Should Tonga and Samoa be elevated to international tier one status?

SEN’s Scott Sattler has called for a re-evaluation of the State of Origin eligibility rules following Tonga’s thrilling victory over New Zealand in the Pacific Championship.

Tonga will face Australia in the Pacific Championship final after defeating the Kiwis 25-24 in Auckland. Tonga raced to an early 24-0 lead before the Kiwis hit back in the second half and tied the scores with under 13 minutes to play.

Dolphins halfback Isaiya Katoa was the hero with a last gasp field goal to send Tonga to the Pacific Championship final.

The performance of Tonga and in recent years Samoa has led Sattler to ask for certain nations to be elevated to tier one nation status.

“With the strengths of Tonga and Samoa… we have to start looking at the eligibility rules for State of Origin,” Sattler told SENQ.

“At the moment, if you play for Tonga or Samoa, you can play for New South Wales and Queensland because they are declared as second tier nations.

“They are more than just tier two nations and the NRL are going to have to look at the rules.

“We have to look at these really soon.”

Outside of Australia, the other tier one nations which includes New Zealand and England are ineligible to be selected for State of Origin.

NSW Blues players such as Stpehen Crichton, Brian To’o and Jarome Luai are eligible as their native Samoa is a tier two nation.

Sattler believes Tonga have a huge chance of causing an upset against Australia in the final and continue their wave of momentum.

“You can certainly take advantage of an Australian side that hasn’t really played a lot together,” Sattler continued.

“If Tonga go out with a mindset of being defensively orientated, (lift) their intensity, aggression and get into the faces of the Australian team in the first 15-20 minutes, they can rattle their cage.

“If Tonga can nag some points during that period, that will be their saving grace.

“Give yourself a bit of breathing space.”

The Pacific Championship final will be held at CommBank Stadium on Sunday afternoon.