Hardyman's Yugo
Fancy going myself, especially to the SW heartlands of the French game. A part of France I’ve never been
Hardyman's Yugo
Pie and chips is a salad in Wigan
Noitall
Crichton apologises to CHT over KO as pair plan European adventure
Kangaroos forward Angus Crichton apologised to Chanel Harris-Tavita over an incident that prematurely ended the Samoa utility’s farewell match and revealed that the pair are going travelling together.
www.nrl.com
Crichton and Chanel Harris-Tavita travelling together after the World Cup with Nathan Cleary.
Sky Waka
Turned off both finals before halftime. I turned off a lot of games or didn't watch at all 'cause I wasn't interested in watching blow outs.
Never watched so little of a world cup before.
Never watched so little of a world cup before.
Defence
I don’t think he meant to do it but does it matter? He knocked someone cold with an elbow to the jaw- I thought that was a send off and again having an Australian ref leaves it open to calls of bias.Crichton apologises to CHT over KO as pair plan European adventure
Kangaroos forward Angus Crichton apologised to Chanel Harris-Tavita over an incident that prematurely ended the Samoa utility’s farewell match and revealed that the pair are going travelling together.
Crichton and Chanel Harris-Tavita travelling together after the World Cup with Nathan Cleary.
Christchurch_Warrior
Contributor
Interesting read. The Aussies need to have a think about what to do with SOO. If they grew the international game they will get more international viewers and more money. They should be taking on rugby as league is a better product and the rules are easier to pick up. SOO to me hasn't been that interesting for the last 10 years. It feels to manufactured and cheesy.
www.theguardian.com
NRL players’ Samoan loyalty spells trouble for State of Origin | Patrick Skene
The Rugby League World Cup finalists’ success could have a potentially seismic impact on international eligibility rules
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While a lot of the recent posts on this thread are more about International / SOO eligibility than the RLWC2021 (sorry moderators!), I'm going to throw my two (or ten) cents in on the former as I'm not aware of a separate thread for this.
I'm in the "Porque no los dos?" camp in terms of eligibility - there is no reason why RL can't have both a strong SOO series and a stronger international game. In my view, the issue currently lies in the fact that the ARL treats SOO as if it is still 1980. The world has changed significantly since then - the global economy and increased movement of people means that a last number of people have ties to more than one country and/or culture. However, the eligibility rules do not recognise this.
The current rules (or certainly those prior to allowing Tier 2 nation aligned players to play) suggest that SOO is still seen as a trial for the Australian team - which I don't think is the case any longer. Selection for NSW and QLD should be similar to that for Indigenous and Māori sides, in that International team alignment is irrelevant - the criteria ought to be solely based on where you first played [senior] rugby league (i.e., your "origin"). The different to Indigenous / Māori selection being that nobody should be able to play for both NSW and QLD given the eligibility criteria being based on "origin" rather than heritage/culture. In this vein, I'd have no concerns seeing a player with cultural ties to both playing for the Māori side one year and then the Indigenous side the next (e.g., Thurston) if they chose to do so.
I have the same view on International selection - if you have ties to two countries (I haven't looked at the rules, but that tie should definitely be a better tie than Nathan Fien initially had, haha), then you should be able to play for either and NSW/QLD or Maori/Indigenous selection should not impact that (and vice versa). You should also be able to play for both - but not in the same year, and IRL needs to be very clear on the rules about "flip-flopping" (i.e., I don't think people want to see a player play for (for example) Australia every second year and NZ every other year). For example, a player might be allowed one International team alignment change in a three year period - e.g., next year Nanai could go and play for Samoa, but would then be ineligible for Australia (or the Kiwis) for 3 years.
The key, in my view, is to get as many quality games in a calendar year as it is safe to do so - this means NRL/Super League, representative fixtures based on origin and/or culture (e.g., SOO, City v Country, Māori/Indigenous) and international games. The more quality games we have that people either enjoy watching or have a connection to, the more people will invest time, energy and (hopefully) money into the game.
P.S., I disagree with the view that Origin is stale - I would have bought that mid-way through the QLD dynasty. But, by way of a one-game example, tell me Game III this year wasn't a great advertisement for the game (head clashes aside
)...
I'm in the "Porque no los dos?" camp in terms of eligibility - there is no reason why RL can't have both a strong SOO series and a stronger international game. In my view, the issue currently lies in the fact that the ARL treats SOO as if it is still 1980. The world has changed significantly since then - the global economy and increased movement of people means that a last number of people have ties to more than one country and/or culture. However, the eligibility rules do not recognise this.
The current rules (or certainly those prior to allowing Tier 2 nation aligned players to play) suggest that SOO is still seen as a trial for the Australian team - which I don't think is the case any longer. Selection for NSW and QLD should be similar to that for Indigenous and Māori sides, in that International team alignment is irrelevant - the criteria ought to be solely based on where you first played [senior] rugby league (i.e., your "origin"). The different to Indigenous / Māori selection being that nobody should be able to play for both NSW and QLD given the eligibility criteria being based on "origin" rather than heritage/culture. In this vein, I'd have no concerns seeing a player with cultural ties to both playing for the Māori side one year and then the Indigenous side the next (e.g., Thurston) if they chose to do so.
I have the same view on International selection - if you have ties to two countries (I haven't looked at the rules, but that tie should definitely be a better tie than Nathan Fien initially had, haha), then you should be able to play for either and NSW/QLD or Maori/Indigenous selection should not impact that (and vice versa). You should also be able to play for both - but not in the same year, and IRL needs to be very clear on the rules about "flip-flopping" (i.e., I don't think people want to see a player play for (for example) Australia every second year and NZ every other year). For example, a player might be allowed one International team alignment change in a three year period - e.g., next year Nanai could go and play for Samoa, but would then be ineligible for Australia (or the Kiwis) for 3 years.
The key, in my view, is to get as many quality games in a calendar year as it is safe to do so - this means NRL/Super League, representative fixtures based on origin and/or culture (e.g., SOO, City v Country, Māori/Indigenous) and international games. The more quality games we have that people either enjoy watching or have a connection to, the more people will invest time, energy and (hopefully) money into the game.
P.S., I disagree with the view that Origin is stale - I would have bought that mid-way through the QLD dynasty. But, by way of a one-game example, tell me Game III this year wasn't a great advertisement for the game (head clashes aside
)...Also, was stoked to see how well Samoa did this morning in the circumstances. After a taxing two weeks (i.e., playing two epic games in a row) and their injury toll, I thought that may struggle. Australia didn't play their best, but took their opportunities when presented - it would have been great to see Samoa play that game with their full complement of players. Well done Samoa - a HUGE tournament for them and the game in the Pacific!
Bring on RLWC2025 - Vive la révolution!
Bring on RLWC2025 - Vive la révolution!
drunk_monk
Contributor
Man watching the replay that elbow to the head was very intentional.
Travelling buddies or not, it's mind boggling that was just 10 in the bin.
Travelling buddies or not, it's mind boggling that was just 10 in the bin.
Navigator
Christchurch Born n bred white bait fed.
Contributor
Also when Samoa only have 19 players to choose from to make the team means so much more, I live here in Australia and I hate the sporting sides with passion, they are so up them selfs, i would back Iceland if they had a team against the kangaroos
I hope Chanel Harris-Tavita pulls through ok. He played well.
He is a good kid a good player and I hope he comes back to the game.
Does Luai remind anybody of an Shaun Johnson before he started getting injuries
He is a good kid a good player and I hope he comes back to the game.
Does Luai remind anybody of an Shaun Johnson before he started getting injuries
Brother Faisal
Off topic does anyone know if Morgan Harper was available for kiwis or did he have season ending injury? Would’ve been an option for that left centre spot.
If Origin was open to all in the NRL it would be an even more impressive product. There are however a lot of staunch diehards that don't even like the island boys playing for their countries. Hopefully one of the outcomes of the World Cup is opening up Origin.
Wellington Warrior
Add it to the list… fields being 8 metres short of 100m and having some ludicrous 6m sections painted as if they were 10m was just embarrassing for the pinnacle event of the game!
SOO is currently at a tipping point.
It will be interesting to see what position the ARLC takes in regards to SOO and Australian eligibility moving forward.
Do they continue to allow to players to play SOO and play for a tier 2 nation, or do they insist moving forward that to play SOO you can only play for Australia as they already do with Kiwis.
If it is the latter then they risk weakening SOO from a player pool perspective and from a product perspective. 52% of the current players in the NRL have Pacific Island Heritage, are they really going to say to 52% of current NRL players hey if you want to play SOO you have to also play for Australia.
From comments made by some of the Samoa players it sounds like they all want to stick together and continue to play for Toa Samoa like the Tongan players have. How can you claim SOO to the pinnacle (in their words) when 52% of players don't play or are not eligible to play SOO.
The only viable option in my opinion is to open it to everyone. You can play in SOO but you also play for another country other an Australia this includes allowing players to play SOO and for NZ.
It will be interesting to see what position the ARLC takes in regards to SOO and Australian eligibility moving forward.
Do they continue to allow to players to play SOO and play for a tier 2 nation, or do they insist moving forward that to play SOO you can only play for Australia as they already do with Kiwis.
If it is the latter then they risk weakening SOO from a player pool perspective and from a product perspective. 52% of the current players in the NRL have Pacific Island Heritage, are they really going to say to 52% of current NRL players hey if you want to play SOO you have to also play for Australia.
From comments made by some of the Samoa players it sounds like they all want to stick together and continue to play for Toa Samoa like the Tongan players have. How can you claim SOO to the pinnacle (in their words) when 52% of players don't play or are not eligible to play SOO.
The only viable option in my opinion is to open it to everyone. You can play in SOO but you also play for another country other an Australia this includes allowing players to play SOO and for NZ.
Would've most likely have played for Ireland at the World Cup but had surgery on his shoulder.
Open to everyone, irrespective of international allegiance, however I still think it’s important that the player has lived in Australia since before their 13th birthday. In fact I’d like to see it lowered by a year or 2, which would further reduce the risk of players qualifying for Origin but having allegiances to other nations.
No need for Origin to be billed best of the best - it will always be right up there in terms of quality, however leave that official title for test football.
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