Despite not being eligible to suit up for the NSW Blues himself, Addin Fonua-Blake has backed the current guidelines around eligibility in the State of Origin arena.
Although the Mascot Jets junior was born and bred in Sydney, Fonua-Blake ruled himself out of any future Origin prospects in 2017 after he accepted a position in New Zealand's World Cup squad.
'AFB' only played the one match for New Zealand, and although many fans believe it is unfair to exclude him for that, the Cronulla Sharks prop says the rules should stay as-is.
โI reckon they should just keep the rules the same," he told theย Sydney Morning Herald."
โ[Otherwise] a lot of people will get an opportunity that weren't born here.
โIt's better off they just leave the rules the same. The young kids that were born in Queensland and NSW represent Queensland and NSW.โ
While he made the case that changing the eligibility rules would open a can of worms, the rampaging front-rower conceded he wishes he hadn't ruled himself out of Blues contention nearly a decade ago.
โThat ship sailed from me a long time ago. I made a decision, and part of the decision is I can't play [Origin] anymore," Fonua-Blake said.
โI'd be lying if I said I'm not jealous a bit. Those games, you sit back and you watch it, the build-up for it and the excitement around it, you'd love to be a part of that.
โBut I'm just happy representing Tonga and Cronulla Sharks.โ
He went on to discuss why he made that decision all those years ago, admitting he probably wouldn't have gone the same route had he been a little wiser.
โI was pretty young,โ he said. โAn opportunity presented itself.
โProbably if I had the right mindset or people around me back then, it might have been a different story."
Those campaigning for a revision in eligibility rules will have to rule 'AFB' out from their representative list, with the 29-year-old adamant that nothing needs to change moving forward.
