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The following article was published by Fox Sports (source: https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...e/news-story/a49de71c57a78a005ca5a967cce9473f).
It is a lengthy article but it is well worth reading in my opinion (I've had to split it into two posts due to length) -
It is a lengthy article but it is well worth reading in my opinion (I've had to split it into two posts due to length) -
Why relentless NRL gamble is costing clubs the very players they desperately need
Darcie McDonald from Fox Sports@darciemcdonald
October 22nd, 2021 8:30 am
It’s the gamble many NRL clubs are continually happy to make, even when it blows up in their face.
In a desire to unearth the next teenage prodigy, clubs are overlooking experienced reserve graders in the hope of discovering the next Sam Walker, the next Reece Walsh or the next Joseph Suaalii.
But while clubs like the Roosters and Warriors have been lucky enough to get it right this time and have discovered stars to build their future around, others have been left licking their wounds.
Tom Dearden was touted as the next Alfie Langer. He was signed on a top 30 contract and made his NRL debut for the Broncos as an 18-year-old, becoming the youngest starting halfback in the club’s history.
He had played just four Queensland Cup games for feeder club Wynnum Manly before ex-Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold threw him in the deep end.
Dearden went on to play five NRL games that season, 12 last season and five this year for the Broncos before the club cut its losses and sent him up the highway to the Cowboys.
Despite showing enough talent in the junior grades to suggest he’ll be an NRL star of the future, Dearden struggled to find his feet playing in first grade.
Along came Tyson Gamble. A 24-year-old playmaker that had worked on his craft in New South Wales Cup before making his debut for the Wests Tigers in 2018 and then joining the Broncos on a development deal in 2020.
When Gamble got his first shot in the halves for Brisbane, his former Redcliffe coach said “about time.”
What he lacked in freakish skills he made up for with several years of experience playing against grown men in reserve grade. It had him primed for what the NRL opposition would throw at him.
Dearden and Gamble’s journeys are far from unique in today’s NRL. It’s a situation that has left a pool of capable players stuck on the outside looking in.
BREAKING IT DOWN
For those unfamiliar with what a player’s situation outside of the top 30 looks like, it’s not very glamorous.
A club can have up to six development players each season. There’s no rule on age or experience, it’s entirely up to the club how they use those spots. A development player earns $60,000 and is not included in the top 30, but they do train full time with the NRL squad.
Then there’s part-time players signed on a NSW Cup or Queensland Cup contract. Those contracts usually vary from $5,000 to $15,000 for the season. Or, for some that are separate clubs and act as feeder teams, players often receive a sign-on fee and match payments that change whether they win, lose or draw a game.
As for training, part-time players juggle work and/or study with a minimum of three nights a week of training.
Top 30 players not selected in the 17 for an NRL game drop back to play in either reserve grade (open age) or the Jersey Flegg and Hastings Deering Colts competitions (under 20s, however they were changed to 21s this year).
They don’t fill an entire 17 so in come the part-time players that fill the gaps. Majority of clubs will invite some of their part-time players in on a weekly basis to train with the NRL squads.
When injuries happen sometimes those part-timers become full-timers and are put in a week-by-week training contract worth $1,000 per week — the same amount as the train-and-trial contracts that are handed out before pre-season.
THE BIG QUESTION
This season, a total of 43 players that weren’t on a top 30 contract played at least one NRL game. Of that amount, 23 players weren’t even on development contracts and instead were on a train-and-trial deal or were a part-time player plucked from reserve grade mid-season.
Nine of those players were 23-years old or older.
Fans may ask if these players are good enough to be selected for NRL then why were they not included in a club’s top 30 — or at the very least on a development contract — in the first place?
The job of sculpting a roster that includes the right balance of star power, adequate depth and the cheapies that you can squeeze a lot of value out of, while also bringing through the next generation is a difficult task.
Thirty roster spots may sound like plenty but if you factor in injuries throughout the year, it can look thin in no time. The Roosters’ 2021 season is the perfect example of that.
In previous seasons, development players and train-and-trial players weren’t allowed to be selected for first grade until after June 30 and part-time players weren’t allowed to be selected at all, unless a club got an exemption.
The game made a substantial change this year, scrapping that restriction and introducing a new rule that allows clubs to pick any player, from Round 10, no matter what type of contract they are on.
THE LIVING PROOF
The likes of Aaron Schoupp, Jayden Campbell, Makahesi Makatoa and Kurt De Luis all benefited from the new rule.
Makatoa and De Luis are particularly intriguing. They were 28 and 25 respectively when they made their NRL debuts this year.
Makatoa was signed to the Eels last year on a NSW Cup contract. He, like many, lost a year’s worth of footy due to Covid when lower grade competitions were cancelled.
Makatoa joined the Eels on a train-and-trial contract for 2021 and made his long-awaited debut in Round 22.
He was picked ahead of 20-year-old David Hollis, an up-and-coming prop signed on a top 30 deal until the end of 2023 and ahead of Sam Hughes, another young gun forward with a top 30 contract.
Having played 106 NSW Cup games prior to this season, Makatoa isn’t a surprise package. In fact, those that have kept tabs on the lower grades would find it crazy that it took this long for a club to give him a shot.
He was overlooked for a top 30 contract in both 2020 and 2021 as the Eels moved to lock in their next generation of forwards. By the end of the 2021 season Makatoa had leapfrogged them all to become a key figure in the Eels squad.
De Luis was a laberour by day up until the Sea Eagles faced an injury crisis in their forward pack. He was told in May he would begin training with the NRL side full time on the $1,000-per week contract.
He made his debut in Round 14 and like Makatoa, was impressive. De Luis was selected over Alec Tuitavake, a highly-rated prop that is signed on a development contract with Manly until the end of 2023.
Tuitavake spent the entire summer and this season training full time with the NRL squad. It is worth mentioning though that he was injured at one point. But coach Des Hasler opted to select and then stick with De Luis, who up until a couple of weeks before his debut was training three nights a week with his NSW Cup side.
There’s also a shortage of quality halves and hookers in the NRL at the moment. They are both positions where it’s proven time and time again that maturity matters.
South Sydney superstar Cody Walker debuted at 26. It took that long for a coach to take a gamble on him and this year he finished third in the Dally M count.
Jamal Fogarty played two games in 2017 as a 23-year-old. He waited three years to play his third game. Titans coach Justin Holbrook recognised what Fogarty could bring after years in reserve grade that a young, fresh-faced playmaker couldn’t.
He had a calm head, knew the game inside out, was well-equipped to go up against grown men and was confident and mature enough to demand the ball and lead a team around the park.
Fogarty became a co-captain of the Titans and recently inked a deal with the Raiders.
Kyle Flanagan is a halfback that’s experienced the brutal world of the NRL. He only really had one full season in NSW Cup before stepping in as Cooper Cronk’s successor at the Roosters last year.
He was cut loose early in a highly publicised ordeal and the Bulldogs picked him up. But Flanagan, while clearly struggling with confidence issues, struggled to find his feet in the top grade. Not only was he axed from the side, but his confidence took yet another hit.
(To be continued)
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