Australian Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga has called for international rugby league eligibility rules to be 'cleaned up.'
It comes as Joseph Suaalii became the latest player to abandon the Kangaroos, instead electing to play for Samoa at this year's World Cup.
He joins a host of players who have committed to Pacific Island nations, including Brian To'o, Stephen Crichton, Jarome Luai and Josh Papalii for Samoa, and Felise Kaufusi for Tonga in recent times as the most high-profile names.
Victor Radley has also elected to play for England, ruling himself out of future State of Origin clashes or matches for Australia.
It will force Australia to juggle their squad, with a number of Origin players unavailable for selection, and while Meninga said he wasn't disappointed, and was happy for players to not be second guessing themselves while wearing the green and gold, he suggested it was 'messy.'
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โIโm not disappointed, but the fact is we need to have a look at how we clean it all up and the eligibility rules,โ Meninga said.
โBut Iโm happy for them. If they make a decision that they want to play for their ancestral nations that is good for me.
โI donโt want them going away in the green and gold and second guessing and doubting themselves whether they actually want to be here or be with another footy team.
โIโm really comfortable in the fact that the people we pick want to be there. The people who we pick want to put the green and gold jersey on and will give a great account of themselves playing for their nation.
โThatโs the type of person we want and that is one of the first criteria of picking a national team is that they want to be there and play for their country.
โIโm happy but it does get messy when players ring up and they have indicated they want to play for Australia and then all of a sudden at the last moment they want to play for their ancestral nation and they are not quite sure.
โIโm glad they did ring me up because they have obviously been unsure and I donโt want anyone unsure playing for Australia.โ
The World Cup kicks off in mid-October, with the Kangaroos squad likely to be confirmed in the days following the grand final.
