Ronaldo Mulitalo's last-minute exile from State of Origin due to apparent ineligibility has been branded "disgraceful" for rugby league and left the winger "a broken man".
New Zealand-born Mulitalo was deemed ineligible on the very day he was meant to debut for Queensland, after it was suggested that he only became a Queensland resident after his 13th birthday, a breach of Origin's eligibility rules. The 21-year-old winger has been replaced for Origin II by Xavier Coates.
"I feel very sorry for Ronaldo," Queensland legend and assistant coach Johnathan Thurston said on The Sunday Footy Show.
"His dream of playing in the Maroons jersey has been ripped from under him. It's been a hectic 24 hours for the young kid and we still haven't given up hope of him playing in the series.
"The kid is heartbroken … he was a broken man this morning."
Mulitalo himself told News Corp: "I'm absolutely shattered and heartbroken. I have no idea how it has come to this. To be told on the day of the game that my dream to represent Queensland has been taken away is gut-wrenching."
He branded the eligibility system "ridiculous", telling The Sydney Morning Herald: "It has gone from the best day of my life to the worst day of my life."
Nine rugby league reporter Danny Weidler spoke to Ronaldo Mulitalo on Sunday, describing him as "shattered" and "totally confused".
"He was of the belief that he was eligible for Queensland," Weidler said on The Sunday Footy Show. "He played 16s, 18s and 20s with them.
"Today, the game's embarrassed. It's a farcical situation that a young man finds himself in, that as he's about to achieve a dream, it's yanked away from him.
"He's very upset and he's really struggling to understand why rules could be bent for other players. It was bent for Joseph Suaalii [for his Roosters NRL debut] recently, it was bent for James Tamou [for NSW Origin] in the past as well. His view is, why is he in this situation now?
"There are a lot of questions, not a lot of answers at this point. Clearly if it's black and white, he can't play, but the situation has devastated him and he wants answers. He's a totally confused young bloke and I think the game does owe him some answers."
NSW great Peter Sterling said: "It's heartbreaking. You can't do this to the young man."
Gould said that Mulitalo and his family had moved to Australia with the express purpose of one day representing Queensland. He took up rugby league at age 10 in rugby union-mad New Zealand.
"He had a dream to play for the Broncos and his whole family uprooted themselves and moved from New Zealand to Queensland so he could play for the Broncos; or one day hope to play for the Broncos and Queensland. That was his dream," Gould said on The Sunday Footy Show.
"They came to Australia, they went to Ipswich and he has come through the system. He played Queensland under-16s, Queensland under-18s, Queensland under-20s. No one raises the issue through then.
"Now, on the morning of our biggest showcase game, following a chat-room discussion on social media last night, suddenly someone becomes aware that he might be 10 months short of when he got here to Australia; the rule is you've got to be in Australia before 13, he got here at 13 and 10 months.
"But they came here with the express purpose, that young man, because he had a dream to play for the Broncos and he had a dream to play for Queensland. He didn't make the Broncos, he eventually got his opportunity down here at Cronulla but still had the dream to play for the Maroons.
"He's played for the Maroons in those three emerging divisions, 16s, 18s and 20s. Why, on the morning of the game, suddenly it's realised that he cannot play in our showcase game tonight if a disgrace.
"Who is going to take responsibility for this? Well, Ronaldo's feeling as though he's done something wrong. I don't believe he's done anything wrong."
Gould said that Origin eligibility rules no longer reflected the game's demographics. Once a primarily Anglo-Saxon sport, it now has a massive contingent of New Zealand and Pacific Island players in its ranks.
"The demographic has changed significantly and our eligibility rules have not changes along the way," Gould said.
"To think that over a 10-month discrepancy … no one's trying to cheat the system here. He's already played 16s, 18s and 20s for Queensland, so who allowed that to happen if he was never a hope of playing Origin down the track?
"The whole thing is just farcical, absolutely farcical, but these eligibility rules have always been ad hoc, done on the run, changed here and there to suit things.
"He's going to be replaced tonight by Xavier Coates, who has already played for PNG and he is now playing for Queensland."
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