The step up from park footy / NYC to NRL.

[boo_boo]

Every year we seem to have youngsters with plenty of potential that are destined to play NRL but for some reason they either dont get a chance or aren't up to that standard.
The Souths A Grade comp in full of blokes that got a start in the senior grades but never got their chance in the NRL for some reason.
I can see 5 players from this years NYC side that should be given the chance to play NRL next year & they are Adam Reynolds, Matt Mundine, Josh Mansour, Junior Vai Vai & Dylan Farrell.
The old saying that 'if their old enough, their good enough' does hold some truth but still we need to have a system in place where these kids dont get crucified before they are ready to produce their best.
I think Scott Murray will be a good influence on these kids as they do come through but we still need more than that to bring them on & keep them there.
If John Lang is going to leave a legacy at Souths i just hope he can develope a program to ease these kids into the NRL without the usual expectations.

 

[Ttime]

you mean "if they are good enough, they are old enough" right?

A lot of kids get introduced to NRL too early I believe, remember Beau Champions game against Brisbane back in the day? I think it was his debut maybe... he was playing fullback, couldn't handle the pressure and dropped a tonne of bombs, took him a couple of years to get his confidence back

 

[boo_boo]

Yeah typo Ttime.
And i remember Beau's against Brisbane as well.
Just hope that we dont see these other young blokes go through the same thing.

 

[Port boy]

We are yet to announce any signing so I'd say these boys and perhaps others will be given a shot at the bigtime.

I think they all have the credentials when the time comes

 

[hunters]

Every year we seem to have youngsters with plenty of potential that are destined to play NRL but for some reason they either dont get a chance or aren't up to that standard.
The Souths A Grade comp in full of blokes that got a start in the senior grades but never got their chance in the NRL for some reason.
I can see 5 players from this years NYC side that should be given the chance to play NRL next year & they are Adam Reynolds, Matt Mundine, Josh Mansour, Junior Vai Vai & Dylan Farrell.
The old saying that 'if their old enough, their good enough' does hold some truth but still we need to have a system in place where these kids dont get crucified before they are ready to produce their best.
I think Scott Murray will be a good influence on these kids as they do come through but we still need more than that to bring them on & keep them there.
If John Lang is going to leave a legacy at Souths i just hope he can develope a program to ease these kids into the NRL without the usual expectations.

Isn't that slight contradictory? Anyway, I guess I see where you are coming from.

Not sure there is too much Lang can do about it. It's either Toyota Cup or NSW Cup and, if you're good enough, NRL. Lang can't just invent a new tier and every game is usually so crucial you can't just blood a player in a 'lesser game'.

Thankfully we're getting to a position where the young blokes need to force their way in and not just get a walk up start. That is a healthier position than we have had for a while.

 

[boo_boo]

What i'm referring to hunters is when a player stands out in say the NYC comp & gets a chance to play in the NRL they sometimes turn in a poor performance & then it's back to the Under 20's or whatever.
They are then left in the lower grades until they either get a reprieve or injury to another player gives them another chance.
I suppose what i'm trying to say is that the NSW Cup is not a high standard comp & it's up to the individual clubs to mentor & monitor these young blokes development that are coming through.

 

[jackb]

What i'm referring to hunters is when a player stands out in say the NYC comp & gets a chance to play in the NRL they sometimes turn in a poor performance & then it's back to the Under 20's or whatever.
They are then left in the lower grades until they either get a reprieve or injury to another player gives them another chance.
I suppose what i'm trying to say is that the NSW Cup is not a high standard comp & it's up to the individual clubs to mentor & monitor these young blokes development that are coming through.

It is such a difficult time for lower grade players boo boo. Again I look at a young guy like Luke Capewell who only had limited opportunities but, at age 21, still has much improvement to come. Your example is a perfect description of what happened to Luke and he has now linked with the Titans for next season. Hopefully some of our other young guys will get a run and will do well first up as there seems little room for error when a chance is presented. Dylan Farrell made the most of his chance last year and will probably start in the top side in 2011. Junior Vai Vai had a similar chance in 2009 but did not improve as expected last season so he needs to perform early next year.

I must say that the club has set itself up the right way to help these young guys. The training facilities are excellent and the structure of the lower grades is a terrific bonus for us. Norths look after and pay for the over 20s players in the NSW cup and Souths Juniors do similar for the NYC players. I see that st.merge are having big problems with their NSW cup arrangements and we are fortunate to have the support structure provided by Norths and the Juniors.

 

[boo_boo]

For some reason i never really considered Luke Capewell to be a contender for our 1st choice 5/8 &
i still say we missed a golden opportunity by not signing Reni Matua.

 

[monkey1]

For some reason i never really considered Luke Capewell to be a contender for our 1st choice 5/8 &
i still say we missed a golden opportunity by not signing Reni Matua.

what get a drug player?? no thanks he is nothing but trouble

You see to only want to jnrs at our club which is the old way of thinking

 

[boo_boo]

Reni, junior or not is a good utility that we could have used this season through injuries.

 

[nqcowboy87]

you mean "if they are good enough, they are old enough" right?

A lot of kids get introduced to NRL too early I believe, remember Beau Champions game against Brisbane back in the day? I think it was his debut maybe... he was playing fullback, couldn't handle the pressure and dropped a tonne of bombs, took him a couple of years to get his confidence back

i thought champions first few games where at halfback when they thought he was a 7