Just goes to show how key injuries at the wrong time of year can derail a finals campaign.
Moeroa
Pritchard
Pauli
All unavailable. Once Tanginoa went off injured our forwards just couldn't contain the huge Warriors pack.
Hopefully we have better luck next year.
Do we really need to be successful and winning Under 20's competition for it to correlate into later success in the NRL?
Yes I think we need to be making the finals of the Under 20s competition each year, because we need to know that the players we are developing are heading in the right direction, but is actually going on to win it that important?
Look at the Warriors, they have been grand finalists in the Under 20s four of the last five years, yet they still remain a mid table side in the NRL. The Tigers and the Raiders have made the GF twice in the seven years of the existence of the NYC, but again, this has not necessarily carried on and made them anything more than a mid table side. Souths made the Under 20s GF in 2010, but only one player from that team remains part of the first grade team at Souths now (Adam Reynolds). The 2008 Under 20s Grand Finalists, the Raiders and the Broncos, have a large portion of their current NRL teams come from this match. But neither team has ever been regarded as a premiership threat within the seven years since.
I'd rather us recruit, develop and retain the right players to be able to take us to an NRL Premiership than to ever both winning an Under 20s competition.
