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This is not blaming Newcastle flyer Akuila Uate, who played junior rugby league on the central coast and like any rugby league player who has played junior footy in NSW, wants to wear the sky blue jersey for NSW.
Playing for NSW will forfeit his right to play for his native Fiji.
It seems the powers that be once again do everything to allow Australia, New Zealand and even England the chance to stay stronger with players from other countries, while these developing nations continually lose their best players with a rare chance to have them come World Cup time.
Once again, I am not blaming Uate. In fact, as a New South Wales fan, I would have loved to see him run around for NSW this year, and I hope to see him in the 2011 and beyond. But as a rugby league fan, I also want him to be able to play for his native country.
Such simple rules can be implemented.
If you are a player born outside of Australia or New Zealand, and you have played junior rugby league in Australia or New Zealand, you are eligible for representative rugby league in Australia or New Zealand, but any national representation will be for your country of birth.
The same rule can apply to players born in Australia or New Zealand, but with heritage of a developing nation.
Similar rules also need to be implemented for England and France to stop players from either the Pacific Islands or other European nations becoming eligible through the current rules.
The bar is heavily slanted towards the bigger rugby league nations. The strong get stronger and the weaker get weaker. This simply cannot carry on.
The 2008 World Cup should have been the point where administrators realised the potential the game has throughout the Pacific Islands and even United Kingdom, but we are stuck with keeping the big three as strong as possible.
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