We wanted to ensure our fans were aware of the game’s new Origin eligibility rules.
Basically, from this season, the new rules ensures no player will be eligible to play for New South Wales or Queensland unless he has lived in that state before the age of 13, or unless he is the son of an Origin player. The player must also be eligible to play for Australia.
The change came about following a request by the ARL Commission last year to the game’s management team to consider new guidelines for State of Origin player representative selection.
So a stakeholders group was set up to look at this important issue which included Bob Fulton and Geoff Carr from NSW Rugby League, Wayne Bennett and Rob Moore from Queensland Rugby League, Andrew Hill, Ian Schubert and Gareth Holmes from the NRL and Australian Kangaroos coach Tim Sheens.
In essence the key question that needed clarifying was……. “What makes a player a Queenslander or New South Welshman?”
Following recommendations from the stakeholders group, the revised eligibility guidelines were approved by the Commission in December last year.
The flowchart at the following link explains how it all works....
