Auckland RL to scrap Warriors 20s from next year

[adamkungl]

http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/sport...owners-announce-plans-to-scrap-u-20-side.html

Good move I think. I'd assume there is at least consideration to doing the same with the NSW Cup side not long after.
That could be 40 odd players a year going back into the local comp.

 

[Iafeta]

I don’t think this is a good choice tbf. I personally believe the earlier the lads get a taste of playing in and against Australians within a professional environment the better.

It’s a completely different standard imo

 

[Blair]

I don’t think this is a good choice tbf. I personally believe the earlier the lads get a taste of playing in and against Australians within a professional environment the better.

It’s a completely different standard imo

Very true. If the Auckland RL want to just concentrate on the local game they should advocate for the return of the provincial championship, with their Auckland side.

Australia, or let's be real, NSW and a lesser extent Qld, are a different level altogether. This announcement by the ARL sounds like their thinking is going back decades.

Let's say they dump the NSW Cup side, so any player not in first grade plays in the Auckland comp? What sort of preparation is that?

For starters, the NSW side get used to the grind of flying across the ditch.

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

f**k the ARL.

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/sport...owners-announce-plans-to-scrap-u-20-side.html

Good move I think. I'd assume there is at least consideration to doing the same with the NSW Cup side not long after.
That could be 40 odd players a year going back into the local comp.

A local comp that in no way will adequately prepare players for first grade.

People go on about the Warriors having all this talent but not developing it. Decisions like this are putting us right back there.

 

[Iafeta]

If memory serves me correct, I remember watching the old Lion Red Cup. Blokes that were extremely effective in that comp often were very ineffective in the ARL or straight up never made it. Huge gaping gap.

I’m not sure how the Taumalolo story plays out to their advantage. Why does no Jersey Flegg team appeal to him? Don’t you want a player like him getting into professional development at at NRL club? If I’m a player agent, I’m recommending they go to Australia every time to get some exposure early, to get a 3 odd year head start on their Auckland counterparts.

To me this is cost cutting so the money can be funnelled back into Fox Memorial. I just don’t see how this works.

 

[adamkungl]

I think the logic is (and I agree with it) that NZ should have a national comp on par with the NSW and QLD Cups, which will eventually reap greater benefits for both the Warriors and the Kiwis than the current set up does.

First step is putting young talent back into it, the next will be to re-launch it with some money and exposure behind it. If it goes well for a few years I expect the Warriors NSW Cup team might follow.

It might be a step backwards in the short term but long term it shouldn't be too hard to match the NSW set up.

 

[Iafeta]

It won’t be achievable either short or long term

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

Getting rid of the 20s was always going to happen

But FMD getting rid of ISP would be an absolute disaster

 

[Rich102]

I think the logic is (and I agree with it) that NZ should have a national comp on par with the NSW and QLD Cups, which will eventually reap greater benefits for both the Warriors and the Kiwis than the current set up does.

First step is putting young talent back into it, the next will be to re-launch it with some money and exposure behind it. If it goes well for a few years I expect the Warriors NSW Cup team might follow.

It might be a step backwards in the short term but long term it shouldn't be too hard to match the NSW set up.

We don't have the player numbers to achieve a standard anywhere near those competitions. The best players will leave and sign with an Australian club. What's the gain in that?

 

[Iafeta]

Or rugby union.

I still maintain having a Jersey Flegg team is a good thing too. You can still use it to entice top drawer union boys over. It worked with Vete, Hurrell and Laumape amongst others.

 

[spear tackle]

I think if they do get rid of U20 and NSW to concentrate on the local comp here, 500 players a year crossing the ditch (as has been claimed by the ARL) will seem like a small amount compared to the mass migration we're likely to see as a result.

 

[JJ]

Netball NZ were removed from an Australian competition - worked well for them...

 

[Manurewa_Marlins]

if the resources were redirected to another semipro team based out of another centre, with clear pathways outlined it could work. A team based in West Auckland and another in South.

 

[Iafeta]

But isn’t a semi pro team the equivalent of the ISP team, except now on the weekend they get to dominate subpar players therefore probably falling into bad habits and struggling to make the step up.

If the local comp could sustain say 6 ISP standard teams and they basically played each other, I would be all for it. But to be semi pro or ISP standard, not only do you need the actual talent depth, but you need to pay them or otherwise they’ll do exactly what they do now and go overseas.

 

[Blair]

Getting rid of the 20s was always going to happen

But FMD getting rid of ISP would be an absolute disaster

Just remembering that recent win over Wyong at the SFS, I simply cannot think of a better preparation for first grade, for every player on the field that day.

We kept our cool, we won with a last minute field goal. Winning the comp wouldn't see a better celebration, in front of a massive Warriors crowd.

This also goes for rainy days at Blacktown. Last year we got well beaten there but kept fighting to the end. Then it was straight off to the airport for the flight home.

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

Netball NZ were removed from an Australian competition - worked well for them...

Malawi agrees

 

[Blair]

Malawi agrees

So does England I'd say, that spot in the final usually goes to the 'Ferns.

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

From Fan In The Stand

Hey team, look dont get me wrong. Fan In The Stand loves his local footy. I have spent many a saturday afternoon freezing the plums off watching the Mighty Lyttelton Sharks play at the Sacred Acre and down at the nest watching Linwood Keas play. My thoughts are in no way disrespectful to the current players playing in the local Auckland Comp Fox Memorial BUT scrapping the ISP team for the Warriors contacted players to go back and play in Fox Memorial is 54986987023498 steps backwards. The ISP team is a very successful team and have been the best performing team in the club for about the last 3 seasons. Why scrap it???? Its producing 1st graders left right and centre. They need consistant week in week out tough footy against hardened Aussie players, not playing against amatuers who train twice a week. How many 1st graders have we produced from the ISP team, James Bell, Vita Satae, Sammy Cook, Jazz the list goes on and on. Isaiah Papalii is a superstar in the making who starred for the Warriors 20s then ISP then made his 1st grade debut. When he made the Warriors 20s he was playing against Aussie teams who have awesum systems and structures. It took him a while to adjust, but he did and kept improving then was put in ISP playing against Aussie veterans and hardened professionals and now look where he is. Is he going to get that playing in Fox??? You can add Air Fus 1, Bunty and CNK to the list as well.

Lets say their is no ISP team and an estabilished Warriors 1st grader gets injured Ill use Sammy Lisone as an example and he has a knee injury and Coach Kearney says he needs some game time to get some miles in the knee. So he sends him back to Marist Saints in Fox to get some game time and some confidence. He will have a target on his bigger than lake Taupo. Everyone will want to go out and put a shot on him legal or not so they get their name out in the community. How is Lisone supposed to get back into 1st grade when the fields he plays on fields that have a few pieces of glass, couple of smashed DB bottles and a few batches of dog shit. What im trying to say is this is a Billion $$$ industry (NRL) and the Warriors turnover millions every year but if your not in the Warriors 18 every week your off playing Amature footy.

What about trying to recruit players here. How are they going to sell playing Fox Memorial to a potential recruit as a stepping stone to 1st grade. An Aussie player will say "what the hell is a fox memorial" I read a quote from 1 of the new owners Connor or cameron McGregor or what ever the hell is name is saying that they lose 800 kids a year to Aussie. Cmon Connor do u think the 800 are going to stick around saying a major goal is to play Fox???? The kids are getting snapped up at 14 or 15 years old and being put into the Sports schools here in Aussie. I have seen it first hand here in Sydney and the kids when they finish school are guns and are already in NRL clubs systems. Systems that have a million more resources than playing Fox footy. All the top talent that will come through will be spotted by the scouts of the 15 other NRL teams and signed early and taken to Aussie. Warriors will get the leftovers. Again im not slagging off the players playing Fox Footy im just keeping it real. This season the ISP boys are going along nicely and the 1st grade team are killing it. FINALLY the whole organisation is stable and now 1 day after the sale Connor McGregor scraps the 20s and then says the ISP team is probably going to follow suit. The Warriors should be contending for premierships not trying to make the Auckland comp better. To make $$$ you gotta Spend $$$. Every man and his dog and cat knows you need a reserve grade side to maintain and provide depth within the club. Losing one will kill the other, all us league fans know that.

Rant over
Enjoy your weekend peeps and good luck to the ISP boys who take on the Mounties down in Canberra on Saturday

Fan In The Stand

 

[Blair]

Can we imagine Vete playing for the Pakaranga Jaguars then being sent straight into first grade to face the Storm in Melbourne?

Can we imagine recruiting an Aussie (or dare I say 'Pom') and telling them Fox Memorial is your spot if you lose form or are working your way back from injury?

All points covered in the prior post. Why can't new owners just leave be for a bit.

I knew the ARL would have an agenda, just like the 'Pacific Warriors' of the Fale'ed bid.