damn I have a forum stalker! Does LF ever post anything now that doesn't relate to me. Of all the fanatics to have I had to attract LF!

See, he's an idiot!

Because. QLD. and. NSW. are. states. of. Australia.

McManus is eligible because out of QLD and NSW, he played his first footy in NSW. His representation of Scotland does not make him ineligible, because of the lax World Cup eligibility rules, putting him in the same boat as Hayne, Jennings, etc.

Yes but if he wanted to represent Scotland in any other game he would be wishing his Origin career away.

I will say it again: Origin is a competition about where you first played senior rugby league. It has nothing to do with nationality, and this racially discriminatory rule is unfair on players.

Like Hunt (had to choose between Queensland and New Zealand).

Like McManus who would have to give up Origin to play for Scotland.

Like Marshall who clearly 'originated' from NSW in the same way McManus and many origin players did.

The lax World Cup elligibility rules, which allowed Hayne to represent Fiji, are one way around this, but they result in players constantly changing their nationalities thus making a further mockery of the international game.

Origin has a lot to answer for.

the marshall case is completely different to mcmanus and hunts. marshall moved to australia on a sporting contract. the tigers brought him over and sent him to school in qld (he wouldnt be eligible for nsw anyway).

hunt and mcmanus are australian immigrants, they have every right to play for their state and country. the only player who has no connection to australia to ever play origin was craig smith from nz. lets hope this never happens again.

you seem to think that by allowing players to play origin and for another country will improve international rugby league! having 8 teams of australians will do nothing for international league in the long run. sure, it improves countries in the short term, but they will not be true national teams. if you choose to play for a country, it should be a commitment. as it stands, no country has ever "lost" a player to origin and australia, all players (except smith) were born or raised in australia and took up rugby league here. in fact, a hell of a lot of players born and raised in australia play for other countries and havnt given origin a second thought. when a player such as marshall wants to switch to aus, then we have serious problems.

in saying that, players should be given a fair choice. when australia plays origin, nz should also be playing rep footy, and tonga, png, fiji and samoa should be playing test matches or a pacific cup tournament. the nrl would need to stop for a month, which wouldnt be a bad thing. players can then choose who they wish to represent, knowing that there are meaningful games every year to aim for.

the nation hopping does certainly make a mockery of our game, and is an absolute joke. we dont seem to have learnt anything from the last few world cups. the actual eligibility laws are fine, they are not changed just for the world cup. it is the fact you can switch nations once during a 2 year period that is the joke. you shouldnt be allowed to switch at all, or at wordt stand down for 5 years before making the switch.

its funny you mention hayne. he played for aus in november 07, then switched to fiji in 08. under the rlifs own rules, he is ineligible for australia until november 09, yet he is playing origin now. to play origin, you must be eligible for australia, which he is not. i guess its ok when it suits the arl. they are an absolute joke of an organisation.

what about victorian storm juniors

they play all there life in victoria.then when storm sign them . and they play in the storm queensland feeder club. then all of sudden they are a canetoad queenslander

It's exactly the same.

Both players moved to NSW on a sporting contract.

Neither is from NSW. The fact that one is from Darwin and one is from New Zealand should be irrelevent.

Didn't Adrian Lam play for Q'land whilst PNG capt?

I can't wait for 10 years time when Vic and WA players are starring in 1st grade, wonder what they'll do then?

Just shut up you idiot!

hopefully there is wa v vic origin played before nsw v qld. i would hate to see players from these states forced to play for another state or miss out on rep altogether.

fair enough, i was talking about how mcmanus is elgible for australia, not nsw. i dont know the answer in regards to players from other states playing origin, i just know that it is for australians only, and we need to give players who wish to play for other nations meaningful rep games and test matches at the same time as origin, or at least a mid year test when aus and nz play the anzac test. playing for nsw and qld and then for another country, while it may be better than the current system, is not the answer to improving international rugby league.

If he keeps developing Cory Patterson could become the first WA player to play origin.

Marshall played his first senior football in Qld when he went to school with Kebera Park. If he choose to play for Australia, at the time, he would of been a queenslander.
End of story!

I am over this debate.
I have been reading people posts about this subject for the past couple of weeks.
People of different nationality choose to play for Australia for various reasons. If origin is part of that decsion, so be it. No body puts a gun to their head.
It has always been state vs state and nothing will change.
The Poms tried to have their own state of origin a couple of years ago and it failed terribly.
Dont and go try and bash a great concept becuase you guys can not create one yourself.
That is why some players will give up everything to play in Origin cuase it is about being the best.
In some quarters, playing test football comes second to playing state of origin.

people of different racial backgrounds may choose to play for australia, but their nationality is australian.

lets all agree and take SOO to wembley . war of the roses

great, another fredie clone with nothing to contribute.

Yeah, but you've still failed to justify why a game about where you first played senior football has anythig to do with nationality.

The rules are stupid. Why are Aussies so defensive about this?

Just repeating that mantra that "SoO is for Aussies" doesn't justify unnecessary racially discriminatory selection policies.

can aussie's or kiwi's play war of the roses

It doesn't exist.

when war of the roses DID exist

It doesn't exist.

Origin is a competition based on where a player first played senior rugby. Nationality is irrelevent. No?

Fair point!!!
Hutch i think you have answered the long debated question.
Everyone knows that Origin is for players that declare their allegiance to Australia. They have a choice. That is the main thing you have to understand. No one forces players of different backgrounds to choose to play for Australia. Many have lived and come through the development programs from a very young age.
If somebody has dual nationality, they have a choice who they would like to represent.
Should England rugby of choose Lesley Vanakico (sorry for this mis-spelling) when he made his rugby debut?? Now there is double standards.
This happens all over the world in every sport.....if you wanted a rise out of us...you got one....cause it irritates me when people have a go at a great concept that our game produces for the last 20 odd years. Just enjoy the game instead of trying to rip it apart with a take on why an englishman or Kiwi or French national cannot take part in SOO.
The rules are quite clear.

I will agree with you on one thing though.....the international rules is what stuffs up the game. I dont agree with Hayne playing for Fiji only in the World Cup. Hayne had originally been selected to play for Australia in their train oin squad and then switched over when not selected. That is not right.

when war of the roses was played.why wasn't aussie kiwi's selected .but they have been selected for england.great britain