when did the north sydney bears leave the nrl
North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears are an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 92 years of top-grade competition. The Bears are based on Sydney's Lower North Shore, and have played at North Sydney Oval since 1910. There is a bid supporting a resurrection of the club in the NRL as the Central Coast Bears, based in Gosford, New South Wales.[1]
State of Origin series Foreign born players have also represented each state. New Zealand has had several players, such as Brad Thorn, Ben Te'o, Craig Smith, Willie Mason, Tonie Carroll, James Tamou and Karmichael Hunt play Origin. Tamou's selection by New South Wales in 2012 was controversial as he was born in Palmerston North and played for the Junior Kiwis, lived in New Zealand until he moved to Sydney when he was 13 and was included in the New Zealand Kiwis training squad for the 2011 Four Nations.[33] Both Hunt and Tamou played for Australia before being selected for State of Origin. Other players, such as Sam Kasiano and Jason Taumalolo are also eligible, creating concern in the New Zealand Rugby League.[34] Apart from representing Queensland, Brad Thorn is also a dual rugby international, having played international rugby league for Australia, and international rugby union for the All Blacks.