Im not even sure im going to live in this country forever, how would i know about Rangi Chase.

How do you know that is his only allegiance? How do you know his intentions for doing so? or are you just speculating that is the case because it fits your prejudice?

Not sure where you are going with this Smokey! Prejudice?

The discussion is about a foreigner playing for England. You (should) play for the country of your birth, if selected. That is not a difficult concept to grasp.

Bastardising selection in the hope of being more competitive is distasteful. I don't particularly enjoy the success of the "England" cricket team and I wouldn't enjoy the same of the current "England" RL team.

That said, I accept that we play by the rules as they are.

The bottom line is Chase is not English in any sense i.e. family lineage. He shouldn't have been picked, regardless of what the rules allow.

We could pick a team based on firmly held principles...or we can get loads of foreigners to strengthen us.

What's the fixture next Summer? Rest of the World v...Rest of the World?

Wondered how long before the prejudice card would be played. Nothing to do with prejudice, it is to do with the fact that until he was recently convicted for assault, he appeared very keen to get into the NZ team. His cynical attempt to circumvent work visa issues by representing England leaves a bitter taste. The same as the fact that our national team coach would rather utilise loop-holes to play non-English players, than put the best team of players who genuinely qualify out on the park, and actually do his job and coach them to be better players.

Which is ironic, given that only 21 out of a 41 man roster in the CFL has to be "Canadian" - resident in Canada for at least seven years up to the age of 15 I think they define it as.

So their rules allow for a much higher percentage of foreign players than those allowed by the RFL.

The RFL's aspiration of 5 overseas-trained players must be close to the lowest in sport, I'd guess. The Premier League has 8 (equivalent of) fed-trained in a 25 man squad, with no need for any of them to have come through at the club. Much more international sport, of course.

It's become a problem of presentation now. If the RFL had said 8 and stuck to it, that'd have been fine - but the ambitious target of 5 is now seen as par. Some of the concessions have been necessary - but not so much for this years batch. Crusaders was a mess of the RFL's own making (bit of benefit of hindsight, admittedly), and letting Heremaia and Dobson through the net is hardly robust defence of the principle.

prejudice. 1.an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.
2.any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable.

Its easy to understand its just stupid and naive. It isnt ising selection its understanding That in a global world the question of nationality isn’t as simple as you are.
He is in the sense that he has spent a fair amount of time here, has put down roots here, has a career and family life here and has chosen to identify himself as English. Which are clearly more important to 'nationality' than where you were at the moment of birth.

Or England v whoever England play, picking players who have met the criteria and describe themselves as English.

What you are clearly describing is prejudice.

The RFL shouldnt need to go to war with clubs over this issue.

FFS.

I just remembered why I had set myself a rule of never getting involved in a thread with you!

You are a prat!

I disagree. Take a look at the definition of prejudice you posted! I have thought about the subject before I posted and then given my reasons for my view, which according to the definition you refer to means my views are not prejudice.

Face it, you can do as many split quote responses as you want but the fact remains that the large majority of fans would prefer the national team to contain players who genuinely qualify and not those that do so through loop-holes.

I would suggest Smokey is doing a bit of trolling, there is no other reason to explain his ridiculously hypocritical views on these two subjects.

yet without being Rangi Chase, or speaking at length to him, you couldnt possibly know if what you have put is true or not. You are basing your conclusion, solely on your prejudice.

As for your 2nd point, the game with Wales is heading for a sellout, the attendance at wembley is looking great, all in all this has been a positive for international RL. The more sensible conclusion would be, like most fans of most sports, most RL fans dont really care if Rangi Chase would like to represent England.

Wish someone would sign a player so we can change subject!

Its not really difficult to see why or how someones attitude could be different towards these two different subjects.

My issue with bringing in overseas players is because it is covering up for a failing, a failing to invest enough, with enough quality in what you are doing, in developing our own players. This is the only way we will ever create the best product we can. If these players who we train and develop and blood go on to represent Australia, New Zealand, the US, Ireland, of the Kazahkstan isnt really of interest to me.

Im sure there are some Aussie park players looking for a contract, and im sure some idiot chairman will give them one. THen we can all pretend we are improving again.