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The tale of Semi Radradra: Ridiculously ineligible for State of Origin

21st March, 2016
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Semi Radradra is a human headline, but he still does his best work on the field. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
Expert
21st March, 2016
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Let’s talk about the three Rs as they applied to the NRL over the weekend, if we can count Thursday night as part of the weekend these days, since that is when the round starts – Radradra, the Roosters and the rookie.

It’s just plain wrong to think that, as the rules currently stand, Parramatta winger Semi Radradra is eligible to play for Australia in a Test match but not for NSW in the State of Origin series.

So he could make his Test debut in the Anzac Test against New Zealand on May 6 and even if he has a blinder there he would have to look on with the rest of us when the Blues take on Queensland in Origin I on June 1.

People used to complain – and some still do – about how the representative schedule was altered to have the Test match played ahead of the Origin series, instead of the other way around. Origin was supposed to be an audition for the Test team.

Well, that argument doesn’t seem to matter so much when you get ridiculous things happening like the situation with Radradra. He can only audition for the Test team via Parramatta and he was magnificent for the Eels in their dominant win over Canterbury on Friday night.

The Origin eligibility rules have been changed to this degree, locking a player like Radradra out when he would have been eligible under previous rules, because over the years both NSW and Queensland were intent on pushing the envelope to try to get around the rules and field certain players.

It would be a shame if that means we’ll never see Radradra play Origin, because he was made for it.

I’m not sure what Sydney Roosters are made for this season, after their awful start to it.

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After their 40-0 loss to North Queensland on Thursday night they’ve now been hammered by the last two premiers – South Sydney beat them 42-10 – and also went down narrowly to hopefuls Canberra.

They’ve lost some star players to other clubs and they’ve got other stars out because of injury and Mitchell Pearce’s suspension, but they’ve still got some good players in and the experienced players need to do more to make the entire team lift. Their defence has been positively awful at times.

The Roosters have reportedly kept $600,000 clear in their salary cap to try to sign Jarryd Hayne in the second half of this season, in case his NFL dream goes up in smoke between now and the June 30 signing deadline.

They should have used that money to sign a couple of better players than the ones they are being forced to use in the early rounds.

The Roosters might be gone as finals chances before they find out whether Hayne is a possibility for part of this season. It seems like a fairly desperate plan and my bet is Hayne will get another season with the San Francisco 49ers anyway.

Finally, it’s always great to see outstanding young talent emerge and Te Maire Martin was a fantastic case in point for Penrith against Brisbane on Saturday night.

His performance in a key position in the halves had already been good and then he not only came up with his team’s last try but kicked the deciding field goal in a 23-22 win.

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The enthusiasm of fresh-faced youth was there for all to see in Martin’s post-match interviews, as he talked about his excitement and how tough it was in first grade and that “at halftime I felt like I’d just played two games and I’ve never wanted to spew so bad in my life”.

We’re obviously going to see a hell of a lot more of this kid.

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