The NRL made a bizarre mid-season rule change last week that has sparked controversy throughout the competition, rubbing a few stars the wrong way.
The rule change, led by the Australian Rugby League Commission, makes any player who has played five professional matches in any sporting code, including rugby league, rugby union, or rugby sevens, ineligible to win the Dally M Rookie of the Year Award.
This has sparked quite a bit of suspicion in rugby league circles, with the rule switch coming just as cross-code Sydney Roosters star Mark Nawaqanitawase inched closer to the award.
Now that Nawaqanitawase has lost that opportunity, his Roosters teammates have called it out.
"Mark would probably be the favourite to win it, so I feel like it's hard to make that call halfway through the year when he's played so well," Connor Watson said.
"If you're going to make a decision like that, you probably do it at the start of the year.”
Watson was adamant that the rule was made purely to stop his teammate from winning the award; however, the known larrikan made light of the situation.
"It's pretty cool that Mark's had a rule named for him. It just shows the impact that he's had,” the NSW Blues star declared.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo explained the reasoning behind the league's decision.
"The Commission has made a policy change decision around the eligibility for Rookie of the Year, and I think it's contemporary. [The award] hasn't been looked at for a while," Abdo said.
“The decision was really simple. It is meant for genuine rookies, so players that are coming through a pathways system, and not for players that have got significant experience, even if it's in other sports."
The new rule has now blown the Rookie of the Year race wide open, with stars like Leka Halasima, Isaiah Iongi, and Roosters teammate Robert Toia all eyeing the prize.
