Much has been written about Origin eligibility in the wake of the Ronaldo Mulitalo farce. For some reason, despite the eligibility criteria being “tightened” in 2012, the fact is that there are still loopholes.
Granted, there will be loopholes to eligibility in most sports. Naomi Osaka, who speaks fluent English with an American accent, resides mostly in New York City and yet is a genuine medal chance in the Olympics for Japan despite her American heritage (she was born in Japan).
Nobody begrudges her the opportunity to represent her place of birth.
Cricket has a representation clause whereby to qualify to play cricket for a nation a player simply has to have resided in that nation for three years to represent that nation. Theoretically, Morne Morkel could represent Australia this year.
State of Origin is, however, by its very name and nature a different beast, but it could do well to learn from other sports like cricket. Current eligibility rules for Origin are as follow. A player must have been:
1. Born in the state he wishes to represent.
2. Have moved to the state before he was 13 and have played representative football in the state.
3. Have a father who has represented his chosen state.
It is seemingly straightforward, yet for some reason, it is not overly straightforward. Poor Ronaldo Mulitalo found out the hard way. Mulitalo moved to Queensland for the express purpose of representing Queensland and Australia just one month shy of his 14th birthday. Considering he was born in 1999, if my maths is correct (and maths was not my strongest subject in school), that would have meant that he and his family emigrated from New Zealand in 2013.
So, that would seemingly rule him ineligible to represent the Maroons. Except, it has not proven the case as he has been allowed to represent the Maroons in the junior systems.
What about the case of Luke Keary?
He was born in Queensland, lived in Queensland until he was 10; then he moved to New South Wales. He first started playing football in primary school (in Queensland) but played the bulk of his football in New South Wales before moving back to Queensland again. In 2013, Keary was selected as a member of the Junior Emerging Maroons squad.
In 2014, Keary even sent a letter to the then-chairman of the National Rugby League, Dave Smith, expressing his desire to be considered a Queenslander. Nonetheless, Keary was selected to represent New South Wales in Game 1 of the 2020 State of Origin series.
Tightening the rules would provide further clarity around them and prioritising them to ensure that the most important thing is being from the state in which the player was born.
The new rules would look something like this:
1. In which state was the player born (primary eligibility)?
2. Did his/her father or mother represent his/her chosen state (secondary eligibility)?
3. Only in the case of migrants (both international and interstate migrants), did he/she move to the state before the age of 13 and play his/her first competitive football in that state (tertiary eligibility)?
Once a player qualifies through one of the three rules, the other two no longer apply.
Rewriting the rules to prioritise birthplace over everything else makes it simpler for all involved to assess a person’s eligibility.
It also brings the rules in line with international eligibility for most sports which prioritises a place of birth or citizenship first.
Under these rules, Luke Keary could represent Queensland and Greg Inglis would have made the mid-2000s New South Wales team much better. This still permits immigrants, the lifeblood of rugby league, to gain Origin eligibility, but it does not allow for Origin to become a free-for-all spectacle where anyone can participate. Keeping State of Origin as being only players from Queensland and New South Wales should be the primary focus and tweaking the rules fractionally allows the initial intent of the competition to remain at the fore but also allows for concrete eligibility to be established.
Anna_B
Roar Rookie
XXL Correct. Her dad is from Haiti(former French colony). I’m sure Haiti would be pleased if she played for them. H er mum’s family were embarrassed their daughter married a black man. Very unusual in Japanese society. It’s why her parents moved to USA. It’s all good now
Gibbo
Roar Pro
My family always used the Hiace. Plenty of room in there.
Gibbo
Roar Pro
As I said above, I think there's still scope for the NRL to step in and rule on eligibility in these scenarios. These situations are still very much the exception, not the rule.
Gibbo
Roar Pro
My heritage is part Hong Kong Chinese. I could theoretically represent them in many sports, but I choose not to (mainly cause I'm not good enough). A rather major issue, if you ask me. Hahahaha.
Gibbo
Roar Pro
Yes, the case of Billy Moore is a unique one. He moved back to QLD after being born in Tenterfield, I understand, and so yes, therefore would be eligible for NSW. There's a point in which a player could still appeal to the NRL for final eligibility, so ultimately in both the cases of Moore and Sterlo, the NRL probably would have made the same decision as the state that they represented.
GregM
Roar Rookie
preferred the Kingswood meself (dunno if the missus would agree)
matth
Roar Guru
The Billy Moore rule. The nearest hospital was across the border
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
"Mulitalo moved to Queensland for the express purpose of representing Queensland and Australia just one month shy of his 14th birthday" - so its his parents fault for moving to Oz a year too late?
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
in other words - I'll make myself available for 5 nations and pledge my allegiance for which ever one selects me?
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
maybe we should change it again – what if you were conceived in the back seat of the Torana while on holidays in Qld? Or will that only come in to play when one team wants a star player to qualify for their state?))
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
right on. Now the IRL, if they want to grow the game need to start promoting Internationals.
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
why are we bending the rules so "International Migrants" can play? keep going down that path and there will be no fair dinkum Qlders or NSW players in the teams. There aren't enough talented legit players who can fill their place? If they don't qualify for SOO, then they can represent the nation of their birth / heritage at international level
Short Memory
Guest
Yes. It was NSW who dominated SOO for 8 years with their top try scorer of all time actually being from Queensland. :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Nice find Anna_B
Simon G
Roar Rookie
What happens if your family lives in NSW, but goes on a holiday to QLD with the mother pregnant. She then goes into an early labour, the child is born (in QLD), and then the family go straight back to their home in NSW when the baby is released from hospital? Should that baby be considered and Queenslander or New South Welshman?
Dave
Guest
Larry prior to 13 is trying to make the cutoff at the start of high school
KenW
Roar Rookie
It used to be where you turned 16 (i.e. senior football) but then Folau, Uate & Tamou (+ Inglis when we all ignored he moved to QLD after 16) happened in quick succession. The general consensus was that none of them represented their 'Origin' and nobody liked the rules being so loose so they moved it back to 13 in 2012. After nearly a decade of no problems, suddenly a combination of kid who can't fill in forms correctly and a negligent QRL and we're apparently in an eligibility crisis again. There's no problem with the rules as they are. Under the new ones proposed here, Peter Sterling and Billy Moore would swap, despite the fact they were both babies when they moved to their 'Origin' states. Does anyone think that makes sense?
xxl
Roar Rookie
Just on Naomi Osaka, her mother is Japanese, so yes she was born in Japan but her heritage is not American only.
Anna_B
Roar Rookie
USA Rugby 9s was Ronaldo's dream in 2017. His American Samoan & NZ heritage & multiple dreams make hi is loyalties widespread. www.nrl.com/news/2019/10/10/ronaldo-speaks-usa-dream-into-existence/
eels47
Roar Rookie
Hang on, how is it NSW fault? You can't say they should have raised the issue earlier if they knew, but obsolve Queensland of the same. The fault lies entirely with Queensland for naming a player who wasn't eligible. The 13 year old thing comes from the age at which they start playing "international", rather than "mod" rules, such as full field, 13 per team etc. This happens in U/13