It's just over three months until the Four Nations kicks off in the UK and the news coming out of Australia this week is of the possible eligibility and selection of Trent Hodkinson.
Hodkinson has played for New South Wales in the past but never represented his country of birth. It is reported that he has spoken to Wayne Bennett about playing for England at the end of this season.
Rumour has it that the England coach has also approached Josh and Brett Morris. They have already played for Australia in the past and yet apparently qualify to play for another country as well. This is one of the fundamental problems with international rugby league.
What fans need to recognise, if they haven't already, is that playing rugby at the top level is now a profession, not a national honour. The players are entertainers, and good ones at that, and as such they make a living by playing games that people want to pay to watch.
This is the case in both codes of rugby. I could give you several examples but will restrict it to just a few to make my point. Brad Thorn played rugby league for Australia and rugby union for New Zealand. Ben Te'o played rugby league in Australia, represented Samoa at international level and has recently been a member of the England rugby union squad.
Te'o is similar to Hodkinson and the Morris brothers (if they are selected for England) in that he has never played for a team in that country before representing it. Te'o joined Worcester from Leinster at the end of the season and was picked by England without playing a game for his new club.
Financial gain
There are several rugby union players who have made career decisions to relocate in order to gain eligibility for a country that they know will select them at International level, primarily because of the financial reward.
Let me say here at the start, I have no problem with that. I accepted it when I went to watch the Olympics in Sydney and saw the Aussies win medals with athletes who could barely speak the language. They had arrived from former Soviet Bloc countries and been fast tracked with their nationality because they were so good at sport and a great medal prospect. Football is perhaps one of the few sports in which this system of eligibility is not abused as much.
In 2007, Maurie Fa'asavalu was picked as a member of the Great Britain squad after he had represented Samoa at the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup. He had lived and played in the country for the required period to qualify and yet faced some criticism from the press and public.
Over the last 10 years players have been playing in international matches because they want to play against the best players in the world, have some fun and earn some money. They should not be embarrassed by the fact that they make a living by entertaining us on a rugby pitch. I don't have a problem with this and neither do most of the fans in this country.
However, I am worried about the 'NRLisation' of our national team. We have a coach who does not live in this country and who seems likely to pick most of his players from the NRL. At what point can you still call the team England?
Will ticket sales be affected if few or none of the English-based players are picked to play in the Four Nations? I doubt it, not yet. Will people feel proud and be pleased if England win? Yes, assuming that they know most of the players.
About five years ago, England selected a player called Chris Heighington to play in the 2011 Four Nations. Very few fans over here knew him, which could well be the case if Wayne Bennett selects other players like him from the NRL.
I am not sure that winning with players who people from this country do not know will be a good idea. Others may argue that we have waited so long for international success we are prepared to accept things are not perfect.
Rugby League internationals need to be more though than just entertaining; they need to be inspiring. They need to be events that flick a switch inside a player or coach to make him want to be even better, to reach for the stars.
For that to happen, the young player or coach needs to feel a connection with his team, and that is the challenge that the RFL face with the heart of the team in the southern hemisphere.