Semi Radradra, Selection Dilemma

Demps

Demps

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LATEST NEWS:

Parramatta star Semi Radradra is threatening to walk out on the NRL and rugby league altogether in the wake of recent developments on his State of Origin eligibility.

News Corp journalist Paul Kent broke the news on NRL 360 that Radradra is considering joining rugby union overseas.

The news comes after Queensland and NSW heavies both hosed down suggestions the Origin eligibility laws will be changed to accommodate Radradra representing the Blues, and ultimately Australia.

Read more at http://www.zerotackle.com/radradra-threatening-to-leave-nrl-21198/#mMe6CxSmDGODMec4.99

THOUGHTS?
 
Know your place, I reckon…

He's a gun player (winger) but so was Israel Folau, Karmichael Hunt, etc etc.
If he wants to make threats he can kick rocks.

He should be loyal and stick with Fiji, sure Origin is a big pay day but I for one, don't wanna see this guy playing for NSW or Aus.
 
@Demps said:
Know your place, I reckon…

He's a gun player (winger) but so was Israel Folau, Karmichael Hunt, etc etc.
If he wants to make threats he can kick rocks.

He should be loyal and stick with Fiji, sure Origin is a big pay day but I for one, don't wanna see this guy playing for NSW or Aus.
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The thing is though Folau, Hunt, Hayne etc were allowed to play for Aus which was probably wrong, doesn't do our sport any good by having every blow-in demanding to play Origin and Test footy for Aus or NZ, make them play for the country they represent- even if it is a minnow.
Sami is getting a bit ahead of himself- hopefully Brooks, Farah, Moses etc grubber in behind Semi and show him up, nothing worse than someone who thinks he is above the game.
Seeya later Semi if you wanna go play sushi-ball, there have been plenty of better players than yourself that RL has lost…..plenty more youngsters in the nursery
 
No dilemma for mine, see ya later, go and try to play for Australia in yawnion if you really want to represent your new country.
 
Semi :laughing: on your bike.
His a good finisher cause his like a forward on the wing but can't defend.
He would be gassed if he played in the forwards.
 
@Demps said:
Know your place, I reckon…

He's a gun player (winger) but so was Israel Folau, Karmichael Hunt, etc etc.
If he wants to make threats he can kick rocks.

He should be loyal and stick with Fiji, sure Origin is a big pay day but I for one, don't wanna see this guy playing for NSW or Aus.
Click to expand...

I think we are getting a bit precious about who plays SOO and for Australia. No other sport here or overseas gets its knickers into such a knot about eligibility. Look at the England cricket team and the England and Australian Rugby teams for example.

I recall Tamou's first test for Australia, which was played in NZ, the crowd sledged him and called him a traitor (he had migrated to Australia with his family when he was a boy). But oh the irony, for while we had Tamou playing for Australia, the Kiwi's had around 8 Australian born players in their side. What a laugh.
 
See ya Semi!!!!

Players come and players go - the greatest game of all, lives on.

We don't need you, F1 J1 does, if you have no loyalty - you have nothing.
If you were as good as you think you are, that is one thing.

You are a winger for God's sake.
 
@Harvey said:
I agree with his sentiments. He should make a stand and go before Monday.
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Yes very much yes…If I was Arthur I would drop him from Monday's game to teach him a lesson..that should wake him up ...he can come back the following week...who they play again..
 
the nerve of this guy tho….
he was nobody a few years ago and none of us knew who he was.

Rugby League made him.
He's lived in Oz, for what.... 4 years?

Wonder what the real intentions are here;
the rep $$$ or is he really that patriotic and wants to play for his new home...

What a slap in the face to Fiji.
Not impressed.
 
Problem is if you start relaxing Origin laws, you risk diluting some of what Origin stands for. If we have too many players with only tenuous links to a certain state, it takes away from the tribalism. It then impacts International Footy if everyone is only playing for AU or NZ.

Currently most players are 100% aligned to their state, and the handful that are originally from somewhere else, like Inglis and Tamou, are small exceptions that incite people even further.

The idea that Inglis runs around happily in maroon, when he was born and raised in NSW (and I assume supported NSW?) really annoys me. He only lived in Brisbane for 2 years, and only after Melbourne signed him and moved him there. Imagine if a third or half the players in a team were clearly from somewhere else?

That being said however, it is also difficult to deny someone like Radradra the ability to make more of himself in rugby league. Kiwi players get decent rep exposure, but Fijians get bugger all.

Radradra came to AU when he was 19 and is not eligible because he had not played here by the time he was 13\. But Tuqiri and Uate were both 15 when they came here and ended up playing Origin.

Maybe we could make a rule that separates countries into tiers, and Tier 2 country players can play Origin but return to their own country of Origin for international matches. I don't know if that ends up being fair, but I feel like I have less issue with players from minnow / emerging league countries playing Origin, than Poms and Kiwis who would pull on their own country colours several times per year.

Because it can hurt Pacific Island teams if their best players are either taken away to play for ANZ, or not allowed to rep except in those odd minnow rep games played at Penrith Stadium.

Maybe this is a litmus test for the existing rules.
 
Understand what you are saying jirskyr and agree with most of your post - when I came to the following paragrah:

"Radradra came to AU when he was 19 and is not eligible because he had not played here by the time he was 13\. But Tuqiri and Uate were both 15 when they came here and ended up playing Origin."

I disagree with the emerging nations being allowed in. I think the criteria should be policed even more diligently in the future. I feel an error was made in the case of Tuqiri and Uate i.e. letting them play Origin. We do not need to make the same mistake again - should be closed for good.

State of Origin is NSW v QLD not some fly by night from Fiji or the Cook Islands that wants to make more money and that has no emotional connection. This is a tribal affair, which is very important and a very big part of its popularity. The tribal element has almost been eliminated from the NRL competition and one of the reasons, among many that it has falling attendances. We do not need to lose this aspect of State of Origin.

It is bad enough that a SOO game is played in Victoria. I am so racked off with that as it is - what the hell has Victoria got to do with NSW and QLD? Use some other concept to promote Rugby League in Victoria - how about taking the All Stars game down there, most people up here don't care about it anyway. Waste of space imo.

So I say keep SOO for the legitimate players and keep it tribal before we water it down and are left with a shell of a former great concept.
 
As I always say, for every '1' supposed superstar in our game, there are '100' desperate young players that would love to have a crack at the top grade, no questions asked.

Each time a 'legend' retires, we find five more after they are gone.

No one is indispensable.

Seeya Sammy.
 
Oh..no

Let him go if thats the issue, NSW vs QLD..he will be restricting young guys that actually want to play for the passion they have for their state as opposed to the money he is commanding.
 
As I said above, I can’t believe the “knicker twisting” that people get into discussing eligibility for SOO and for representing Australia.

Most sports I am aware of have a residency requirement to play representative sport. I’m not aware of it creating any controversy in other sports or countries.

But many rugby league fans seem to have a desire to preserve (for want of a better phrase) the ‘provincial purity’ of a team so as to not detract from the ‘tribal nature’ of the contest. Demps is even putting forward a criterion of “what are his intentions” as a further selection hurdle in Radradra case.

With respect, I disagree about detracting from the tribal nature of SOO. The selection of Lote Tuquiri; Karmichael Hunt; James Tamou, et al, has not detracted from SOO. And the selection of foreign born players doesn’t detract from international sport generally. The England cricket team is full of foreign born players, but that does not lessen the enjoyment of the pommy cricket fans when they win the Ashes. Did Cate Campbell’s gold medal in the London Olympics count for less with the Australian public because she was born in Africa?

I have a further problem with selection on the basis of ‘provincial purity’. Take Tamou’s case for example. Why shouldn’t a person who migrated to Australia when he was 13 not have the right to enjoy all the benefits of living in his adopted country? To deny him, and others like him, the opportunity to play SOO and for Australia strikes me as discrimination. And the fact that so many of the players in question are Islanders, adds a layer of discomfort for me.

The bottom line for me is, if a player has made his home here for a certain length of time (the length of time to be determined), and he did not represent any other country before he came here, then he should be eligible to play.
 
@fibrodreaming said:
The bottom line for me is, if a player has made his home here for a certain length of time (the length of time to be determined), and he did not represent any other country before he came here, then he should be eligible to play.
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keep changing the rules to suit the time. :bash :bash :bash :bash :crazy
 
Radradra denies code switch rumours
By AAP
3 hours ago

Flying Fijian winger Semi Radradra has denied rumours he is set to quit Parramatta and the NRL over his State of Origin eligibility wrangle. It was reported that Radradra was considering a shock switch to overseas rugby union unless the NRL agreed to bend the rules to allow him to play Origin for NSW.

However the two-time Dally M winger of the year and last year's leading try scorer said he accepted that he would not be allowed to turn out for the Blues and promised to see out his contract with Parramatta until the end of 2018\. "I'm very happy at Parramatta, being here with the boys and with Brad (Arthur) and everything - and if I was able to play Origin it would just be a bonus," Radradra said. "But I know there are rules and if I can get picked or not, I'm still happy at Parramatta."

Radradra does not meet Origin eligibility requirements because he did not play in NSW before he was 13\. However he is eligible to play for Australia, having recently met residency requirements having been here for three years and may come into Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga's calculations for the May 6 Test against New Zealand.

Having scored 50 four-pointers in 52 games, calls for him to be considered for NSW grew louder after his blockbusting two-try effort in the Eels' 20-6 win over Canterbury last week. He said he was committed to the Eels, who brought him to Australia in 2012, and reassured the blue and gold's fans he wanted to stay. "Parramatta has helped me with everything - bringing me here, teaching me rugby league, playing good football," he said. "They've been able to bring out the best of me today which is why I'm playing well.
 
Ha…A lot getting into a fuss over nothing...should still be dropped for Monday
 
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