KNIGHTS flyer Akuila Uate was a shock inclusion yesterday in the Prime Minister’s XIII train-on squad despite still being ineligible to represent Australia.
Uate, the NRL’s leading try-scorer this season with 21 four-pointers, was one of 15 players named in a preliminary squad to prepare for the annual clash with Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby on Sunday, September 26.
Newcastle teammate Jarrod Mullen is also in the squad.
The Prime Minister’s XIII is an invitational line-up but has traditionally featured only players who are eligible for Australia.
Uate’s selection is contentious because his application to change his national affiliation from Fiji to Australia has not yet been approved by the Rugby League International Federation.
A request to swap allegiance was lodged by his manager three weeks ago but is still under consideration.
If it is processed before the Australian squad for the Four Nations tournament is named on October 4, Uate could be a Kangaroos bolter.
But Australian Rugby League chief executive Geoff Carr said there was a chance Uate’s request might not be considered, let alone approved, within the next four weeks.
‘‘His management have put a consideration for change of election, so as not to disadvantage him, we’ve allowed the selectors to pick him [for the Prime Minister’s XIII],’’ Carr said.
‘‘But whether there is a decision before the Four Nations series is out of my control.
‘‘There’s no guarantee they’ll have a decision before then.’’
If the selectors’ decision to bend the rules for Uate seems unusual it is not without precedent.
In 2008, Parramatta lock Feleti Mateo was picked for City Origin as he pondered changing his allegiance from Tonga to Australia.
In the end he decided to stick with Tonga, whom he represented at the 2008 World Cup.
‘‘He [Uate] is not in the Kangaroo train-on squad, because he can’t be, but we figured that we could give him similar treatment to Feleti, with an application pending,’’ Carr said.
‘‘If there is a decision before the Four Nations – and that isn’t inevitable, it may or may not happen – he’s still eligible for the Prime Minister’s.’’
Uate unwittingly aligned himself to Fiji until the next World Cup, in 2013, when he played for the Bati last October in the Pacific Cup.
At the previous World Cup, in 2008, players were able to switch nationality at short notice. Jarryd Hayne, for instance, represented Fiji when he was not needed by Australia.
But the RLIF has since tightened the qualification rules so that, as Carr said, ‘‘you can’t just chop and change’’.
For that reason, Uate was ruled ineligible when Country Origin selectors wanted to choose him in May.
At that stage, he had not submitted an application to change his allegiance.
Now that he has stated his intention, all he needs is the blessing of the RLIF and he will be a contender for Kangaroos and NSW Origin selection, especially after his breakthrough season.
The Prime Minister’s XIII will be finalised on Monday.
Skipper Kurt Gidley, an eight-Test veteran, was the only Newcastle player chosen in Australia’s train-on squad for the Four Nations.
Gidley will be unable to train with the rest of the squad for at least a couple of weeks as he is set to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his knee this week.
Email a friend