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A place for the Pacific in Origin

Akuila Uate (AAP Image/Paul Miller)
Roar Guru
11th July, 2014
19

With rugby league fields across all levels providing a snapshot of Australia’s rapidly changing demographics, the term ‘origin’ now caters for boundaries far beyond the Tweed.

The changes are obvious at the highest level, with Pacific Island heritage players accounting for over 30 per cent of the NRL. The proportion pushes 40 per cent in the NRL U20s and Sydney’s second tier competitions.

A Blues versus Maroons contest featuring similar Pacific Islander representation is gathering more steam than a Fuifui Moimoi hit-up.

Once the NRL finally implement the game’s biggest no-brainer – a team representing Brisbane’s greater western suburbs – then, along with Sydney’s west, rugby league will have secured the code’s biggest breeding grounds and hub of Pacific Island talent.

So, how long before ‘state’ is dropped from the concept and ‘origin’ redefined to include Pacific borders?

Australian rugby league is well served by the Pacific nations and while second generation players comfortably comply with current Origin eligibility guidelines, the day will come, just like it did for Sydney-based Queenslanders, when the desire to team with their own will become irresistible.

How a combination of Pacific Island talent would be assembled is a question best answered once the relevant parties jump on the ever-growing snowball. Whether it’s New Zealand Maori, Samoa, Tonga or a combination including Fiji and the Cook Islands, you can be assured the passion and intensity will be no less than today’s concept.

Adding to the complexity is the fact many Pacific Islanders are happy Blues or Maroons, but let’s be honest, rubbery Origin selection criteria has heightened pre-match debate since Toowoomba-born Peter Sterling’s Blues debut, and New Zealand international Tonie Carroll’s matching winning try for the Maroons.

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Either way, rugby league’s changing face will continue, including modes of Pacific Islander representation at the highest levels, and a possible culmination during the next decade with a portly, greying Sonny Bill Williams returning to lead a new breed onto Ipswich Dome for the inaugural tri-Origin series.

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