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Hey New Zealand, stop stealing our players

Roar Rookie
23rd June, 2012
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The New Zealand squad is filled with Australian born players (AAP image/Dave Hunt)
Roar Rookie
23rd June, 2012
32
4742 Reads

I am sick of this constant whinging by New Zealand Rugby League that Australia is stealing their talent.

They act as if it is a one-way street, however they have been benefiting from Australian talent for years.

Below are the squads for the 2012 ANZAC Test, with the town and country of the player’s birth.

New Zealand Squad
Josh Hoffman – Mackay, Australia
Jason Nightingale – Sydney, Australia
Shaun Kenny-Dowall – Brisbane, Australia
Simon Mannering – Napier, New Zealand
Manu Vatuvei – Auckland, New Zealand
Benji Marshall – Whakatane, New Zealand
Shaun Johnson – New Zealand
Sam McKendry – Stirling, Australia
Isaac Luke – Hawera, New Zealand
Ben Matulino – Wellington, New Zealand
Frank Pritchard – Darlinghurst, Australia
Adam Blair – Whangarei, New Zealand
Jeremy Smith – Christchurch, New Zealand
Nathan Fien – Mount Isa, Australia
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves – Rotorua, New Zealand
Jesse Bromwich – Auckland, New Zealand
Alex Glenn – Auckland, New Zealand
Gerard Beale – Brisbane, Australia
Jason Taumalolo – Auckland, New Zealand

Australian Squad
Billy Slater – Nambour, Australia
Akuila Uate – Votua, Fiji
Greg Inglis – Kempsey, Australia
Justin Hodges – Cairns, Australia
Darius Boyd – Brisbane Australia
Johnathan Thurston – Brisbane, Australia
Cooper Cronk – Brisbane, Australia
Paul Gallen – Sydney, Australia
Cameron Smith – Brisbane, Australia
David Shillington – Brisbane, Australia
David Taylor – Rockhampton, Australia
Sam Thaiday – Sydney, Australia (who would have thought)
Luke Lewis – Sydney, Australia
Daly Cherry-Evans – Wikipedia does not tell us but I believe it is somewhere in Australia
Ben Hannant – Burleigh Heads, Australia
James Tamou – Palmerston North, New Zealand
Anthony Watmough – Auburn, Australia
Matt Gillett – Australia

I count seven players born in Australia playing for the Kiwis and only one player born in New Zealand playing for Australia as well as one of Fijian descent.

So I say this to New Zealand Rugby League: “Stop stealing our players”.

If the rules said that you had to play where you were born then almost half of New Zealand’s team would be playing for Australia. And how would that be good for international league?

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New Zealand should stop whinging about their players wanting to play for Australia and start giving them opportunities to play against the best of the best on a regular basis.

If more people knew this, I think it would put an end to this debate.

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