Like many other rusted-on old league fans, I have joined the bandwagon and found myself changing channels because of the blowout scores and the quality of some of the games.
The six-again rule but mainly the ‘any contact to the head’ rule have been two contributing factors to this.
To try and apply a black-and-white rule to to all contact to the head is impossible to enforce. There are too many variables and I hope common sense will prevail in time and the new rules will soon be rectified.
But I also fear there is another big black cloud starting to appear on the horizon and unless it is addressed sooner rather than later it will cause as much damage to the quality of the game – and for a much longer period.
The NRL has to get its priorities right and seriously start looking at the shortage of quality young players being developed for the future to accommodate the supply and demand the old clubs and the new clubs will require to be competitive and produce the high standard of games that the fans need to stay interested and entertained
I am not a Penrith supporter but I look at the team they have grown and developed over the last couple of years and I have nothing but admiration for what they bring to the table.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Some have said they are arrogant the way they carry on but I see a team of young guys who have come through the grades together and are playing for each other and enjoying every minute of the game.
Their brilliant, electric attack and rock-solid defence is a credit to them and they are showing us how great and entertaining the game can be and should be.
Love him or hate him – and I am a Queenslander, I might add – I salute Phil Gould for biting the bullet and having the vision to see that the way to be successful and produce a top quality team was to go back to nursery and grassroots and start growing their own young talent and developing them into a side that is now the envy of the NRL.
Hopefully the NRL and other clubs have taken this on board and have plans in the pipeline to follow suit.
But will Penrith reap the rewards for years to come? I doubt it.
Because of the lack of time, money and of effort of some of the other clubs to do likewise and the introduction of new clubs to the competition, there is going to be a big shortage of quality players to go around.
As a result, Penrith will lose many of their top players due to poaching from other clubs and the salary cap.
Matt Burton is already on his way out the door. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
There is too much competition from other clubs and codes competing for young talented kids and the NRL needs to act soon for the long-term future of the game.
The NRL needs to forget about coming up with new rules for a while and seriously concentrate on encouraging teams to follow Penrith’s lead by offering the incentives that have been often spoken about but always seem to end up in the too hard basket, offering discounts and bonuses to the home-grown players developed in a club.
Maybe the under-20 comp needs to be resurrected.
By not having a competitive competition due to clubs not having enough quality players to go around, the game will suffer in the long term no matter how many new rules are introduced to try and make it more entertaining.
New rules can be made or changed overnight.
Growing and developing young talent for the future of the game is a more difficult and time-consuming procedure and needs to be addressed now for the long-term future and wellbeing of the game.
kersed
Roar Rookie
Dont waste your time Barry, he clearly has no idea what he is talking about. Apparently a NSW cup team has no correlation to the first grade side and apparently by 'saving money' on not having your NSW cup side wear the same colours as your NRL side, you somehow have more money in your salary cap to make signings from other clubs... Wow, this logic (Or lack of) is like nothing I have seen before. Penrith didnt see his value until it was too late. Move on.
The Barry
Roar Guru
How many NSW cup games did Burton play? What about Suaalii? NSW cup is a tiny piece of the development puzzle… if it was such an important integral part of player development why would so many clubs outsource it You’re also operating on the basis there’s no communication between the Bulldogs and Mounties about their mutual players… I’m sure both clubs would proceed on that basis
The Barry
Roar Guru
Haha… so all the effort and time and money you’ve been banging on about that the Panthers put into Burton involves them signing him from Dubbo a year before he made his first grade debut and that somehow makes him off limits for all time… spare me But it’s ok when it happens to the Bulldogs…
Pomoz
Roar Rookie
I have explained. The Dogs can't be arsed to have a NSW cup team. They don't take development seriously. You ridicule the effort the Panthers took to first, scout Burton, relocate him to Penrith. Train and coach him and give him an opportunity at the club. You think that is cheap to do? Why the Panthers were doing that the Dogs were outsourcing NSW cup and re-electing a new Board every year.
Pomoz
Roar Rookie
How is NSW Cup irrelevant to the development of junior players? It is the last step before first grade. This type of muddled thinking is how we ended up with NSW cup being downgraded and u21's being classed as the be and end all. The step up from u20's to first grade is huge. You only have to watch a game to see that. NSW cup is a crucial step in junior development. A junior is not a finished article when they play their last u20 game. Kikau had two years in NSW cup, without that I doubt he would have made it to the level he is now. If the Dogs get a Kikau, I hope the Mounties club can develop him for you. ...
Maxtruck
Roar Rookie
Is Penrith a feeder club for the Bulldogs ?
The Barry
Roar Guru
Still yet to hear your explanation of how the Dogs have no right to sign Matt Burton after all the money and effort the Panthersput into his development, when he was playing for Dubbo in 2018, played Flegg for the Panthers in 2019 and debuted in first grade in 2019…?
The Barry
Roar Guru
I’d prefer the Dogs to have their own NSW cup team, but it’s bordering on irrelevant to the rest of this discussion about juniors…
Pomoz
Roar Rookie
So Mounties are a professional club? They are playing in the same competition as NRL NSW cup teams, but that is as far as it goes. They do not have a team in the NRL. How do they know what it takes to be an NRL player? They don't have a team. They train in a different place, have a different CEO, a different set of values. As a Dogs fan I am amazed you think this is OK.
Pomoz
Roar Rookie
What is counter productive about encouraging investment in juniors. Are you trying to be argumentative on purpose? Your argument is leave things as they are, the incentive is to win more games. Unfortunately some teams are too dumb to make the investment in grass roots so you have to spell it out for them. Another alternative is to take junior development away from them altogether and let the NRL run it.
Rooster Rout
Guest
Barry... Aren’t you conveniently forgetting that most players are signed by other clubs, when they still have a year to go on their current contracts? How Doesn’t a transfer payment for local juniors ( still under contract ) fit with this system , used in the NRL?
Paul
Guest
You could try & put it that way? It’s not like they’d be buying ordinary players at 18-19. They’re buying the top players of that age group that they can find. Players that are basically ready for first grade. Lots of 18 year olds running around in first grade. Just ask the Roosters.
Rooster Rout
Guest
Not Victoria.. :thumbup:
Rooster Rout
Guest
Not at all... You mean sponsorships from sponsors, who are connected with each club. That are limited in the % amount that they can pay with any players contracts. Independent Corporate Sponsorships, are a completely different kettle of fish. As brung to light , by a SMH article a couple of years ago. When asked how many such sponsorships the Roosters use , they had no comment. Also never denied the use of such sponsorships. Why would they? They are legal.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Mounties aren’t an amateur club… and those players are playing in the same competition regardless of whether they’re playing for the Bulldogs or Mounties You’re twisting the truth to suit your flawed argument…
The Barry
Roar Guru
The clubs do have a greater ability to keep their own juniors. That’s why there are more Penrith juniors playing for Penrith than there are for the Roosters Having other clubs pay overs for your juniors, while you can replace them from your own vast junior network IS the advantage Most of your post is gibberish but it seems like you’re saying it’s wrong for clubs to poach Panthers juniors but it was ok for the Panthers to sign Kikau because you suspect they might have paid a transfer fee - any evidence of that transfer fee by the way? Every club run Flegg, SG Ball, Harold Matthews sides just like the Panthers do… the Panthers aren’t the only team putting time, money and effort into developing juniors. There’s an advantage for every club to develop juniors, not every club has the same sized talent pool as the Panthers to do it… It’s pretty simple maths. If you have 10 times the number of juniors as any other club, more juniors are going to sign elsewhere A Panthers fans want it both ways at the moment. They crow about how good their juniors are and how many they’ve got but then claim it’s not advantage…
The Barry
Roar Guru
You’re confusing two issues Whether a club has a NSW cup team has nothing to do with junior development You’re whole point of it’s okay for the Raiders and Broncos to sign Burton but not the Dogs is completely flawed and biased I gave you a list of Dogs developed players that have been “poached” by other clubs…is that an outrage? There’s other players who debuted at the Dogs and have signed elsewhere… are you up in arms about that? Get off your high horse that the Panthers are the only club that develop players. In their current squad the Dogs have Jackson, Elliott, Averillo, Topine, Atoni, Marshall-King, Lewis, Doorey, Wakeham, Okunbor, Ogden, Schoupp and Roumanos who are either local juniors or debuted with the club The Panthers have a far bigger junior catchment so of course there is going to be less need to go outside that to find players. You’re being parochial and biased if you can’t see how that’s an advantage Yes, any club can sign a 16 year old player, but if they’re in your area then you have first crack at them and other clubs have to pay more to get them away. There’s a CLEAR advantage in that on both sides of the ledger
Pomoz
Roar Rookie
There seems to be this blind spot on development. It seems people only thinks its valid if the player was developed at 16. This is in spite of the fact that the transition from NSW/QLD Cup to first grade is such a big step most players don't make it. The two examples cited maybe bad ones, but here is a clip of Gus talking about the Roosters GF winning team two years ago: "Nine to 10 players from their grand final squads made their NRL debut at the Roosters, and seven to eight of those joined the Roosters before turning 20 years of age (and many before turning 18). Further, only five to six players were established first-graders at other clubs before joining the Roosters, and only two to three of those players, in each successful grand final team, were what could be classified as ‘‘star recruits’’." The Roosters develop players. They invest in it and deserve credit for it. The alleged "salary cap sombrero" is an easy and popular target to attack, but it just ain't true.
Pomoz
Roar Rookie
But Paul, what the Storm and the Roosters do is development. Turning 18 and 19 year olds into first graders is just as important as taking 16 and 17 year olds. Have a look at the Holden cup winning teams from the last ten seasons. How many of those players made it to first grade. For some reason people assume that once player has played in the "so called "junior" teams, that is the end of it. The drop out rate is huge. The next step of development and one which the the Storm and Roosters seem to be really good at, is absolutely crucial. The Storm and the Roosters spend a fortune on the development of players, they are just not 16 year olds from Geelong or Paddington. Why does it matter where they are from? If they are prepared to spend the money to train them? The Panthers, Tigers and Parramatta can't possibly develop every young player out West in their catchment areas. Why not let other clubs take some of them as well? Surely it benefits the game for kids to get training from such professional clubs as the Roosters and the Storm? My only quibble is that say the Roosters sign an 18 year old from Penrith and the Panthers have trained him for two years, they should get some form of compensation for it. Otherwise, good on them for being prepared to train a player and make the investment.
Pomoz
Roar Rookie
TB, Kikau played 42 games in Holden Cup for the Cowboys. They absolutely deserve credit for part of his development. When he was signed by the Panthers he was not a first grader. He spent two years in NSW cup only playing 9 first grade games in his second year. He was put through a development programme in NSW cup to improve his mobility and fitness. He was rotated through several positions to develop his skills. This is not the same as Burton who has made his first grade debut at the Panthers, been developed in the junior teams for two years and is ready to play. My problem is not that it is the Dogs, it is that they can't even be bothered to have a NSW cup team so they can save money. Money they can then spend on signing a player like Burton. They have outsourced part of the development pathway. They have tried to destabilise the Panthers with all this talk about "you should let him go, it what's best for him" and yet they can't be bothered to even develop their own adult players. No, They don't deserve to sign players like Burton when they aren't prepared to do the hard yards themselves. If Burton was signed by the Broncos or Raiders, you wouldn't hear a peep from me. They develop lots of players and put the effort in at grass roots level. As for this large junior area myth. There is nothing to stop any club signing a kid playing in Campbelltown, or St Clare or Ipswich. There are no rules in place to stop any scout driving to the Penrith district every week and watching local kids play and offering contracts to those they deem worthy. My nephew was selected by the Panthers to play at an u13's training camp. His Dad, god only knows why, is a mad keen Dogs fan and would have loved to have seen him play at a Dogs training camp. If they had made an offer he would have taken it. Jack Hetherington wanted to play for the Roosters but a Panthers scout had spotted him first and approached his family. Oh hearing of his Roosters preference Gus Gould put him in touch with the Roosters and he got picked for their junior team. See, it doesn't matter where you are based, it's up to a scout to find you and make an offer. Now why would I want my 18 year old son to play for the Dogs? As soon as he is 20 they will farm him off to a bunch of amateurs at the Mounties........