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Many NRL followers would have heard the talk this weekend about the potential introduction of a youth-player draft for season 2016 and beyond.
The response from clubs has been relatively mixed, with several issues being raised including what age are players drafted, if the NRL controls the flow of junior talent more tightly, will they take all the costs involved away from the clubs.
There had already been plenty of rumblings this season about the cost to clubs that develop juniors into first grade players only for other clubs to poach them away. The NRL appear to have decided a draft is the way to go. But there is the distinct threat of losing one the games great selling points – each of the 16 clubs’ connection to their local community.
Rugby league has always been a working-class game, even if it is trying desperately to burst out of that shell. Back when the majority of a team’s funding came from their leagues club, it created a real connection to the community that supported the club.
Today that connection is more evident through season memberships, but its roots remain.
However clubs are still very active in their own communities in various means including junior development. Plenty of kids would be running around for local clubs in Wollongong with one day hoping of working their way up to playing for the Dragons, as with plenty of kids in Newcastle for the Knights and so on.
Drafts work very well in American sports for various reasons. But emerging US athletes usually follow the path of moving away from home after high school to head to college – their local team isn’t paying to develop them from the age of six, they simply recruit.
Even if the NRL picks up the costs of junior development, there is the issue of dealing with moving young men away from the frameworks of their friends and family at young ages without giving them a great say in where they end up.
At least when a young US athlete goes off to college, they have the support of the university itself and the rest of the student body coping with those issues as well. The extra burden on player welfare with a draft model will be very resource consuming – especially if players keep up their track record with off-field behaviour.
Personally I believe there are much better solutions. These solutions could also address some other issues currently affecting the NRL.
First, the NRL needs to start rewarding the clubs that put more resources into junior player development. For the 2014 season the NRL gave each club a $7.55m grant. On top of that should be a bonus for the clubs that spend the most on junior development – either match them dollar for dollar up to a limit or award prize grants for the top ranked teams in junior development spending, similar to the rewards to membership numbers.
Even the teams that don’t have huge junior registration numbers could spend a greater amount per player.
Second, is the introduction of a player loan scheme similar to football. A good example would be Marika Koroibete. The Tigers winger was desperate for some first grade game time, and was released mid season to the Storm.
The Tigers are now desperately in need of outside backs. If he had have been loaned to Melbourne they could have recalled him, if they didn’t require him back the Storm could make him an offer.
This could help spread the junior talent among the clubs greatly, one club might have three or four good young half backs coming through the ranks without either wanting to completely let go of them so early or stunt their development – a loan at another club or even to the UK could help both clubs and players immensely.
Lastly is a player transfer window. A player transfer window could take place during the off season, and another during the middle of the season. Fans are growing tired of hearing a player has left a club with years left to run on their contract at any point in the year. If a player or club were unhappy they could have a two to four week window during May-June for the player to move on and complete a new deal or wait until the end of the season again.
This is also where the NRL could try to combat a few other issues the game is dealing with at the moment. The State of Origin period is costing the league viewers and crowd numbers during the middle of the year.
The top players are either missing or forced to back up and risk injury and burnout for the remainder of the year. The focus of fans, pundits and players alike shifts to the show piece event, which is slowly swallowing the staple diet of weekly footy.
Instead of dragging out the series over six weeks, the NRL could stop for three weeks in May-June, while one game of Origin could be played each weekend. This system could also potentially end the need for giving teams a bye week to rest, and origin players wouldn’t have to play two games in one week.
While the competition is halted during this period the transfer window could be operating, which as we’ve seen from European football, drives plenty of interest in the game despite a lack games.
However, there doesn’t have to be a complete lack of games. The three-week window is a great opportunity to continue to bring emerging league playing nations to the fore front with international games.
Samoa, Fiji, Tonga and Papua New Guinea could all schedule matches against each other. New Zealand could also possibly take their NRL players over to join their UK-based players to play England.
It could also be a great opportunity to promote youth competitions, like the Under 20s State Of Origin, or the schoolboy knockout cup, or even women’s rugby league.
These measures may seem radical compared to a youth player draft, but when it comes to rugby league’s connections to the communities they represent, breaking a big part of that connection will be a big step backwards for the game.
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