He might be regretting his decision after the door was seemingly opened for a return for the Maroons.
Billy Slater is being urged to make changes after Queensland were thrashed by NSW in State of Origin 1 on Wednesday night – the Maroons’ third loss in a row. But one player that Slater won’t be able to call upon is AJ Brimson.
With Kalyn Ponga out of form and Reece Walsh still battling a knee injury, the Maroons have a major headache at fullback. Some have suggested Brimson could be the answer, even if it’s as a utility on the bench due to the fact he can play in the halves as well.
But Slater won’t have the option to call upon Brimson because he’s banned from playing State of Origin. The Gold Coast Titans star has played four games for the Maroons throughout his career – the last of which came in Game 3 of the 2023 series when Walsh was suspended and Ponga opted to focus on club footy.
But Brimson recently switched his international allegiances from Australia to England, making him ineligible for State of Origin. With the prospect of playing Test footy for Australia a long-shot, the 26-year-old applied last month to represent England instead, with an eye to playing the Ashes series against the Kangaroos later this year.
But because England are a Tier 1 nation, it makes Brimson ineligible to play Origin for Queensland. Anyone who represents New Zealand or England in international games aren’t allowed to play State of Origin, but players from Tier 2 nations like Tonga and Samoa are.
Has AJ Brimson cost himself a return for Queensland?
With Walsh and Ponga in the frame to play fullback, and Daly Cherry-Evans, Cameron Munster, Tom Dearden and Jamal Fogarty in front of him in the halves, Brimson probably thought there was no chance he’d be playing Origin this year. But with Dearden likely to replace Cherry-Evans at halfback, and Ben Hunt still out with an injured hamstring, there might have been an avenue for Brimson to return for Game 2.
In the end we’ll never know, because his decision to switch allegiances to England has ended his Origin career. Because Brimson represented the Aussie team at the Rugby League World Cup 9s event in 2019, he’s previously been bound to Australia and not allowed to play for England.
But the International Rugby League committee changed the rules last month and granted Brimson’s request to switch. The IRL said because the 9s event has effectively been discontinued, it doesn’t hold any standing anymore and was “unfairly” blocking players from featuring at Test level.
“At the time, the 9s World Cup was part of IRL’s calendar planning and it was intended to be held every four years,” a statement from the IRL read. “However, the tournament has effectively been discontinued and is not part of IRL’s medium term planning.
Therefore, the tribunal felt that players who had played in the 2019 World Cup 9s were being unfairly restricted as they elected for their country based on a different set of circumstances to players who elect for a country through a 13-a-side match.”
The rule change would seemingly open the door for Ponga to represent New Zealand if he wants, but that would also put an end to his Origin career. The changes – if any – that Slater makes for Origin 2 remain to be seen, but one thing is certain. And that’s Brimson won’t be coming in.
