AJ Brimson

[NRLandSL]

AJ Brimson is reportedly keen on playing for England, English Mother. Would be a good addition to the squad, good back for Welsby and can cover every position in the backs.

[WN83]

Anybody with that desire will need to be like Radley and show total commitment and push for it. If they do that, I've no issue. I wasn't sure on Radley's selection at first but he played his heart out in the World Cup and then turned up to play these past two years, even nursing a broken shoulder to get on the field. You cannot question his appetite for it at all and any other heritage players would need to be in that mould. 

[NRLandSL]

 

2 minutes ago, WN83 said:

Anybody with that desire will need to be like Radley and show total commitment and push for it. If they do that, I've no issue. I wasn't sure on Radley's selection at first but he played his heart out in the World Cup and then turned up to play these past two years, even nursing a broken shoulder to get on the field. You cannot question his appetite for it at all and any other heritage players would need to be in that mould. 

He has already played 4 times for Queensland and will giving up origin for this, that definitely shows desire.

He won’t be in the 17 but he is a great back up option.

[Pulga]

He's been cleared to represent England. 

Get this: the loophole is "he played for Australia in the International 9's that should render his allegiance to Australia but because we meant to continue with the 9s in the international calendar but weren't competent enough so it's dropped out of the calendar so AJ's free to play for England now".

You can't make this up.

[northamptoncougar]

I know very little about the fella, any background one can give?

[DavidM]

I see Leeds born KL Iro wouldn’t say no to a game either 

[langpark]

8 minutes ago, northamptoncougar said:

I know very little about the fella, any background one can give?

120 NRL games, 4 Origin appearances with Qld.  Age 26.

As I said in the other thread, could be a good option on the bench as a utility.

[WN83]

Feels like there must've been some encouragement from Wane if it's gone as far as him requesting to switch allegiance. Looking at it from solely a playing POV, he's very handy back up to Welsby, at centre for Farnworth and Wardle and even stand off. 

[Spotty Herbert]

He has mostly played stand off this season, in a very poor Titans side. Like Welsby, he is a better full back, particularly dangerous with the ball in broken field situations. In my opinion, he would be good injury cover for the squad, but not good enough to be in the 17 unless we are badly injury hit.

Edited May 7 by Spotty Herbert

[NRLandSL]

27 minutes ago, DavidM said:

I see Leeds born KL Iro wouldn’t say no to a game either 

I think he has declared that he is Cook Islands through and through but wouldn’t so no to the ashes. That’s the main problem with the eligibility laws, you shouldn’t be able to chop and change your nationality if you have the opportunity to play for a big 3 nation.

Players should only be allowed to change National teams once in their career IMO. The chopping and changing makes a mockery of the international game.

[WN83]

48 minutes ago, Spotty Herbert said:

He has mostly played stand off this season, in a very poor Titans side. Like Welsby, he is a better full back, particularly dangerous with the ball in broken field situations. In my opinion, he would be good injury cover for the squad, but not good enough to be in the 17 unless we are badly injury hit.

Feels like we'll have our starting 7, a back up winger and whoever you class as back up halfback in the squad from Williams/Lewis/Smith and that would leave us needing back up for fullback and centre. Brimson being able to cover both of those, with the added bonus of covering stand off makes him a solid pick. It would likely be bad news for guys like Newman, Gildart or whoever else had claims on a spot in the squad. 

[NRLandSL]

15 minutes ago, WN83 said:

Feels like we'll have our starting 7, a back up winger and whoever you class as back up halfback in the squad from Williams/Lewis/Smith and that would leave us needing back up for fullback and centre. Brimson being able to cover both of those, with the added bonus of covering stand off makes him a solid pick. It would likely be bad news for guys like Newman, Gildart or whoever else had claims on a spot in the squad. 

He would be a backup fullback, A proper backup centre would still make the squad, likely Newman.

[WN83]

2 hours ago, NRLandSL said:

He would be a backup fullback, A proper backup centre would still make the squad, likely Newman.

Just going off past squads, I can't see us going with a back up FB, winger, centre and a halfback. That would mean picking 11 backs in total, when we only picked 9 in 2024 against Samoa and 10 against Tonga in 2023. 

My guess is we go with 10 in total, with Brimson covering a few spots. My 10 currently would be Welsby, Young, Farnworth, Wardle, Ashton, Williams, Smith, Lewis, Brimson and Marshall or Johnstone (can't split them two at the minute). 

[turn it in]

5 hours ago, DavidM said:

I see Leeds born KL Iro wouldn’t say no to a game either 

Would prefer to see him represent the kiwis or even better stick with the Cook Islands.

[turn it in]

5 hours ago, Pulga said:

He's been cleared to represent England. 

Get this: the loophole is "he played for Australia in the International 9's that should render his allegiance to Australia but because we meant to continue with the 9s in the international calendar but weren't competent enough so it's dropped out of the calendar so AJ's free to play for England now".

You can't make this up.

I would have thought that 9’s being a different format compared to the 13 aside format would have been a sufficient enough reason.

does this mean Kalyan ponga could also switch to representing the kiwis?

[graveyard johnny]

what does AJ  actually stand for? does anyone know - assuming if he gets selected and its a disaster it will stand for Australian Jerk!

[turn it in]

How does he actually qualify for England?

was he born here or have an English parent?

[Click]

16 minutes ago, graveyard johnny said:

what does AJ  actually stand for? does anyone know - assuming if he gets selected and its a disaster it will stand for Australian Jerk!

His full name is: Alexander James "AJ" Brimson

[graveyard johnny]

2 minutes ago, Click said:

His full name is: Alexander James "AJ" Brimson

lets just call him Aljam then

[roughyed8]

1 hour ago, turn it in said:

How does he actually qualify for England?

was he born here or have an English parent?

English mother

[Anita Bath]

7 hours ago, northamptoncougar said:

I know very little about the fella, any background one can give?

Brisbane boy but went to keebra park school in Southport which has produced many NRL players (benji marshall, jai arrow, ben teo, jesse arthars, payne haas, david fifita, reece walsh) played his juniors at Runaway Bay seagulls in the gold coast league.

[EastLondonMike]

Id be happy enough with Brimson in the squad. He can cover any of the back 5 spots, and would provide competition for both first choice centres and wingers. Can't say i've seen much of him this season, so only going on previous form, but think he would arguably be a better option than Newman currently.

Does KL Iro even qualify for the kiwis? born in the UK, grew up for the most part in the Cook Islands - only spending 5 years in NZ before moving to Australia. Maybe his mother is from New Zealand? Honestly not sure if he does or not.

[turn it in]

35 minutes ago, EastLondonMike said:

Id be happy enough with Brimson in the squad. He can cover any of the back 5 spots, and would provide competition for both first choice centres and wingers. Can't say i've seen much of him this season, so only going on previous form, but think he would arguably be a better option than Newman currently.

Does KL Iro even qualify for the kiwis? born in the UK, grew up for the most part in the Cook Islands - only spending 5 years in NZ before moving to Australia. Maybe his mother is from New Zealand? Honestly not sure if he does or not.

Surely kayal iro qualifies through his dad and that Cook Islands are a New Zealand territory?

[Winstonswhite]

Ethan Strange would be a good “signing” for the future. Only 20 and having a very impressive season. Half English through his mother. 

[Whippet13]

2 hours ago, EastLondonMike said:

Id be happy enough with Brimson in the squad. He can cover any of the back 5 spots, and would provide competition for both first choice centres and wingers. Can't say i've seen much of him this season, so only going on previous form, but think he would arguably be a better option than Newman currently.

Does KL Iro even qualify for the kiwis? born in the UK, grew up for the most part in the Cook Islands - only spending 5 years in NZ before moving to Australia. Maybe his mother is from New Zealand? Honestly not sure if he does or not.

Cook Islanders automatically get NZ citizenship, although it is an independent state.