AJ Brimson rules himself out of State of Origin contention after switching allegiance to England
Gold Coast ace AJ Brimson has been given clearance to switch his rugby league allegiance from Australia to England, ruling him out of State of Origin contention but opening up the chance to play against the Kangaroos in the Ashes.
The 26-year-old utility has played four times for Queensland in Origin and has played his entire club career at the Titans over seven years.
But England will take on a new focus after having his application for a change of allegiance granted so he can play for the country where his mother Vanessa was born.
With Australia and England both 'tier 1' nations in international rugby league, Brisbane-born Brimson had to ask for permission from an International Rugby League tribunal for the switch, having previously represented Australia at the World Cup 9s in 2019.
That switch was confirmed on Wednesday, with IRL Chair Troy Grant calling Brimson's 'a unique case' and explaining why stooping the move would be unfairly restricting the player.
Explaining the clearance, Grant said: 'A player who qualifies for two tier-1 nations had elected to represent one of those nations in 9s, and was therefore unable to represent the other nation in 13s.
'Yet the player has had no further opportunity to represent his elected nation in 9s, as he had anticipated, and has also not played a senior international match.
'The aim of the international eligibility rules is to ensure that the best players are able to represent a nation for whom he or she qualifies, but in this case the player had been left sidelined.'
There are no guarantees Brimson, who never played a Test for the Kangaroos, will waltz into coach Shaun Wane's England squad for the eagerly awaited first three-match Ashes series in 22 years at Wembley, Liverpool and Headingley in October and November.
Brimson has plenty of competition for places at fullback or in the halves, with Wane able to call on players of the talent of Jack Welsby, George Williams, Mikey Lewis and Harry Smith.
If successful, he would join other NRL players in the England side like Dom Young, Herbie Farnworth, Kai Pearce-Paul and Morgan Smithies.
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