COVID-19 has and continues to expose some of the deficiencies of our game.
The age-old cliche of needing a loss could apply to this season as a whole. While things are going well in general, some areas of concern can be glossed over and forgotten in among successes.
Last weekend we had some intriguing and important matches, the results of which render this weekend a little less exciting. After a strong month or so the Rabbitohs weren’t able to beat the Storm and keep moving towards the top four. The Raiders may as well have been a carbon copy, competitive and gritty against the Roosters but ultimately not good enough and as a result stuck back in fifth. The Warriors couldn’t take another step towards an unlikely finals berth, keeping the Eels in third, and the Panthers all but sewed up the minor premiership.
There has always been talk that the NRL season is too long. We have three rounds to go this year, but everything is probably set, the minor premiership is determined, the top four and the top eight just about done. Go on long enough and maybe you would have some movement, maybe some of the ‘mathematical chances’ would come into calculations, but at this point everyone has had long enough and teams are probably finishing where they deserve.
(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
It begs the question: why under normal circumstances would we have seven rounds to go? The obvious answer is to create the content for TV. That is the bottom line for the NRL – the more games we have, the more we have to sell.
Origin creates that smokescreen mid-season. We get that lull where matches matter a bit less, byes kick in and star players are out while this Origin machine we have created takes centre stage. It means that some of the lower-ranked sides notch points, and we need that time after Origin for order to be restored.
From an entertainment point of view it works. We get that race to the finals and the intrigue over how sides cope with the Origin workload. You see it every year, a team starting like a house on fire and Origin derailing their season. Likewise you see the side that takes more time to get going, get in late and make a splash.
It helps the NRL talk up the competition as being “close”, and it keeps more fans engaged longer in the season. It also helps to promote the salary cap as working as it should to even out the playing field. What we are seeing this season, though, is that really without Origin the competition is far more skewed than ever and that there are some real concerns about that.
Next year we will more than likely go back to the old format, but what this season tells us can’t be neglected. We are basically down to three or so contenders this year, with a couple more potentially a factor if they can get it together. To have so many teams out of the running so early is a concern. The same teams are competitive with the same coaches under solid structures. The rest are battling.
We have seen this year the value we place on the coaches both when teams are winning and when they are losing. Five coaches have moved on from their clubs since the start of the year. It is the quick fix these days – when things aren’t going well it is always the coach at the centre of it. We only have so many experienced coaches, the alternative being a rookie or one who has tried and failed elsewhere. But far more goes into a football team than the coach, and it isn’t going to solve all the problems.
We are talking about expansion and wanting to keep the season at this length, but do we have the quality of players and management structures to do that? Adding a team is going to thin out talent even more, and we already have so many sides struggling.
The sides at the top this season aren’t surprising at all. The Storm and the Roosters have been competitive for a decade. The Panthers and Raiders have built this success over a long period of time. The Rabbitohs have Wayne Bennett at the helm. The Eels have enjoyed a long stint with Brad Arthur and, while they look shaky now, are at the very least competitive. The Knights and Sharks are making up the numbers.
(Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
It is hard to see how things are going to change. This hasn’t happened overnight; it has been brewing for some time. We have some change every year and occasionally someone strikes it lucky, but for the most part the competition is becoming predictable in who will be competitive.
We no longer have an under-20s competition. How that ever occurred I will never know. To call it too expensive under such a wasteful administration is laughable. Not only that, but how does the NRL expect to develop talent without clear pathways? The salary cap doesn’t reward or incentivise developing talent. We have a situation now where far too many clubs try to buy success rather than develop it – it has taken Penrith ten years to finally reap the fruits they have sowed.
That is how long it takes when you develop rather than go to market. The clear-out is that quick-fix solution that comes with a new coach as they seek to buy what they need to get their team competitive and secure their future. Coaching is such a volatile game that if you don’t get that success right away, you are out the door. You have to play the Russian roulette of paying overs for players at a struggling club and hope they perform for you. Look at David Fifita and the Titans.
It is imperative to develop talent – that is how the competition maintains its strength and can consider expansion. The NRL is in a situation like the rest of the world. They need to spend money at a time when money has never been tighter. They need to be developing and finding talent not just in Australia but in the Pacific Islands and New Zealand.
The NRL has created all these different formats that jam the calendar full of rugby league – the All-Stars, Origin, internationals, nines – but without any clear structure and clarity over what has a long-term future. Origin is always there, so too the regular season. Everything else comes and goes, moves around and fails to develop any strength or consistency. Doing so might take the pressure off having to have such a long season but could also assist in generating clear pathways and vision for the long-term future of the game.
Peter V’landys has done much for the game in his short stint and is popular with everyone in the game. He has shown he isn’t afraid to listen and respond to what is needed. He and Andrew Abdo have their work cut out for them, though, with plenty of questions going forward as we move into next season.
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
There's a direct parallel with the U20s which exists in cricket that the clubs & NRL can learn from. In Oz, the private schools play their interschool cricket matches on a Saturday which means that their boys can't play club cricket. Also, most schools refuse to let their boys play in grade. The end result of this is that when these kids do debut against men it's such a culture (and quality) shock that the vast majority of them don't survive their first season. Given that these private schools have by far the best facilities for learning the game, it's instructive that so very, very few of them have made it to Test level. So 'Yes', do away with the U20s.
Nat
Roar Rookie
I can see a trend and it dosn't bode well for Ricky again soon.
peeeko
Roar Guru
not sure if Canberra have been building for a while - in the last 10 years they have finished 15/6/13/15/10/2/10/10/4
Nat
Roar Rookie
Couldn't be feeder clubs? Not sure I follow the thinking?
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Holden/Toyota Cup exsited for one reason and you mention it - "the more games we have, the more we have to sell." It was created to give broadcasters more live content
Big Daddy
Guest
Rellum, I'm on board with a national 2 nd tier although I think state politics may play a big part. The only proviso I would have is these teams couldn't be feeder clubs. It would give Perth an opportunity if the administration would allow .
Nat
Roar Rookie
In theory I don't mind that idea on the basis of team cohesion and elevating the elite ISP but not quite NRL (and there's a few of those). I have often wondered why the Broncos have so many feedersm surely you want your next best halves/spine working together as early as possible. Not sure I'm a fan of another level between ISP and NRL. Maybe not so much of an issue in Qld, might be for the Storm but in NSW it would be considerably larger headache and cost.
Greg
Roar Pro
I see 2 seperate issues. A youth competition as one (which I don't really think is necessary, let the players develop in reserve grade) and a pregame game (which I agree is needed).
Don
Roar Rookie
Exactly Nat. The Melbourne Storm sent their best kids into the QLD Cup so they were playing in a competition closer to NRL standard than U20s. If the U20s competition reflected the depth of future NRL standard players in a club then the Warriors should have won a premiership in the last decade. And it gave 20 young guys in each club false hope and a false understanding of where their game was at because every team had to carry 25+ U20s just to compete, many of whom had no future in professional senior footy after they turned 21.
Rellum
Roar Guru
I am still big on the idea of combining the QLD and NSW cups and splitting them into two divisions with the top division mirroring the number of teams in the NRL and each NRL club has one team as their "reserve grade". That gives a higher standard of second tier footy without losing all the old clubs that exist in the State Leagues. I do think players out side a couple of very well run football departments do struggle with the step up to NRL level because of the large gap. The ARL could also invest more in coaching education and player pathway education.
Paul
Roar Guru
hi Jack, the focus for the "fix" that you mention in the last few paragraphs is a very clear and a good choice, but I wonder if there's not several other issues as well that V'landy's & Abdo need to sort out? If you look at the bottom 8 Clubs in particular, all have some serious issues that need addressing. IMO there are 4 things that a Club needs to have a solid/good season - a strong stable Board, a good coach, a strong & working recruitment & retention policy and a half decent squad. Every single team outside the finals has an issue in at least one of these areas and in some cases, more than one. If you look at the top 8 however, for this season, those Clubs have got these issues pretty right, though some, like the genuine contenders, have it more right than others. That's not to say some won't slip next year given their track records in the past few decades, while some will certainly improve in those areas where they're lacking and be finals contenders next year. I'd have thought if the movers & shakers in the NRL can get all 16 Clubs to get their acts together, other issues like player talent pathways, duration of seasons and closeness of competitions would pretty much take care of themselves. As it stands, when 50% of the Clubs are bordering on the dysfunctional, fixing areas like players talent pathways won't help with the overall malaise affecting the game at present.
Big Daddy
Guest
Nat, my local team decided to blood all last year's 17 and 18 year Olds ( mostly forwards) to give them some experience and as a result they are leading their comp. They have a couple of old heads but actually had to play outside their local comp which was cancelled . I suppose every cloud has a silver lining. They chased around a few comps and finally finished up in Newcastle local comp.
Nat
Roar Rookie
That was a real positive. I used to knock off early and be one of half dozen echoing around Suncorp to see the young blokes play. That said, I do prefer ISP over 20s.
Nat
Roar Rookie
Hey BD, I think the primary reason for discontinuing the u20s is it provides little player development. It's kids playing the same kids they have been playing since juniors and some of the scores reflected that. It wasn't unusual to see a 60-70 point game. Throwing those same talented youngsters into NRL was a hiding to nothing and (IMO) hindered their development. At least with ISP they had the chance to play against men and better defensive opposition that wasn't such a high level. The Fifita example isn't correct but the money is astronomical. We've seen what Fifita has done at NRL level, check out his highlights for Souths Logan. He's a freak who demonstrated quickly he can play against men.
Jack Aubrey
Roar Guru
The under 20's meant you were guaranteed something to watch before the game. It is disappointing these days that you don't necessarily get the opportunity to arrive early and soak up the atmosphere on a nice day before a big game while you watch the young talent come through. It seems like something that was real worth while to invest in that has just been inexplicably cut and makes development through the grades more challenging and detracts from the game day experience.
Big Daddy
Guest
Jack, one point that stands out to me is the under 20 s which has now been consigned to S G Ball . The good part about that was it was a good curtain raiser to the main game on a national basis and gave the fans a great opportunity to see the young talent coming through. These young guys now have to fight their way through Intrust/ Canterbury Cup comps which aren't being played. The young guys are being consigned to some CRL comps and also not being paid for it which I suppose under the current economic situation is not a bad thing but at least they're getting a game. To me that's a sad thing that the NRL/QRL/NSWRL have failed the younger players and put ally their eggs in one basket focussing on the big picture.