League: NSW want Moimoi for Origin

Kiwis prop Fuifui Moimoi has expressed an interest in playing for NSW. Photo / Getty Images

SYDNEY - Under-pressure New South Wales selectors are investigating whether the Australian Rugby League's eligibility rules can be relaxed so Kiwis prop Fuifui Moimoi can be a shock inclusion for State of Origin III.

Tongan-born Moimoi, who has played eight tests for New Zealand, expressed an interest in playing the dead rubber against Queensland on July 7 in Sydney but the Parramatta front rower is unlikely to be available.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper today reported the ARL was against the idea even though the organisation has previously allowed Queensland to select Toni Carroll and Adrian Lam after they represented the Kiwis and Papua New Guinea respectively.

NSW were also keen to enlist Newcastle's Fijian winger Akulia Uate but ARL chief executive Geoff Carr said he doubted the ARL board would sanction the selection of either player.

Moimoi, who became an Australian citizen earlier this month, would have to complete a two-year stand down from test football before he could be considered by NSW.

He played in last October's Four Nations and would have played the May Anzac test in Melbourne had he not been injured.

Uate also played for Fiji in last year's Pacific Cup.

"The ARL has to preserve the integrity of the international game. We can't destroy one to fix the other. Players can't just pick and choose whenever it suits," Carr said.

Moimoi lists his first club as the Mt Albert Lions in Auckland before he played senior football in Sydney.

- NZPA