{"id":485608,"date":"2026-02-17T11:15:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T11:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/485608\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T11:15:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T11:15:11","slug":"addin-fonua-blake-and-briton-nikora-embrace-chance-to-play-state-of-origin-following-eligibility-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/485608\/","title":{"rendered":"Addin Fonua-Blake and Briton Nikora embrace chance to play State of Origin following eligibility changes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cronulla Test players Addin Fonua-Blake and Briton Nikora, both previously forbidden from playing State of Origin because of their Kiwi ties, have welcomed the NRL’s change in eligibility rules.<\/p>\n

Western Sydney-born Fonua-Blake and Nikora, who was born in New Zealand but moved to the Gold Coast when he was nine, are keen to play the interstate series.<\/p>\n

They qualify because not only have they lived in Australia before they turned 13, but players from Tier-One countries like NZ and England are now eligible for Origin.<\/p>\n

NRL reveals new State of Origin rules<\/a><\/p>\n

New South Wales and Queensland can now select players who are New Zealand and England internationals after the NRL confirmed a major change to the State of Origin eligibility rules.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And in true mate-against-mate Origin ethos, Fonua-Blake will turn out for the Blues while Nikora will front up in a Maroons jumper if they are picked.<\/p>\n

“It’s definitely something that excites me,” Fonua-Blake said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

“But I’ve got to make the team \u2026 if I perform well and I get the call-up then who wouldn’t want that opportunity to play against the Maroons?”<\/p>\n

The 30-year-old Fonua-Blake, a three-time Dally M Prop of the Year, has played 16 Tests for Tonga \u2014 a Tier-Two country whose players are eligible for Origin.<\/p>\n

But the one Test for the Kiwis back in 2017 made him ineligible.<\/p>\n

\"Briton<\/p>\n

Nikora is one of the top backrowers in the NRL.\u00a0 (Getty Images: Jason McCawley)<\/p>\n

“At the time I wished I’d been able to (play for NSW) but it was a while ago so I just got on with my life and just focused all my energy on club footy.”<\/p>\n

Nikora, 28, has played 16 Tests for New Zealand and sees himself as both a proud Kiwi and proud Queenslander.<\/p>\n

“It’s sort of mind-blowing at the moment. I haven’t thought about it too much as I want to be the best version of myself for Cronulla, put my best foot forward for this team,” Nikora said.<\/p>\n

“But I did all my schooling up there (Gold Coast), my mates are all up there. My whole family moved over here to get an opportunity.<\/p>\n

“I’ve always been grateful to Aussie and the state. I’m obviously a Queenslander.”<\/p>\n

Fonua-Blake relishes the chance to play Origin.<\/p>\n

ABC Sport Daily podcast<\/a><\/p>\n

ABC Sport Daily is your daily sports conversation. We dive into the biggest story of the day and get you up to speed with everything else that’s making headlines.<\/p>\n

“It’s such a spectacle in the game and some say it’s the pinnacle of the game,” he said. “I always want to play against the best and be in the best games.”<\/p>\n

The chance to line-up alongside regular Blues players like Payne Haas and Nathan Cleary also has its appeal.<\/p>\n

“Players like them I would never get the opportunity to play alongside boys like that. If I’m good enough and I can make the team that would be a pretty cool experience to play alongside some of the biggest names in our game.”<\/p>\n

For Nikora, to see someone like current Maroons back Kalyn Ponga be able to play for the country his parents are from, can only benefit the sport.<\/p>\n

“To see players like Kalyn be able to play for their country, it will be good for the World Cup and good for international football,” he said.<\/p>\n

AAP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cronulla Test players Addin Fonua-Blake and Briton Nikora, both previously forbidden from playing State of Origin because of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[4614,64,63,245827,4565,158,159,85,6405],"class_list":["post-485608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-addin-fonua-blake","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-briton-nikora","tag-cronulla-sharks","tag-nrl","tag-rugby-league","tag-sports","tag-state-of-origin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485608","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=485608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}