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The NRL has announced that the Holden Cup will make way for state-based second-tier competitions in New South Wales and Queensland from 2018.
The change is designed to amend the pathways through which young rugby league players make their way to first grade and eventually representative football.
The league will save $5 million by doing away with their current Under 20s feeder competition, which has been the premier youth competition in Australia since its inception in 2008.
It is believed the money will be reinvested in the establishment of new pathways which will ease the pressure on young players who rise through the ranks of professional rugby league.
Under the new structure, which has been approved by the Australian Rugby League Commission, the NSW and Queensland second-tier competitions comprise up to 16 teams each. They will be run by the NSWRL and the QRL.
NRL clubs will be encouraged to form partnerships with two of these sides and use them as a pathway from which to discover new talents to play in the first grade.
Initially, there will be 12 teams in the NSW version of the competition, whilst the QLD edition will begin with 14. Although potential new franchises have been earmarked for the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Fiji, a second New Zealand team as well as several regional centres in NSW.
Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga has thrown his support behind the changes, stating that “The new model will not only help to expand the game both in Australia and overseas but it will provide better protection for young players at risk of developing welfare issues and being forced out of the game.”
The NRL and NRLPA are also in talks to see the number of players allowed in an NRL squad increased, salary limitations for young players in the second-tier competition are also a point under debate.
According to NRL Head of Football Brian Canavan, “this [competition] is the best way to expand the game in the short term – and create a sustainable competition structure for the long term.”
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