KEY POINTS:
It's often said that playing for your country is the highest accolade in sport.
It just so happens that in rugby league that can mean playing for two, even three, countries. And then a switch back to the original one.
Rugby league's credibility is tainted when it comes to eligibility.
The latest incidents saw Anthony Tupou train with Tonga one morning before being called up to the Australian World Cup squad that day; and Fuifui Moimoi and Taniela Tuiaki gain court approval to play for Tonga even though they turned out for the Kiwis last year after gaining approval to switch from Tonga.
In all, not a good look.
Rugby league's international federation is keen to tidy up eligibility. International board chairman Colin Love said they would try when the "dust has settled" after the World Cup.
What these changes might be, however, is the challenge. There is little incentive to play for countries other than Australia, New Zealand and England (Great Britain) outside of World Cup years because second-tier nations play so infrequently.
The game needs a balance between a competitive World Cup that is interesting to fans and broadcasters and one that is credible.
Leading sports lawyer and former NZRU chief executive David
Rutherford believes rugby league should take a leaf out of football's
eligibility book.
He believes they should adopt Fifa's rules, which state a player must hold a passport to play for a country. If they hold dual citizenship, they can choose which country to represent but can't change after turning 21, as well as adding a twist rugby union considered in 2004 to make it fairer.
"The NZRU attempted to get the rule changed so that if you played for a tier-one country, you could go back and play for a tier-two country but couldn't go the other way," says Rutherford, who worked for the NZRL during both the Nathan Fien Grannygate saga and applications by Moimoi and Tuiaki to play for the Kiwis last year. "It lost by one vote. That change would have seen the Pacific Island nations move up very rapidly.
"In my view, that suggestion is a good idea. If you don't shut the door on players being able to change their nationality every couple of years, you are going to undermine the integrity of the international game.
"Rugby league have to decide what they want. There needs to be a credible basis for national selection. If fans start seeing players switch from side to side they will not value that.
"I would be in favour of going towards the football model. People need to decide what and who they are and the Fifa rule would do that _ with the compromise that people could go back but not up."
The greatest factor contributing to this messy situation is the fact professional rugby league is really only played in Australia and England.
New Zealand is littered with cases of youngsters who head across the Tasman after being recruited by NRL clubs and then qualify to play for Australia after living there for three years. It's also common for New Zealand and Pacific Island families to relocate to Australia for job opportunities.
That will only increase and muddy the eligibility waters further. In May's Centenary test, for example, Australia had four Tongans and a Fijian, and might well have opted for an Auckland-born Cook Islander if Karmichael Hunt had been fit.
It's the same for the Celtic unions, given most Britons and Irish play in the UK Super League.
"We accept that changes need to be made," NZRL general manager Peter Cordtz says. "Absolutely. But, to borrow a phrase from that great philosopher Rachel Hunter, it's not going to happen overnight. There's not an easy answer and it's more complex than making a rule around eligibility.
"We have already had a lot of discussions with Australia about this and we could well make a joint proposal when the international federation meets [early next year]. One thing we are unified on is there needs to be some change."
Meaningful competition for countries other than the big three in non-World Cup years is seen as crucial.
There's a hope that expanding the Tri Nations to a Four Nations from next year will provide an incentive to stick with a second-tier country. France will contest next year's event in the Northern Hemisphere and the winner of a Pacific tournament will join the following Four Nations to be played in the Southern Hemisphere.
"That will be one of the legacies of this World Cup," Love says. "There will be more international competition for other countries and the Four Nations is just one example."
The age-old problem, though, is that NRL and Super League clubs tend to rule and already complain demands on players are too great.
Cordtz says Rutherford's proposal sounds sensible. He also agrees players need to choose their preferred country by a certain age so chopping and changing is eliminated.
The NZRL are determined to see more internationals between Australia and New Zealand at under-16, under-18 and under-20 level. The latter could provide a realistic juncture for players to select their country.
"There needs to be clearer rules around this stuff so the credibility of the game isn't harmed and there's less of a meat market around age-group football," Cordtz says.
Rugby league isn't the only sport wrestling with issues of eligibility.
"It will happen more in rugby union and netball as people continue to gravitate to Australia, " Rutherford says. "They will grapple with what's an Australian and what's a New Zealander because pretty soon players who play in the Super 14 will be eligible to play for Australia. People shop around. They chop and change.
"One of the things they need to be careful about is that people play for the country they were developed in. They should have to pick an age, like 18 or 20, so they don't get into the problems they do at the moment. The only reason they moved there was to play professional sport."
