![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771340829_415_r1615784_1296x1296_1-1.jpg&w=130&h=130&scale=crop&location=center.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWestern 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
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
Briton Nikora of the Sharks runs the ball against the Knights.\u00a0Scott Gardiner\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
“It’s definitely something that excites me,” Fonua-Blake said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
“But I’ve got to make the team … 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 – a Tier-Two country whose players are eligible for Origin.<\/p>\n
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But the one Test for the Kiwis back in 2017 made him ineligible.<\/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
“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","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":485962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-485961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485961","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=485961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}