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I’ve been considering the role that playing both rugby union and rugby league played as a junior has in the development of players. It seems to me that playing both codes provides some sort of balance in a player’s development.
This is a yin–yang thing. That is, one is not complete without the other.
I have developed this suspicion (yet unproven) recently as it seems to me that many of our good and great players (particularly backs) over the past 30 years played both as juniors.
Take this list of names:
Mark, Glen and Greg Ella
David Campese
Wally Lewis
Michael O’Connor*
Tim Horan
Matt Giteau
Quade Cooper
James O’Connor
Digby Ioane
Kurtley Beale
*Unconfirmed
This is not a complete list, just those I can think of off the top of my head. A few of the latter names are yet to make it to ‘great’ status, but seem to be on their way.
Now I know that individual talent and/or brilliance is transferable between multiple sports.
However, what had me thinking was a story on Mark Ella. He said that when he started playing rugby union as a schoolboy, he, his brothers and a couple of other leaguies who were playing First XV sat down with their maths teacher, who was also their coach, and reworked some league moves on the blackboard to work in the XV man game.
My point is that playing both could help develop kids’ awareness and reading of the game.
My suspicion is that by not being ‘indoctrinated’ by either code too early allows juniors to try things that might not otherwise be thought of or coached in one code or the other.
To me it is similar to Steve Waugh’s Test side earlier this decade. He had a number of gifted Test players, but beyond traditional test cricket, they brought elements of the one day game into Tests and made it exciting as well as winning.
Playing rugby union and rugby league at juniors could do the same.
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