Jeffles said:Is this entriely true? Jim Beam have another year to run on their contract (end of 2005) and VB's deal goes beyond next year I understand. Surely this is a sign that they want to stick with the current formula for at least next year.
I've heard of a competition wide Under 20s comp before. It has been lacking since the expansion days of the mid 1990s. This is a move to strealine youth development like when you had President's Cup in the early 1990s. Superleague had a national Under 19s comp. It was a superb initiative I must say.
If any comp was to suffer it would be Jersey Flegg, the current Senior youth comp for most NRL clubs. Why run 2 Under 20s teams??
I've made it clear before that VBPL gets a bum wrap. I know some clubs don't focus on it as much as they should but even as a club's 2nd Grade comp, it gets more fans than other club's 1st grade comp (JBC). And this is despite the incredible promotion done by JBC.
It is weird that people suggest there will be a sudden taking over of PL clubs by JBC clubs. Technically this has been possible since 2000 and the Warriors feeder with Newtown. That was the first time that PL (and equivalents) moved from being a pure 2nd grade comp towards a comp where other clubs could take over NRL 2nd Grades.
4 years later, look what we have. Penrith have outsourced (partially), but no other NRL club has In fact, the Warriors withdrew. Don't think clubs wil be so ready to give up their 2nd grade side and outsource. They've had the chance to do it for 4 years and it's been slow progress. I don't think an Under 20s comp will increase the move to outsource. Clubs already have an equivalent side (Flegg). If anything, the push to outsource will come about as a result of external pressure (the pokie tax) which will strike around the same time as the Under 20s comp begins.