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Why World Cup captain chose New Zealand over Australia
Charles Goodsir • August 21st, 2025 1:56 pm
Photo: Photosport
Former Kiwis captain Nathan Cayless has weighed in on the debate engulfing the rules around international eligibility and explained his decision to represent New Zealand.
Payne Haas’ defection from Australia to Samoa has once again ignited calls to clean up the eligibility rules. Haas was born in Newcastle but has family ties to Samoa which means he is allowed to represent Samoa in International rugby league.
Cayless, who was born in Sydney to New Zealand parents, told SEN that he chose to play for the Kiwis to honour his parents and culture.
“My mum and dad were born and raised in New Zealand and they moved to Sydney the year before I was born,” Cayless said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“They moved to Australia because they wanted to set up a good life for their kids and they first moved to Ashfield.
“In 1998, I played my first season of NRL and I was 20 years of age. I was told there was a tour at the end of the year to the UK with the Kiwis and I was going to be on that tour.
“There was an uproar with the media about my eligibility.
“The reason why I wanted to play for New Zealand was because I wanted to honour the sacrifice that my parents made.
“They moved away from their families. I also loved playing for New Zealand.
“The amount of friendships I built with all the players and the coaches.
“I was lucky enough to play alongside some great people including Ruben Wiki, Stacey Jones, Nigel Vagana and others.
“I just had a great experience and there were definitely no regrets.”
Kiwis winning the 2008 Rugby League World Cup will always be a great Kiwi sporting moment | SENZ Breakfast
Cayless was the captain of the Kiwis’ 2008 World Cup winning side in which New Zealand shocked the rugby league world with a 34-20 win over Australia at Suncorp Stadium.
The Kangaroos side featured arguably the greatest players of the modern era including Billy Slater, Greg Inglis, Darren Lockyer, Johnathan Thurston, Cameron Smith and Paul Gallen.
The victory is widely considered as one of the greatest upsets in the sport. Cayless explained that it was assistant coach Wayne Bennett who instilled confidence in the team that they could defeat one of the greatest rugby league teams ever assembled.
“It was a masterstroke getting Wayne Bennett on board as an assistant,” Cayless added.
“The thing we needed in that campaign was belief. That was the year that Sonny Bill Williams had defected to rugby union and Roy Asotasi was injured.
“Roy was actually the captain of the Kiwis at the time and he wasn’t available for the World Cup.
“We had a young group of guys and Wayne spoke about believing in ourselves and believing with each other.
“Bennett would sit in the lobby of our hotel (and) by the end of the tour, he had the whole squad sitting in the foyer of the hotel just telling stories and feeling connected with each other.
“We went into that final and we were 12-0 down and things weren’t looking good.
“The campaign was purely built on belief.”
