Cronulla teammates Addin Fonua-Blake and Briton Nikora have put their hands up for State of Origin selection in the wake of the new eligibility rule change. NRL bosses announced this week that players who’ve represented New Zealand or England at Test level will now be eligible to play for New South Wales or Queensland, provided they meet certain criteria.
Players need to have been born or lived in either state before the age of 13, or had their father play for the Blues or Maroons. But previous rules that excluded them from Origin selection if they’d represented tier-1 nations New Zealand or England at Test level have now been lifted.
It’s opened the door the likes of likes of Kiwis star Nikora, former New Zealand international Fonua-Blake (who now represents Tonga) and Sydney-born England Test star Victor Radley to be in the frame for Origin selection. And Sharks prop Fonua-Blake is considered a massive chance of cracking into Blues coach Laurie Daley’s Origin squad this year.
The Cronulla prop’s solitary Test for New Zealand in 2017 meant that up until now, he was ineligible to play for NSW. He’s since played 16 Tests for Tonga after switching allegiances and the 30-year-old has established himself as one of the premier middle forwards in the NRL.
Despite spending his early years living in Brisbane, Fonua-Blake moved to Sydney when he was around five. And the Sharks enforcer insists he’s a NSW supporter through and through after declaring his interest in representing the state at Origin time.
“I’m 100 per cent (a Blue). I played one year with Logan Brothers, and then we came down here (to Sydney),” Fonua-Blake told Code Sports. “When you watch how brutal it (State of Origin) used to be, that’s the game I fell in love with.
“Big rivalries like that, it’s something in sport people love and to be a part of it would be a great feeling. While I’m available now, I still haven’t made the team, I’m still going to have to work hard and try and get a look in… It’s another challenge I can try and tick off.”
Sharks teammates could face one another at Origin time
The Sharks enforcer has yet to be contacted by NSW coach Daley but says he’d love the opportunity to play alongside Payne Haas in the middle for the Blues. Fonua-Blake described the Broncos premiership winner as a “generational talent” and the pair could potentially form one of the most lethal prop combinations in Origin history.
Cronulla teammate Nikora has also sent Maroons coach Billy Slater a message after declaring his interest in playing Origin for Queensland. The Kiwi Test back-rower moved to the Gold Coast when he was nine and began his junior footy career there before joining Cronulla in 2019.
Nikora has played 159 NRL games for the Sharks in that time, plus 15 Tests for the Kiwis and four games for the Maori All Stars side. The 28-year-old is one of the best hole-running edge-forwards in the game and offers Maroons coach Slater an exciting new possibility to consider at the Origin selection table.
“I’ll be keen and if he (QLD coach Billy Slater) wanted to have a chat with me… yeah, I’d put my hand up for it straight away,” Nikora told Code Sports about his Origin hopes. “Of course I want to put my hand up for Origin. That’s the biggest thing in this sport.”
This article originally appeared on Yahoo Sport Australia at https://au.news.yahoo.com/test-stars-reveal-whether-theyll-play-for-nsw-or-queensland-after-origin-eligibility-change-003921617.html
