Don't scrap the NYC, restructure it

The NSW Harrold Matthews Cup (U'16's), the SG Ball (U'18's) and Jersey Flegg (U'20's) were always very similar in their make-up, and players were able to progress through these age-based grades. I think we are better off placing all three of these Youth competitions directly below the State League competitions which have clubs with history and heritage value, but distinct from the elite NRL Clubs. We have: * 16 NRL Clubs - which will expand to 18 with the introduction of Perth and Brisbane II. * 13 Qld Cup Clubs (excluding PNG Hunters) - from Cairns to Tweed Heads - all distinct from NRL Clubs. * 12 NSW Cup Clubs (excluding Fiji 2016) - mostly Sydney Metropolitan and some "NRL Reserve Grade". However, it is important to expand the State Youth competitions into regional areas so that players can maintain their studies and are not forced into moving away from home at a young age. Cities with regional Universities like Wagga Wagga, Lismore and Bathurst would be ideal candidate cities for NSW Youth teams. The Queensland Cup already has sufficient regional coverage, with teams based in Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, Caboolture, Brisbane and Gold Coast. But the NSW Cup must be disconnected from the NRL and must be expanded into regions like the Northern Rivers, Central West and Riverina. The NSW Cup could accommodate former top-grade teams like the Newtown Jets, North Sydney Bears, Illawarra Steelers, Balmain Tigers and Macarthur Magpies (Western Suburbs) which would add enormous heritage value.

Good call Gurudoright, There are clearly some very serious risks to placing under 20's under this level of expectation, not just in terms in injuries and development, but their mental health and well-being Perhaps lifting the playing age to under 23's could enable the entry of a PNG side ( to link with their existing QLD Cup team ) and Fiji team ( to link with their proposed 2016/17 entry into the NSW Cup ) and expand the games total talent pool ?

The first problem many have with the NYC is that it's favouring players who develop physically early over later bloomers, this doesn't really fix that. The second problem is that it's not necessarily a good pathway to first grade for a lot of players (especially forwards, who tend to take a big longer) -- it brings them too far up too early, then they struggle to adjust to playing reverse grade in the NSW or QLD Cup.

This is something I’ve thought a bit about. Especially since the article last week where Wayne Bennett came out and suggested scrapping the 20’s. I’ve got my own ideas and would like to write down my own thoughts in an article as some stage but I 100% agree with the premise that it needs to be changed from what it currently is. For a whole range of reasons. I do actually like the ‘academy’ concept you’ve come up with here. It differs from my original thoughts, but if money wasn’t an issue and there was the funding there to establish and provide ongoing support to these academies then I think it would actually be the way to go. What is absolutely key though is ensuring that there’s a disconnect between National Rugby League clubs and teenage boys who are growing emotionally, physically and academically. The 16 clubs responsibility should start and end with the extreme pointy end of the pyramid. I’m keen to expand on this further in my own article but professional clubs developing school-aged kids is extremely unhealthy on a number of different levels. Their focus should revolve around their squad of 25 to 30 and that’s it. I’d also like to see a draft between the NRL and whatever platform exists beneath it but that’s a whole other kettle of fish. I like most of the academies you’ve set up but I’d let the NZRL focus on developing their own talent through whatever pathways they see fit for their market. I’d also break down the bigger city markets like Sydney and SEQ to have standalone academies instead of 1 academy housing 2 or 3 teams. Again, this is the ‘money no issue model’. I’d propose: North Queensland- Townsville based. Runs from north of Mackay to the Cape including Cairns. Capricornia- Rockhampton based. From Bundaberg to Mackay and all of Western Queensland. Sunshine Coast- Sunshine Coast based. From Moreton Regional Council to Gympie. Brisbane- Brisbane based. Gold Coast- Gold Coast based. From the border to Logan City Western Corridor- Ipswich based. West to Toowoomba and the Downs. Northern NSW- Coffs Harbour based. Taree to the border and all of New England and central west NSW (Armidale, Tamworth, Dubbo etc). Hunter- Newcastle based. Hunter region. North Sydney/Central Coast- North Sydney based. Northern beaches up to the Central Coast. North West Sydney- Penrith based. Baulkham Hills, Blacktown etc. Inner West Sydney- Parramatta based. Holroyd, Fairfield, Auburn, Marrickville, Leichardt, Strathfield, Burwood, Bankstown, Canterbury, Hurstville etc. South West Sydney- Campbelltown based. Liverpool, Camden. East Sydney- Kogarah based. City, Eastern suburbs, Botany Bay, The Shire etc. South Coast- Wollongong based. Bega to Wollongong including Nowra and Kiama. ACT/Riverina- Canberra based. Wagga, Albury and South West NSW out to Broken Hill. Combined States- Melbourne based. Victoria, SA, WA , NT and Tasmania. 18 teams which might be too many financially but when you’re trying to funnel talent from those less populated areas, it’s important to break up the bigger places and make it more even. I’d make individual academies in the cities as opposed to a mass Sydney and Brisbane one in the hope that it would catch on better (easier to support an entity as opposed to ‘SEQ Marron’ etc) and if you had those mass academies, they’d probably end up receiving more funding and those country areas would get the pointy end of the pineapple which you’d want to avoid. Anyway good out of the box thinking Riley!

The Academies listed, esp the country one, disadvantages so many kids in NSW. Newcastle and Canberra are so busy recruiting kids just from their own areas. how does one academy accommodate all this talent pool?

Well thought out idea. It would keep younger developing players closer to home and hopefully help alleviate some of the stress that can come from competing for a spot in the team. It could definitely work.

The problem of suicide in young players is not a unique NRL problem the sad truth is suicide is the leading cause of death in young Australians with young men dieing in 4 out of five suicides. The unfortunate deaths of these young players is societies terrible issue coming out in a more exposed and publicised area of the community. I agree the set up is massively pressurised yet to selectively highlight the competition is short sighted and to effectively combat suicide the entire nation needs to change. I applaud the NRL for the state of mind program and encourage everyone to speak more about the issue.

I personally don't like the idea of having a youth competition. There's so many players that are unable to make the move from U20s to the NRL mainly because of the sheer physicality of first grade. I instead think that Reserve Grade should just be created once again combining both NSW cup sides and the Holden Cup teams together. Have the U20 players playing against guys bigger than them and have them adjust to the strength and physicality of first grade footy so that the change from reserve grade to first grade is a lot easier.

Bring back the reserve grade and change the U/20s to U/23s. Perfect! I want to see my fringe players playing in my team colours, not for a team I dont know or care for ie Brisbane North, Wentworthville, Winsdor etc. An U/23 will give players more of a chance to mature not only on the field but off it. Those extra three years of maturity could be the difference between players accepting that they are just not good enough to play top level and realising that the world is big and wonderful place or considering suicide

With all the problems with suicides from young players in recent years, I think that the NYC should be scrapped, your idea is still an elitist competition which still brings a huge weight of expectation on young minds, I don't know what the answer would be to replace it, I would leave that up to Richardson & the ARLC. It would be interesting if a study was carried out to see what has happened to the players from the first 2 years of the NYC, they could use this to work out a way to find a different pathway for these young players.