Allora

Australia have made many mistakes in the past, no doubt about it. Sometimes those mistakes have had issues to do with SOO selection and criteria. Uate played for the Australian Schoolboys in 2005 before being selected for Australia about seven years later. More often than not the displeasure of the fans on those selections has made the authorities change many criteria rules. Radradra was the pinnacle of this, I have followed Parramatta for 44 years and i did not agree with it at all, nobody I knew did. When has Australia selected an established first grade Rugby League player from another Country in modern times?

Andrew Symonds moved to Australia as a three month year old baby. Farah moved to England aged eight, who would have a problem with him representing England.. No one. That is exactly my argument. Hardly a similar comparison to Coote, Hastings and Austin. Try telling Symonds he could not play for Australia and see how it ends up in Court.

He moved to Australia as a Schoolkid, he is hardly Hastings, Coote or Austin is he? Uate was born in Votua, in the Province of Nadroga-Navosa, Fiji and moved to Woy Woy, New South Wales, Australia as a 15-year old. He played his junior football for the Woy Woy Roosters in New South Wales before being signed by the Newcastle Knights Do you want him to play for England now. I do not know how many times this needs to be said but Australia is a Country of immigrants, if people move for a better life in Australia and then take up Rugby League can they not be selected? Its a lot different than a player trained in another Country at a professional level moving to England for 12 months and then being picked because his Gran was born in Blackpool.

I like your posts and your sentiments, I do not agree on this though. If they lose with the three Aussies mentioned they will care a lot less about watching Test matches though, I am sure about that. I hope England win the next World Cup but with English born or raised players.

I do not know but he was a Union player there not a League player. Once he moved to Australia he played League and was developed in Oz as a League player, the fact he chased the money to France is another matter. Australia has rarely if ever selected a player that was not brought through the Australian system or moved to Oz as a youngster. England/GB want to select three players that have been in England for less than two years that moved to England to ply their professional trade and are taking up the opportunity to win a test Cap because that chance is not available in their Country of birth.

Who cares if GB/England field Aussies and Kiwis because they can not develop their own Test players? The fans in the Southern Hemisphere that will stop turning up to Test matches. (the ones that still do) They will consider a team from England/GB with Hastings, Coote and Austin an admission of defeat by the system of developing local players in the North. England is not Tonga or Samoa is it, or even Italy or Lebanon. Put you best born or bred on show and let them win it, it was close last time in the final.

You have way to much time on your hands mate.

How will it change the game? More kids will play the game, Schools will be making it a compulsory sport? Sponsors lining up with huge deals, the media fighting for the Super League contract? It will get some headlines and ride the crest of a small wave for a few months.. I hope England can win the next World Cup, the game needs it but I do not think it will be akin to the second coming.

Civ moved to Australia before he was one year old, he was hardly an established player was he?

If you move to Australia as a young kid you can not become a resident and Aussie and play for your home Nation?

Picking players that have a Granddad will hardly make the local English contenders happy or make the slim chance of a win very satisfying.

He wasn't a heritage player. He was residency and it was a mistake that has been admitted and rules changed so it will not happen again. Note, his selection was widely disliked by the majority of fans at the time, it made no sense.

That is pretty sad if that was close to being accurate. None of the above will go down as greats by anyones measure. Two Aussie castoffs and two good but not best ever English player's Coote does not qualify for England by the way.

It looks more like opportunism to me. If he had stayed at Manly do you think he would be throwing his Hat in the ring?

England /GB should not be relying on Heritage players IMO They are supposed to be tier one teams.