My letter to the NRL CEO, Part 6: Rep Eligibility

Dear Davo Smithy, there’s been a recent spate of Roar articles discussing a potential restructure of rugby league representative matches.

I’m all in favour of injecting life into the international game but we need to consider the impact on the products generating our income, namely State of Origin and the NRL.

To accommodate mid-season tests/tournaments I’ve heard suggestions that revolve around chopping up the NRL with more bye weekends, extending the season into February, cutting the number of NRL games played, hosting internationals while NRL clubs play with rep players missing, scaling back/moving/axing Origin.

All of those are disasters waiting to happen and will have a negative impact financial or on the quality of the sport as a whole.

Let’s keep the ANZAC Test/City versus Country/Under 20s Origin bye weekend and let’s get our closest neighbours – Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga and the like playing on that weekend.

But the talk of northern hemisphere Test teams touring (interrupting Super League) and hosting extended international comps over the top of the NRL season is pure fantasy.

The time for extended competitions involving the big three is October to November.

Rather than try and cram them into an already cluttered club season let’s focus instead on improving the quality and spectacle of those international games.

In fact rugby league should be aiming to have a worldwide international window in those months that doesn’t impact upon club football.

Given all the other discussions at the moment I’d rather save that drawn-out debate for another day.

What I’d really like to talk about is representative eligibility and I’d like to make the following assertions:

• If rugby league can increase the quality of international matches then it will have an advantage over other codes as it would possess strong competition at three unique levels (club/state/international).
• It’s a myth that Australian selectors solely require State of Origin to select the Australian squad. There are 201 NRL matches each season. If they can’t pick the Australian squad from watching club league then the selectors should be fired!
• Birth and youth residency aren’t the only considerations that should be examined. Spending your teen years living in, playing football in and representing a state at a non-professional level are just as meaningful.
• There are players who have a genuine connection to both the Origin States and have heritage outside of Australia who are being forced to make a choice between the two.
• Because State of Origin is a bigger spectacle, involves more money and a bigger audience the international game is suffering because of that choice.
• Creating flexibility with the State of Origin eligibility rules will not open the floodgates. You won’t be able to move to Australia for a year and suddenly play Origin. A system of rules can be designed to ensure that only players that meet stringent criteria can represent at both Origin state and countries other than Australia at international level. So with that in mind:

To qualify for City versus Country representation a player must be able to answer ‘NSW City’ or ‘NSW Country’ to the following questions and score at least two points:

• Was the player born in NSW? If so were they born in the NSW City zone or the NSW Country zone? – two points
• Did the player live the majority of their life in NSW prior to age 13? If so did they spend the majority in the NSW City zone or the NSW Country zone? – two points
• Did the player live the majority of their life in NSW after turning 13? If so did they spend the majority in the NSW City zone or the NSW Country zone? – one point
• Did the player play their very first match over the age of 16 years for a regional/state/nationally organized competition in NSW? If so was it in the NSW City zone or the NSW Country zone – one point
• Did the player’s parent play for NSW City or NSW Country? – one point

To qualify for State of Origin representation a player must be able to answer ‘NSW’ or ‘Queensland’ to the following questions and score at least two points:

• In which Australian state was the player born? – two points
• In which Australian state or foreign country did the player live the majority of their life prior to age 13? – two points
• In which Australian state or foreign country did the player live the majority of their life after turning 13? – one point
• In which Australian state or foreign country did the player play their very first match over the age of 16 years for a regional/state/nationally organized competition? – one point
• In which Australian state or foreign country did the player play their very first representative match for Under 23s or below? – one point
• For which Australian state did the player’s parent play? – one point

To qualify for International representation for a specific country a player must be able to answer the following questions and score least 2 points:

• In which country was the player born? – two points
• In which country has the player held citizenship for at least the past two years? – two points
• In which country or countries has the player held at least seven years continuous residency? – two points
• In which country was the player’s father born? – two points
• In which country was the player’s mother born? – two points
• In which country was the player’s paternal grandfather born? – one point
• In which country was the player’s paternal grandmother born? – one point
• In which country was the player’s maternal grandfather born? – one point
• In which country was the player’s maternal grandmother born? – one point

In my opinion players should have at least two grandparents with heritage to be able to play for that particular country.

Obviously there would however be the following conditions:
• Any player that has already played for a representative team prior to the introduction of these rules will be allowed to continue doing so after their implementation.
• Players eligible for City versus Country or State of Origin will be allowed to also play for countries other than Australia if they meet the criteria for both.
• After representing City versus Country or State of Origin a player cannot switch teams in those competitions.
• After representing Australia, New Zealand or England, a player cannot switch between those teams.
• Players from Australia, New Zealand and England can play for countries other than those three if they meet the criteria.
• No player can player for a different country within the same 24-month period.

Along with changes to the international tournament structures (which I will discuss later) I believe that these rules will increase the quality of international rugby league.

You will see more players with professional club/rep skills playing for the small nations, lifting those squads, reducing score margins and creating a boon for grassroots growth.