Everyone needs to relax. Cut the panic and look at what’s actually true: State of Origin stopped being a Kangaroos trial a long time ago.
If Origin still decided who gets the green and gold, NSW would’ve dumped Jarome Luai and Steve Crichton ages back, same with Brian To’o and Spencer Leniu. They’ve committed to Samoa and still get picked for the Blues, and Queensland have done similar things over the years.
The ARL Commission’s tweak doesn’t turn Origin into open season. Players still have to meet strict criteria. You either have to be born in NSW or Queensland, or have lived in one of those states before turning 13.
It’s not like every Kiwi or English international can suddenly nominate for Origin either. Only a small number would even qualify. The old rules actually locked out blokes like Victor Radley, who’s lived his whole life in NSW but became ineligible once he chose England, and Addin Fonua-Blake, who was effectively ruled out because he’d played a Test for New Zealand.
It also raises obvious questions, like Penrith and New Zealand centre Casey McLean being born in Blacktown, why should he be ruled out while To’o and Luai can play Origin anyway?
The doomsday crew reckon this kills the Kangaroos and that Australia will start losing players in droves to New Zealand. But if you look at the Australian side that belted Great Britain at the end of last season, it would basically stay the same.
At most, the change gives one or two players a pathway to switch countries while staying Origin-eligible. For the majority, it’s still Australia or nothing.
Origin remains the biggest event on the rugby league calendar and this change shouldn’t weaken it. If anything, it makes the product stronger.
The bigger point is the ARL Commission shouldn’t stop here. There’s still a glaring issue in the rules, shown a few years back when Luke Keary had to play for NSW despite being born in Queensland. He grew up a Queensland supporter, but the criteria pushed him into the Blues. That loophole still hasn’t been properly fixed, and it’s the next thing they should sort out.
