colonel_123 said:I'd say that's more then likely. Hasn't Sheens already said that they'd be keeping the better juniors in the open age comp, rather then the NYC as he believed that the open age comp would be of a better quality and therefore a better stepping stone to first grade?
I haven't read or heard him say that. I cannot see how the NSWRL Cup is going to be better quality. IMO it will be of lower standard than this years PL comp. Not all NRL teams are fielding teams, some are sending players to QLD Cup & local competitions and a lot of clubs have lost players to the ESL which will weaken there squads from NRL down. Playing infront of a few hundred fans most weeks won't help the game either.
Sheens has always wanted a merged team to play before the WT. Now he has got his wish. Another reason why he has changed his mind about allocating all WT players to one PL team - to bad other 'old' circumstances have now resurfaced!
IMO the NRL will become basically a U25s comp in the future as more places will need to be found for players once they graduate from the NYC.