Sims, 21, was born in NSW and is by most measures a Blue through and through, except he spent three years in Brisbane aged 16 to 19 before being signed to the Knights.
Under the new Origin rules brought in to stop confusion over the selection of such players as Greg Inglis for Queensland – he’s from Bowraville in NSW – Korbin isn’t eligible for Mal Meninga’s side.
You have to have been born in a state or moved there before age 13 to play for them, but he played his first senior football in Queensland, which would have made the move fine under the old rules.
QLD officials say because he played two junior rep games for QLD in 2009 and 2010, aged 18, he should qualify.
Sims in born and raised in Gerringong, on NSW South Coast, plain and simple, leading to former NSW skipper Elias’s comments.
“It is a farce,” Elias told the Daily Telegraph.
“They manipulate the system and they do it very well and that’s why they have won eight series in a row.
“It is disappointing.
“That kid should be playing for New South Wales.”
Bizarrely, Sims older brothers Tariq and Ashton Sims have made themselves available for NSW.
All three played for Fiji in the recent World Cup under rules that allow players who don’t make it into a major nation such as Australia or New Zealand to bolster another country they have an allegiance to.
A QRL spokesman told the Telegraph: “Once you represent Queensland you are Queenslander.”
It’s early days in Sims’ career, with his NRL debut being made only this year, and it could be some years before he’s picked but an Origin battle between brothers is certainly enticing.
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