about it. Players should be made to sign a document declaring which they are eligible for during the week of their NRL debut & if they choose to change allegiance then it is a 3 year stand down period from representative duty (I think anything more is a bit harsh personally).

That way I could choose Australia because I was born there, I could choose New Zealand through my dad or I could choose England through my grandmother. During that year I would be forced to play for the country I chose on my NRL debut until January 1. That day I could change (unlikely for me to do :lol: ) but I would have to not play rep for the next 3 years.

Now that I think about that actually wasn't so simple haha but I think I covered all bases.

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And btw I thought Kasiano already officially pledged to NZ? Weird. :S

For the grandparent thing - what about it only counts for minor nations? So if your grandparent was Tongan, you could play for Tonga. But Heighington couldn't play for England.
 
The whole thing is screwed, you have guys coming to play for Australia, not just for the payment of origin, but for the fact that it is probably the biggest event in the nrl. Which in terms weakens the international league. But you have to remember Australia also plays more games then countries like Fiji as well each year. If you were to change it to who ever you choose when you debut, or even country of birth, you'd stop players like Uate and even Hayne from switching to Australia, but you'd also stop guys like Minichello who have played for Australia, and have now switched to smaller countries to represent them.

I think the best option would be to allow anyone to play Origin, but they would have to have lived in that state for atleast 10-15 years before they could play for them.

Just on a side note regarding origin, don't know how many people saw it, but Burges was on nrl on fox, and was asked would you want to play origin, his answer was he'd love to play origin, but he wouldn't give up playing for his country for it.
 
For the grandparent thing - what about it only counts for minor nations? So if your grandparent was Tongan, you could play for Tonga. But Heighington couldn't play for England.

Definitely. When I wrote that bit I was changing mind constantly over whether it should be for minor nations only or not.

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The whole thing is screwed, you have guys coming to play for Australia, not just for the payment of origin, but for the fact that it is probably the biggest event in the nrl. Which in terms weakens the international league. But you have to remember Australia also plays more games then countries like Fiji as well each year. If you were to change it to who ever you choose when you debut, or even country of birth, you'd stop players like Uate and even Hayne from switching to Australia, but you'd also stop guys like Minichello who have played for Australia, and have now switched to smaller countries to represent them.

I think the best option would be to allow anyone to play Origin, but they would have to have lived in that state for atleast 10-15 years before they could play for them.

Just on a side note regarding origin, don't know how many people saw it, but Burges was on nrl on fox, and was asked would you want to play origin, his answer was he'd love to play origin, but he wouldn't give up playing for his country for it.

Alot of good points.
 
I dont care how much everyone hates it they should just cut it to 1) where you were born. Full stop, don't care if you lived all but 1 day in Australia.

On top of this idea everyone hates, the stand alone origin weekend should include Friday night NZ south island v NZ North island (or whatever way is best to split but has a big rivalry) SOO Saturday night, then Sunday have a Samoa v tonga or a pacific island Allstars game to include the petro's uate's etc

I know it's a big move but I think it the only way to do it, just like the big decision that should be made to scrap the video ref, I never see the NRL doing this...
 
Saw this on another forum, sounds allright.

1. Where were you born?
2. Where did you play your first game of football?
3. Where did you first go to primary school?
4. Where did you first go to high school?
5. Where did you play your first game of senior football (at 16 or over)?

If either NSW or Queensland is the answer to 3 of these questions, you play for them.
If neither NSW or Queensland is the answer to at least 3 of these questions, you are ineligible to play origin.
 
Make em pay 50% of all their earnings to their old choice if they chance their eligibility. See how many change then.

But really, only someone born in NSW should be allowed to play for NSW, and visa versa.
 
If only there were 60 weeks in a year! we could have SOO, Kiwi Origin and even a 2nd grade SOO! Kiwis need something, there is just too much talent sitting on the sidelines during the byes. Hell lets do a 2nd grade origin now, they have enough players/talent in camp a few weeks before kick off!! Geez I love SOO.

Sounding a bit like Gus at the moment. :/
 
I think basing it on where the player was born is far too simplistic.

e.g. Billy Moore grew up in Wallangarra but was born in NSW for no reason other than it was the nearest hospital.

Petero Civoniceva was born in Fiji but moved to Australia at < 1 year old.

Peter Sterling was born in Toowoomba but played all his junior footy in Wagga Wagga.

etc.
 
^Definitely. Unfortunately some dumb idiots I've seen on forums want it to be that simple but it just isn't practical. I know if I was born in QLD purely because of the fact it was the nearest hospital, but grew up exactly the way I have, bred in Newcastle, I would loathe the fact that I couldn't play for NSW.
 
I think the new rules for the ARLC come close. However I think they could do with a bit of refinement. I think players should have to play at least 50% of their U13-U17s footy in NSW or Qld to be eligible for either State. Otherwise they can play for NZ/Fiji/whoever.
 
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