Mal Meninga fears having an Australian Indigenous team play in direct competition to the Kangaroos could ultimately end in a white-only Australian team where no State of Origin players are eligible for Kangaroo selection, while also causing a racial split within our game.
It comes after former NRL player Dean Widders spoke of the need for an Indigenous side to play at the Pacific Championships, claiming “we don’t have a platform for our Indigenous players to play at a higher representative level”.
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Speaking on National Indigenous Television, Widders said: “We saw last year at the World Cup in the mens, Cody Walker, Latrell Mitchell, Josh Addo-Carr, some of our big star players … they all sat on the sideline and watched these international games.
“We need to find a platform for our players to perform at the highest level.
“I keep pushing the barrow of the Pacific Cup.
“We should have a team in the Pacific Cup, mens and womens, and I guarantee we will bring a lot of flavour … and it is going to make it a better product.”
So I called big Mal to get his take on Widders’ comments.
Take into account this obviously comes on the back of recent speculation that current Kangaroos Payne Haas, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow are all considering switching their international allegiance to Samoa at the end of the year and brushing Australia’s Ashes Tour to England.
I put it to Mal how this has the potential to one day end with an Australian team with white-only representation, especially with all the Pasifika players now choosing their nation of heritage ahead of the country they were born in.
He agreed: “I haven’t got an argument, I think it would.
“For me there is no reason why we can’t celebrate our history and our heritage.
“But at some stage we have got to make a decision are we Australian first?
“That doesn’t disrespect First Nations people because they play a really important part in our history but also a really important part in our game.
“And if a First Nations person by heritage is good enough to be picked in the Australia team we do that.
“So I don’t think there is any bias.
“You know, I have got an Australian South Sea Islander background but all my cousins are First Nations peoples.
“But I take the view that we are Australians first.”
He also says it could lead to an even bigger racial divide, while “devaluing the Australian jersey”.
“We all come from different backgrounds,” Meninga said.
“Obviously the plight of the First Nations people is prevalent in our society.
“But the more we try to divide it, the worse it is going to get, isn’t it?”
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He also pointed out that there is already the All Stars game between the Indigenous and the Maoris “that was a great way to celebrate those two cultures.
“But respectively First Nations People are Australians as well.
“I pick Latrell Mitchell and I pick a Josh Addo-Carr in my footy teams. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow.
“So we have an everlasting respect for First Nations people in representative teams.
“So I disagree they don’t get a platform to excel.
“I think they do.
“You know, Cody has played for NSW. He has played in the All Stars. He has played PMs.
“It is a different view and opinions are welcomed.
“But if we are going to play in a Pacific Championships … like you say, you are dividing the nation.
“We are dividing the nations now with Pasifika and making choices.
“I think we are devaluing the Australian jersey.
“But if that is the wishes of someone like Dean and First Nations players, I think they are misguided.”
There was a precedent set when a New Zealand Maoris side played at the 2000 World Cup.
But Meninga said it was time for the people in charge of the international game to make a clear statement.
His view is that every NRL player should be made to decide what nation they want to represent as soon as they sign their first NRL contract.
He also said he had no dramas if players who chose other nations wanted to still play Origin as long as they meet the eligibility criteria.
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“I will tell you what upsets me,” he said.
“The frustration is picking a player to play for Australia because that is what they wanted but then changing their mind.
“But I also understand the reasons behind them changing their mind is that they are supporting their family and they want to celebrate that too.
“But what I want is if you are going to play for Australia, you stick to Australia.
“That makes it less messy and you don’t have these storylines coming out.”
Although in the long run he knows it will significantly reduce the Kangaroos talent pool to a point where all Origin players could be excluded from the Australia national team.
“There is a real fear beyond me I would suggest that we will be picking an Australian team out of the NRL, not out of Origin,” he said.
“That is the way it is going because nobody wants to make a tough decision on it all.
“I see it just by the sheer numbers (of Pasifika) players in our game.
“Everyone feels that Australia shouldn’t be winning tournaments because that is good for the game.
“But I have a different view to that.
“I think we are Australians first and I want an Australian team to be successful, men and womens.
“But people have different views. They want to see us lose.
“And they believe that is good for the game.”
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