{"id":482561,"date":"2026-02-15T23:52:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T23:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/482561\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T23:52:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T23:52:10","slug":"rugby-league-state-of-origin-eligibility-rules-updated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/482561\/","title":{"rendered":"Rugby league State of Origin eligibility rules updated"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) has announced changes to the State of Origin<\/a> eligibility rules which could see Tier One international players lining up for the Blues and Maroons this year.<\/p>\n

Editor’s Picks<\/a><\/p>\n

The change states that any player who meets the existing State of Origin eligibility criteria will be able to play, regardless of the nation they represent at international level.<\/p>\n

Previously, players were required to be eligible to represent Australia or a Tier Two nation as defined by International Rugby League. The updated rules remove this restriction.<\/p>\n

England forward Victor Radley will be eligible to play for New South Wales in this year’s State of Origin.\u00a0Adam Davy\/PA Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The core State of Origin eligibility criteria remain unchanged: The player was born in New South Wales or Queensland; or the player resided in New South Wales or Queensland prior to their 13th birthday; or the player’s father played State of Origin.<\/p>\n

ARLC Chairman Peter V’landys said the changes were a necessary and logical evolution for the game.<\/p>\n

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“Rugby League has changed, the international game has grown, and our rules need to reflect that,” V’landys said.<\/p>\n

“If a player is eligible to play State of Origin, it makes no sense to exclude them simply because they’ve represented New Zealand or England at Test level.<\/p>\n

“State of Origin is about where you’re from and what State you’re eligible for -not which country you represent internationally. If you’re eligible, you should be able to play for your State.<\/p>\n

“Over 45 years, State of Origin has developed into something special, and we want the best players playing if they’re eligible.<\/p>\n

“The Commission has a responsibility to grow both the international game and State of Origin, and this change strengthens both.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) has announced changes to the State of Origin eligibility rules which could…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":482562,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-482561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/482562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}