In the 2005 State of Origin series, NSW used 22 players. None of them were eligible to play for any regularly playing rugby league nation other than Australia.
Fast-forward two decades to Michael Maguire’s series-conquering feats with the Blues in 2024, and the team list highlights just how significant the Polynesian influence now is on the sport.
In the opening game of last year’s series, Maguire picked seven players who were eligible to represent either Tonga or Samoa.
They were Samoa’s Brian To’o, Stephen Crichton, Jarome Luai, Payne Haas, Spencer Leniu and Joseph Suaalii, as well as Tonga’s Haumole Olakau’atu.
The same goes for Queensland, who used 10 players across the series who were eligible to represent other nations, not including the injured Tino Fa’asuamaleaui.
The news of Haas’ likely defection from Australia to Samoa has ignited a seemingly annual debate about State of Origin eligibility rules.
Payne Haas charges into the Queensland defence during game one of the 2024 Origin series.Credit: Getty Images
As the rules stand, those who make themselves available to play for NSW or Queensland are prohibited from representing a tier-one nation other than Australia. In other words, they can’t play for England or New Zealand.
But it is, however, OK to represent a tier-two nation such as Samoa, Tonga, Fiji or Papua New Guinea. Where’s the sense in that? What makes New Zealand or England so different to the other nations?
As it stands, Addin Fonua-Blake is prohibited from playing State of Origin because he represented New Zealand in one Test in 2017.
He was born in Meadowbank in Sydney’s west and played junior footy for Mascot Jets. How is he any less of a New South Welshman than the others who don the sky blue?
Sharks prop, Tonga star and one-time New Zealand international Addin Fonua-Blake.Credit: Getty Images
Why can’t the Sydney-born, Bronte-raised Victor Radley play for NSW if he chooses to pay respect to his heritage and represent England instead of Australia?
The rules are antiquated and were designed for an era before the second generation of migrant families, who call Australia home but are proud of their ancestral roots, had such an impact on the game.
The notion that State of Origin is a selection trial for the Kangaroos is a fallacy and an argument used by those who have no desire to see Australia dethroned as the No.1 rugby league nation.
The selection trial is the 30 weeks of the NRL season. Lindsay Smith didn’t need Origin last year to earn a spot in the Kangaroos squad – just an impressive finals campaign and a premiership winner’s medal with Penrith.
Victor Radley in England colours in 2022.Credit: PA Images via Getty Images
It’s this sort of short-sightedness that has held league back while rugby union makes significant strides on a global scale, leaving the 13-man code fighting for survival in the United Kingdom and relying on the Pacific nations to drive any sort of competition on the international front.
The NRL has reached a point where it has realised it needs to grow globally to shore up its future. Its foray into the United States is a reflection of that.
Its mooted purchase of the Super League is merely an attempt to save a sport that is on life support in the United Kingdom, to maintain its own relevance in a region where rugby union is becoming entrenched as the No.2 sport behind soccer.
As it stands, the rules only allow a player like Haas to change his allegiance from a tier one nation to a tier two nation. That has to change.
Luai and To’o have provided the blueprint. Both were born in Sydney to families of Samoan heritage. Both elected to represent Samoa instead of playing for Australia and have not swayed in their thinking.
The NRL is now in a difficult situation. It doesn’t want to dilute or diminish the financial windfall that is Origin, but it also needs to grow the international game to the stage where international match payments are not dwarfed by those for playing Origin.
Recent collective bargaining agreement negotiations saw Test match payments reduced to just $3000. The deal took money away from the Kangaroos to ensure parity across all the nations.
In contrast, players receive $30,000 per Origin game – nearly $100,000 for playing all three matches in a series. It’s why there is an argument that some players want to play Origin for the money, not because of a genuine attachment to the state. The game has to be OK with the fact it can be both.
Michael Chammas and Andrew “Joey” Johns dissect the upcoming NRL round, plus the latest footy news, results and analysis. Sign up for the Sin Bin newsletter.
