18th club, whose next?

[flippikat]

Watching the NSW Cup GF now (courtesy the NSWRL TV app - its free to watch the game, even from NZ)... win or lose I got a feeling it's gonna be a great week or so for the red & black army.

 

[Gobsmacked]

Watching the NSW Cup GF now (courtesy the NSWRL TV app - its free to watch the game, even from NZ)... win or lose I got a feeling it's gonna be a great week or so for the red & black army.

Man! That's awesome!

 

[flippikat]

Man! That's awesome!

I heard it was free on 9Now, but rather than muck around with trying to access that, I figured the app might carry it for free.

Turns out my hunch was right. QRL did the same last week with their GF.

Good on both of them!

 

[Mother Nature's Son]

You’re right but there’s always room for smaller bodies too. The likes of Cotter and Martin hold their own against the biggest of Pacific Islander players.

The challenge is keeping them in the game in those early post-pubescent years when the early developers get the jump on them.
I wonder if the dearth of quality halfbacks coming through presently is in fact indicative of this already occurring over the last 30 years.

 

[Matiunz]

Yeh but post 2002 Aussie clubs activity went though the roof in terms of scouts

It’s not just nz migration to oz it’s clubs scouting players and offering them a place in Australian schools (pretty sure sbw and Benji were poached like that)

I was at the bulldogs “home” game in Wellington when they unveiled SBW as the winner of their scholarship- he was completely unknown then so great spotting by the dogs there.
Early days of the Warriors a decent chunk of players came straight from the local comps, that number decreased significantly until it dried up, there was even a brain dead tactic for a while to send Warriors development players to other clubs to develop and then we would buy them back for overs (ala peta Hiku eg).
Pretty much Any decent NZ player now has had a large chunk of their league education in Aus systems, we need to find a way to better develop them in NZ and then play them in NZ based teams

 

[Matiunz]

The challenge is keeping them in the game in those early post-pubescent years when the early developers get the jump on them.
I wonder if the dearth of quality halfbacks coming through presently is in fact indicative of this already occurring over the last 30 years.

That was essentially the rationale behind the weight based systems in NZs Union juniors. Many of the PI lads develop much earlier than the Pakeha boys in particular. Seen some 6foot circa 100kg island boys at 13 that would be a physical mismatch for their Pakeha counterparts, without weight restrictions you tended to lose some of these smaller players. Flip side of that is the smaller lads were used to being up against the bigger lads and develop skills and resilience to combat it, the larger lads were used to getting by with size advantage alone and would often struggle when the others caught up

 

[Wb1234]

I was at the bulldogs “home” game in Wellington when they unveiled SBW as the winner of their scholarship- he was completely unknown then so great spotting by the dogs there.
Early days of the Warriors a decent chunk of players came straight from the local comps, that number decreased significantly until it dried up, there was even a brain dead tactic for a while to send Warriors development players to other clubs to develop and then we would buy them back for overs (ala peta Hiku eg).
Pretty much Any decent NZ player now has had a large chunk of their league education in Aus systems, we need to find a way to better develop them in NZ and then play them in NZ based teams

Didn’t warriors expand their juniors this year to Harold Matthew’s ?

Playing those Aussie kids each week is the best way and have them progress through the ranks ala Penrith

 

[Iamback]

I was at the bulldogs “home” game in Wellington when they unveiled SBW as the winner of their scholarship- he was completely unknown then so great spotting by the dogs there.
Early days of the Warriors a decent chunk of players came straight from the local comps, that number decreased significantly until it dried up, there was even a brain dead tactic for a while to send Warriors development players to other clubs to develop and then we would buy them back for overs (ala peta Hiku eg).
Pretty much Any decent NZ player now has had a large chunk of their league education in Aus systems, we need to find a way to better develop them in NZ and then play them in NZ based teams

Nailed it. Warriors copying the model PNG are using will help, although being born in a country currently doesn't tell the full story

 

[Matiunz]

Didn’t warriors expand their juniors this year to Harold Matthew’s ?

Playing those Aussie kids each week is the best way and have them progress through the ranks ala Penrith

Hope so and it’ll certainly help, but you have to also understand these NZ kids are playing catch up with some core skills that Aus kids get at a very early age

 

[Wb1234]

Hope so and it’ll certainly help, but you have to also understand these NZ kids are playing catch up with some core skills that Aus kids get at a very early age

Dunno I would argue kiwi (maori) kids are naturally more gifted whilst the Aussie players just know how to play mistake free football

Doesn’t help kiwi juniors also playing so much union and spending less time on core rugby league skills unlike Aussie kids

Most of the good “Aussie” players are Pacific Islander

 

[Iamback]

Hope so and it’ll certainly help, but you have to also understand these NZ kids are playing catch up with some core skills that Aus kids get at a very early age

You are just nailing why despite the Hunters we see very few make NRL from PNG

 

[Perth Red]

Yeah Sharks are 2nd to Penrith for player numbers

Someone said there were 5000 in the Cronulla catchment, is that really the second biggest in Sydney?

 

[bad boy bubby]

Someone said there were 5000 in the Cronulla catchment, is that really the second biggest in Sydney?

I think it's closer to 6k now. It was 5.5k last year.
Good systems that are providing paths for us and other teams, not even remotely close to what Penrith do but still, we are providing.
That Chase kid at the Raiders is just one this year, your team have signed the younger Stonestreet, the Dogs had 4 Sharks juniors in their first grade team this season, Tracey, Xerri, Salmon and Hughes. Gus is always around our junior teams looking.
We may be a small club in NRL terms, but we punch way above our weight in development.

 

[Iamback]

Someone said there were 5000 in the Cronulla catchment, is that really the second biggest in Sydney?

Yes the demographics here are changing unless the area is Penrith or Campbelltown then the population is becoming more sub continent or Asian. Not people generally into RL.

Which is why clubs are beginning to take on other areas to develop, Most can still do more but they are expanding none the less

 

[Iamback]

I think it's closer to 6k now. It was 5.5k last year.
Good systems that are providing paths for us and other teams, not even remotely close to what Penrith do but still, we are providing.
That Chase kid at the Raiders is just one this year, your team have signed the younger Stonestreet, the Dogs had 4 Sharks juniors in their first grade team this season, Tracey, Xerri, Salmon and Hughes. Gus is always around our junior teams looking.
We may be a small club in NRL terms, but we punch way above our weight in development.

Yep. Now if those clubs with more did the same, The game will be huge