Queensland border reopening delayed until QRL finalise Origin selections

The Palaszczuk government has delayed the reopening of the Queensland border because it won’t know where the Queensland boundary is this year until State of Origin selections are finalised.

With the state’s boundaries extending outwards each year as Maroons representatives are chosen from newly discovered ‘external territories’ of Queensland, the government is waiting on the Queensland Rugby League to finalise team lists before declaring the border open.

With the Queensland NRL teams having had poor seasons, the Maroons hierarchy is desperate to avoid a third consecutive series defeat. With the likelihood increasing that Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Moeaki Fotuaika will make their Origin debuts, it is expected the government will already need to declare Orange in New South Wales and Gisborne in New Zealand as parts of Queensland.

Coupled with lock-ins Kalyn Ponga, Josh Papalii, Jaydn Su’A, Joe Ofahengaue and Felise Kaufusi, the state’s boundaries will also now need to encompass Port Hedland in Western Australia as well as Auckland and Christchurch across the Tasman. Christian Welch’s selection promises special fireworks as the big prop’s birthplace of Sydney is likely to strongly resist accepting its place in Queensland.

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

The state’s choices of Maroons representatives over previous years have already deemed Port Moresby, Suva, Kempsey, Darwin, Tenterfield, Caringbah and Minto as parts of Queensland, resulting in a massive challenge when the government first closed the border in May. It is understood that Queensland government officials panicked in late May when they realised the state boundaries needed to be carefully defined so as not to jeopardise the legitimacy of State of Origin selections.

A series of leaked communications show QRL officials sending the state government an urgent, comprehensive list of past, present and potential Queensland Origin players born outside of the ‘traditional’ borders of the state.

In anticipation of the 2020 team list, communications have also been unearthed in which senior Queensland government officials invite Christchurch, Port Hedland, Gisborne and Orange councils to be “in Queensland”. The request came with the offer of unlimited free tickets to all three Origin fixtures, but it’s not clear whether all of the territories accepted the offer.

Meanwhile, the New South Wales government has been intensely critical of the Queensland border closure, but a spokesperson for Ms Palaszczuk has defended her handling of the closures and instead attacked Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

“All this vitriol about our border closure is just another attempt to disrupt our preparations for State of Origin,” she said. “That’s all it’s ever about.

“The New South Wales Premier was against border closures because she knew they had some Origin selection issues of their own.

“Gladys knew that if they had to close borders, they would need to lockdown Ipswich or forget about selecting Luke Keary! Same with Auckland for ‘Aussie Jim’ Tamou!

“And by the way, ask those thieving cockroaches where Peter Sterling was born.”

Reports are also circulating of a secret joint government-QRL proposal to grant ‘Queenslander’ status to the entire Melbourne Storm team due to their four-month temporary residence on the Sunshine Coast. One insider from the NSW Origin Camp remarked: “Just watch this space. I guarantee you they were up to something by rolling out the welcome mat to the Storm to camp at Twin Waters.

“Before you know it, they’ll have the Bromwich brothers, Ryan Papenhuyzen, Jahrome Hughes and the Brandon ‘Hectic Cheese’ Smith in Maroon jerseys.

“Those crafty banana benders are always up to something. They’ll do anything to stop a Blues three-peat, I assure you!”