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Should Luke Keary be forced to represent NSW?

Luke Keary during his early Souths days. (AAP Image/Action Photographics, Renee McKay)
Roar Guru
14th October, 2014
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In the wake of his brilliant 2014, and starring performance in South Sydney’s grand final win, Luke Keary looks set to become the subject of an interstate tug of war for his services.

Last season the decision was made that Luke Keary was eligible only to play for the NSW State Of Origin side, despite his request to be made eligible for Queensland.

Keary, who was born in Ipswich, which is genuinely in Queensland despite jokes from south of the board, played his first junior game of footy in NSW, after moving to the blue state at 10 years of age.

The rules are ridiculously complicated. An image can be found on the NRL website, but to sum it up, a player is eligible for a state based on the below criteria:

  • In which state were you born?
  • In which state did you play the majority of league from U8s – U18s?
  • In which state did you spend the majority of schooling? (K-12)
  • In which state did you first participate in junior league?
  • For which state did you first play junior rep footy?

Under the rules, Keary must represent NSW, having moved as mentioned when he was 10 years of age. He played the majority of his league in NSW. The majority of his schooling life was spent in NSW.

Is the fact he played most of his junior league in NSW enough to overturn the fact he was born and raised in Queensland?

As someone on social media mentioned earlier “this is State of Origin, not state of selection”. As per the rules Keary must either play for NSW or miss out on Origin selection.

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The Player’s Association have come out and thrown their support behind the Rabbitohs youngster, saying they will fight for his right to represent Queensland.

As someone who was born and has lived in NSW my entire life, bar three months, I cannot begin to understand Keary’s thought process.

He was born in Queensland, spent the first 10 years of his life in the state, and has made it very clear he wants to represent the state of his birth.

This is obviously not a decision made to simply enhance his chances of playing rep footy next year. With Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk, Daly Cherry-Evans and Ben Hunt ahead of him in the pecking order, it’s highly unlikely he will feature in the next few years.

If he were to accept his eligibility for NSW, he would be in the reckoning next season as NSW, despite victory, still do not look settled on their halves pairing at State level.

There are a few trains of thought on this issue:

  • He is eligible for NSW and must either play for them or forget Origin.
  • He should be allowed to play for Queensland after being born there and openly stating his intentions to do so.
  • Some NSW fans don’t want him anywhere near the side. If he doesn’t want to play for them, he shouldn’t be considered.
  • If they were to change the rules for Keary, they’d have to bend them for anyone else in a similar situation. What would be the point of having the criteria in the first place?
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The new rules were put in place to avoid another Greg Inglis situation. Inglis was born and played his first footy in NSW, but was able to represent Queensland on the basis he played his first under 18’s game there.

There have been multiple examples of players representing either state through loopholes, whether it be Tony Carroll and Adrian Lamb playing for Queensland, or James Tamou, or even the great Peter Stirling playing for NSW.

Under the current rules, which cover everyone across the game, Keary is eligible only for NSW and cannot play for Queensland. Rules are rules and if they were able to be bent, they’d be pointless.

Keary must represent NSW.

As someone who was born and raised in Queensland, is that really fair?

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