In its short history the Toyota Cup has been a roaring success, with young stars such as Lachlan Coote, Tim Moltzen, Jharal Yow Yeh and Josh Dugan coming through the ranks to be regular NRL first graders.
The competition, at the moment, mirrors the NRL.
Sixteen teams play the same draw as the NRL whilst also being the pre NRL fixture, which don’t get me wrong has been a great success.
However, it does seem the competition is a waste when it’s still basically a reserve grade competition. It could offer so much more.
Expansion is a big topic for the game. David Gallop has anointed the Central Coast and Perth as his desired next expansion areas, but at the moment the Central Coast team stops at the NSW Cup, and the Reds stop at an under 18’s team.
Doesn’t it just make sense for these clubs, and any other club that wants to become an NRL franchise, to have a Toyota Cup team as a ready made stepping-stone into the NRL?
The Western Red’s grand plan would be to have a Toyota Cup team for the 2012 season, this would make the transition into the NRL much easier if given a license for the 2013 season.
The Toyota Cup is a popular competition, with some TV ratings even surpassing other football codes such as Super 14 and A-League.
Imagine the Toyota Cup being a 20-team competition with the ‘expansion’ teams being the Central Coast Bears, Western Reds, Central Queensland and even perhaps Papua New Guinea.
Rugby league needs to become more national, all rugby league fans know it, and for that to happen we need to start at the junior ranks.
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