If he wants to play for England and he wont play for NZ again then its fine by me.

By all means turn down the talent and game changing skills he has for a boring 6th tackle handover whilst 30-0 down against the Aussies but some of us would like to see a little bit of flair and guile about the team for a change.

Remember he has chosen us, we merely accepted and welcomed him. I did wonder if this is us under valuing our own crop, then i realised that our own isnt the best and needs challenging from players like Rangi.

I have no problem with this and welcome him with open arms to play alongside Lomax/(insert other)

Sorry Gronk. Not exactly true. He played in oz for longer, if you include, Flegg etc. First noticed him on a programme called Ngati NRL on Maori Television. Look it up, you'll see the future stars for Australia on there. (tongue firmly in cheek)

A few short months ago, Chase said publicly that he hoped the Exiles match would give him a springboard to get selected for NZ, the country of his birth and the team he dreamed of playing in as a young kid.

Fast forward a few months and he finds himself so overwhelmed by fellow feeling for his new countrymen of less than three years, that his boyhood dreams are forgotten in favour of playing for England.

Regardless of the rights and wrongs of this situation in general terms, refocus on the specifics of Rangi's case and ask yourself what could possibly have happened in the time between the Exiles match and now, to illicit such a dramatic u-turn?

Yes.

As someone who works in RL here, is English and has worked with people who have played in both NRL and SL. I've heard from the people that play and coach the game how there isn't that much of a difference when the top teams in the UK play to the NRL. The main difference being the amount of depth of talent in oz and the intensity of the top teams playing lower teams in SL.

I always believe that we will beat Australia every time we play them and the frustrating thing now will be, when we do, they'll just say we couldn't do it without non-native born players. Which I know is the pot calling the kettle black. But they won't care about that.

This whole scenario isn't helped when the person selected has stated how much they want to play for NZ only a few months ago. It cheapens us as a footballing nation, it makes us an easy option if you can't play for your own country to try and play for ours. I feel for anyone that has the passion and want to play for their country that may now lose a spot. As you can tell I'd prefer to do it without the help of people who are residents for a few years and may go home soon after.

Just my humble but honest opinion.

Never will be good enough because we just pick anyone better then the English player because we feel like it is not a valid reason to select him. Its not a club thing and do not use that if he played for Hull FC I would still object. Willy for England my RRRRs

One easy question is Rangi Chase British or quota player ?

Go to video site and look up:

Maori Haka V's Aboriginal War Cry


You'll see Rangi being very English in the front of the haka.

There are a couple of those maori players I know. Ben Ellis has a british grandad and Charlie Herekotukutuku's mum's dad's a scouser. They're probably eligible for Brit passports. Can they play?

RL is the most insular sport in the world. Every other sport has this kind of thing happening, and yet when we do it apparently the world is about to explode. RU does it all the time, and the England cricket team hasn't been 'pure' in any sense for decades, if it ever was.

Some people would apparently far rather see England smashed to bits every time so long as the whole squad is full of flat cap wearing losers. I don't - I want England to win, and so long as the team is full of players who qualify under the rules and want to play for us, I couldn't care less if the whole squad speaks with an Aussie/Kiwi accent.

Australia and NZ have both taken advantage of the rules in the past. Brent Webb was as Kiwi as Chase is English when selected for NZ. Brad Thorn played league for Australia and Union for the All Blacks. There are many players who qualify for either NZ/Australia, and make the choice themselves (Marshall could have equally chosen Australia BTW, and indeed did play for them at schoolboy level).

As for the message to young British players - get better if you want to get in the team. If you choose to sulk along with your fans instead then go ahead.

Yeah, fair enough. Something just doesn't sit quite right for me personally. I guess I want to beat them like we did in Sydney again and again. Without giving them the "you only did it cos of....."

As an aside, Marshall played for aussie schoolboys as did Foran as they went to school in Australia at the time. That is the only prerequisite for qualification.

Yes, should stick with Maori.

Gronk wrote: .

That would be fine but for the fact he clearly wanted to play for NZ but isn't good enough to get into their side. Hell, he even did an article stating his desire to play for his "Country" a few months back.

I'm not against this kind of thing entirely, but clearly in this instance he has only declared his passion for England now his NZ chance has gone.

It sends out a terrible message to the likes of Lomax,Gaskell Myler etc who are desperate to play for their country and it doesn't matter whether you think they are of suitable international quality or not (it's only your opinion) that's the way it is.

No that easy at all. As I said yesterday. Andy Henderson. Born in the Uk to British parents but was counted as a quota player.

Lets play all the exiles then; they do a better job

I think it is a good thing for England. LEts face it he will be a starter at6. e has an X factor that only Tomkins has at fullback in this country. But what are the alternatives? Sinfield, Maguire, Pryce? I would personally like Lomax to be given a crack but we are talking about Mcbannana here so no doubt he will put Moz at 6 before Chase came to him!

I arent going to read all 14 pages

I agree, The international setup, is pathetic. But Faasavalu played for England. So Rangi isnt the first.

Any England fan that Boo's Rangi Chase, The greatest player in SL. For wanting to represent the country he calls home, IMO is pathetic

I know, From talking to Rangi. He long ago said he was going to extend his Cas contract, And he now has 4 more years, And will extend again. He loves it here, Has fallen in love with England. And wants to represent them,

I dont agree with the rules, But if a player of his calibre comes available. Steve McManara HAS to select him. He is too good to Omit


Surely this now brings Rangi Chase off the quota ?

Well the Man of Steel press releases are still calling him a New Zealander, it's good to have more depth in the halves but I still think it would be ridiculous if Widdop isn't the starting 6.

Absolute Tosh, He wasnt selected on this occasion.

Benji Marshall is injured the next time the tests come around, Rangi has another Man of Steel winning season. Do you think he would be overlooked ? NO. Not if Tommy Leuleui is getting picked.

He has taken a decision, If you listen to him, He hasnt lived in NZ for 10 years. He spent 7 in Australia, Never wanted to represent them, England & Cas gave him the opportunity to become the player and man he is today, He is grateful for that, And wants to repay the favour.

Is he wrong for saying it was a childhood dream to play for NZ? Is he balls. He has just signed a long contract to stay in England, And wont be leaving the country when its up IMO

Fwiw, I dont think England have a HB this year, Capable of keeping him out of the squad, And England isnt the place to develop players, Its with their clubs. So 12 months on, The likes of Lomax, Gaskell etc... can play well enough to keep Rangi out of the team.

Has he fallen in love with the country inside 3 months ? because in the article he did before the Exiles game he clearly states his desire to play for NZ.

Like i've said before i'm not entirely against this sort of thing but the fact he came out (quite rightly of course) and said of his desire to play for NZ and then 2/3 months later say he wants to play for England leaves a sour taste in the mouth.

In a year's time James Maloney could qualify as a NZ resident player and play for NZ. That wouldn't be good either though.

i have got to say that i agree with what you said lets first beat the Aussies and win the competition and then lets see the kids who want to play because we are the champs

If Chase had stated at the start of the season 'I Qualify for England at the end of the year and would love to play for England in the four nations' then wouldn't be that bad but he didn't and has played against us twice in 12 months.

If he wants to pledge his alleigience to England in 2012 fair enough maybe but not in 2011 for me as he's already played against us and declared strong desire for Kiwi selection.

Those who go on about Fijian's for Aus etc forget that 90% of them spent most of their youth there, were schooled there and learnt all of their RL there too.

Chase case hasn't been aided with McNamarra also desperately approaching Cherry - Evans recently too as shows how desperate we are despite the RFL and England set up telling us how great the franchise system has been for British youth in SL all year!

P.s. People keep saying selecting him & others will bring us upto Aus / NZ standard... Erm... Why isn't he in the Kiwi side then?

Why is everyone too happy to see a league still with a high number of 2nd rate Aussie players being coached by a growing number of 2nd rate Aussie coaches and now getting these 2nd rate O/S players in our national team. That is NOT progress at all!

Spoken like a true Aussie.

Just because other sports do it, or the Aussies do it, doesn’t make it right.

Where is the satisfaction in a scenario of a team of Antipodean residency players under the England banner winning the World Cup?

Your inference that English born players are somehow inferior is insulting, if they were coached etc, to the same standard as the Aussies, they would be just as good.

But hey, lets not bother catching up, if you can’t beat ‘em…..

Reed and Heighington i have no problem with but this just makes us look desperate, get Widdop and Lomax in the halves and leave Chase the Kiwi alone