Mad Monday - Origin Eligibility Farce (2012)

The word 'origin' is defined in many dictionaries as meaning:
*The first stage of existence
*beginning
*ancestry
*foundation
*birth

With this in mind, I hereby put forward my crazy idea to put an end to all this debate over Origin eligibility.

After much researching and digging around, mostly in my wallet, I came across an amazing document, which I already knew existed for every other human being.

Way back in time, further than we can remember, there was a time when we were all extracted from
our hosts in a bloodied and agonising moment, known as birth. There were people who actually recorded all of these instances, detailing such information as name, sex, length and weight of the new life, as well as place of birth.

This information all proves to be very helpful for my point.

You play Origin for the state you were born in. If you were not born in Queensland or New South Wales, then you don't play Origin.

Some say this harsh. "What about Petero Civoniceva? He was born in Fiji and his family moved to Australia when he was 1. We can't lose players of his quality from the Rep football scene."
Fair point, but one which I can counter.

Petero is Fijian. He plays for Fiji. Fiji has a National team, he can play for them, thus he won't be lost to the representative football scene, furthermore, he'd be a great help for Fijian Rugby League. The Australia game appears to be doing fine in comparison.

Now my opinion has been met with much discussion and some criticism. Most don't like my "No grey area's" stance.

But when the word 'origin' is used as the main term in the phrase "State of Origin" then it may as well be enforced.

Otherwise, we can just call it "State of Wherever."

If I had to implement just one 'grey-area' rule, it would be that if you were not born in Australia and want to play Origin, then you become an Australian citizen and represent Australia only. This decision can not be reversed. If you are a Kiwi and want to play Origin, then you can never represent New Zealand in any way ever again.

One last thing, the Blues fans have been harping on for years about Queensland having Origin players from outside of Queensland.

Well after some digging around, I found there have been 33 players all up, representing both states, who were not born in the state they represented, or even in Australia. 19 played for Queensland, 14 for New South Wales.

And so I present to you, the State of Wherever champion teams

New South Wherever
1 - Ken Nagas
2 - Hazem El Masri
3 - Chris Johns
4 - John Hopoate
5 - Akuila Uate
6 - Peter Wallace
7 - Peter Sterling
8 - Justin Poore
9 - Ben Elias
10 - Willie Mason
11 - Ian Roberts
12 - Mario Fenech
13 - Timana Tahu

14 - James McManus

Queensallovertheland
1 - Karmichael Hunt
2 - Israel Folau
3 - Greg Inglis
4 - Paul Bowman
5 - Lote Tuqiri
6 - Mat Rogers
7 - Adrian Lam
8 - Petero Civoniceva
9 - Neville Costigan
10 - Antonio Kaufusi
11 - Sam Thaiday
12 - Brad Thorn
13 - Michael Crocker
14 - Chris Flannery
15 - Robbie O'Davis
16 - Julian O'Neill
17 - Scott Sattler
18 - Willie Tonga
19 - Tonie Carroll