Curent state of the game in NZ

[Penrose Warrior]

Excellent post R&S.

I have long thought that until the Warriors get a handle on developing local talent we are going to be struggling.
The best years for the Warriors was when our junior teams were strong. (The John Ackland era.)
I really doubt that our current ownership and management have the willingness or skills to take this to the level required.
I think, for it's own good, the NRL may need to make it a condition of a club joining that they can field a certain number of Junior teams. But then we get the problem of where they are going to play each week.

Anyone with any ideas about this please joinin.

R&S' post is spot on in what we lack. He talks about these strong systems, these well-trained, skilled young players who come into first grade at whatever stage and are near-on good to go.

We have nothing like that, and I doubt we ever will. Our juniors lack basic abilities like putting players in space, holding defensive structure, running lines etc, and most often they don't get there with us, and go somewhere else and finally work it out.

Unless we get our junior systems right and we identify, then transfer talent (as we used to do 20 years ago when Bartercard was a thing, the 20s and other junior grades had decent competition and coaching) then the Warriors have no chance.

NZRL is busted too, and again I don't know if we can attract the sort of visionary, qualified leaders in that administration to get us going back in the right direction. I hate to be the pessimist but I see no way forward for rugby league in this country, it's going back at a rate of knots

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

There was a massive push for how to pay back the Warriors for their sacrifices during Covid. It cost the game so much in NZ with massive losses financially and our Junior System being dismantled and scuttled as lockdowns put an end to anything that had started.

A lot of the talk was how bout let the Warriors play all 24 games in NZ. Personally im in favour of that since they sacrificed being away from home so the comp could keep going.

After thinking about it i think there is another way the NRL could pay us back that would have huge benefits to not only the Warriors but the game in NZ and help secure long term sustainability.

The NRL should help set up our Junior structure similar to what i previously posted about the Tigers set up.

* NRL to finance the Warriors entry into the NSWRL Harold Matthews Comp (U17s), SG Ball (U19s) for a 3 year period to get our kids experianced against the highest standard of competition and experiance the riggers and professional habits of travelling like a professional athlete. The Warriors should appoint a mentor for both teams for example somone like Awen Guttenbiel for 17s and Simon Mannering for 19s. They will travel with the teams advising on diets, sleeping habits, relaxing activities so that their preperation is 100% so all they have to worry about is performance.

* NRL to appoint and Finance an ambassador for all away teams that travel to Auckland to play against the Warriors. For example all games should be on a Saturday with the odd game on a Sunday regardless of when 1st grade play. Remember the rep season is from February to April. If Penrith were travelling to Auckland on the Friday for their Harold Matts and SG Ball games on Saturday then the NRL should appoint a former Penrith Legend to travel a day earlier and hold perhaps a training session or a mental health workshop. Perhaps a former Kiwi would be good eg Tony Puleatua or Frank Pritchard or if its not a Kiwi then maybe Mark Geyer or Timana Tahu. Or if its Parramatta then maybe FuiFui MoiMoi or Feleti Mateo. It would have to be someone that the kids know/relate to. Have them front and centre in the local media about the importance of mentoring the kids and how many opportuinites are out there for the kids if they really want it.

* NRL to finance game days for home games for Warriors Harold Matts and SG Ball home games. DO NOT HAVE THEM AT MT SMART. Take it to grounds where the they have strong juniors with a great community backing. And some half decent facilities. Promote it as the best of Penrith taking on the best of Auckland etc. The NRL to send over a small team to set up activities for gameday, have halftime entertainment like club relay races when the winning club gets $1000 towards gear or free 1st grade tickets.

* Before the rep season even starts the NRL and the Warriors need to go through the list of players selected from both squads and work out with all Auckland Juinor RL clubs an even and fair way if possible to feed back the local talent to clubs. For example when the rep season finishes and the players are released back to their clubs the Warriors and ARL need to liase with clubs to evenly distribute the talent so sides are not stacked with 10 rep players and just mince through other teams. An example would be that if the Warriors spine of 1 6 7 and 9 in the Harold Matts squad try and go back to the same club, then they would ruled out and perhaps sanctioned. Only in the event that it is an absolute must (perhaps a player has 2 or 3 siblings at the club) then it should be allowed. The Harold Matts starting 6 could be paired with a younger 7 whos been identified as an up and coming player at a club thats not as strong or the 2 starting props for SG Ball could play for a club that doesnt have strong forwards. They are just a few examples. Ive seen it 1st hand the influence a kid has on other kids coming back from a rep program. We had a young kid at my club in 2021 make the Tigers U16s as a 5/8. He was a good player who had potential, understood footy and always listened to Coaches and managers etc. Anyways he trialled and made the squad and went on and played 7 out of the 8 games and came back to our club 1000 times fitter, faster and smarter than any other player and lead his team (and i mean literally lead) into the Semi Finals. All because he was exposed to the best Coaching while being amongst the best players in the District. I gurentee 90 out of every 100 kids will go back to their clubs exactly the same.

* The NRL would be a 3rd party to the above by putting aside funds to help the Warriors and ARL contract most of these kids. It would be on 1 year deals perhaps 7k to help parents with travel demands and because the incentive would always be there and no room to be complacent as the next set of kids hopefully will be kicking the door down for a chance.

Once the 3 year deal is up hopefully the Warriors will have there sh1t together and be able to not only sustain this model but also ramp it up to heights the game in NZ has never seen. By the time the 3 years is up the majority of the kids picked in Harold Matts should not only be in the Warriors Flegg (U21s) side but also a couple should be starting in the reserve grade side. Because by then they will know what its like to be a professional footy player and have all the knowledge on how to prepare and recover and their focus will be on performance. The key here is PATIENCE, the Warriors have to be patient with these kids.

This is only my opinion going forward and should be started in 2024

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

Also just to elaberate a bit more on the the Tigers Juniors

They have an U12 talent ID day once a year as well. Anyone U12 can go. Just need to sign up. Once there they go through some drills and work on skill based work. All players recieve a t shirt but are evaluated and go into a data base for the following year.

Tigers also have an U13, U14 and U15 development squad. These kids are identified through the first couple of months into the season. For the U13s most have been identified the year before in the U12 Talent ID day. U14s are usually known from the season before where they have been identified in the 13s and so on and so on from U15s down. Occasionally you will get a kid who has a breakout season and they are selected into the squads.

Most club teams in my District train Tuesdays and Thursdays so the Tigers 13s 14s and 15s Development squads train Wednesdays only. They dont work on fitness at all. Its all about drills and skill sessions. The skills and drills they do are exactly the same as the U16s and Harold Matts teams do. The planning behind doing this is that when the kids end up making Harold Matts they know exactly what to do. They will know how to run Xs and Ys effectively as well as knowing when to centralise plays, when and what part of the field to do a block play and things like that. Like i said by the time they get to Harold Matts they know all the drills.

Having these kids in these development teams training every wednesday with the best Coaches alongside the best players improves their club side 1000 times over. Also all kids get to see that with some hard work and dedication the rewards are there to be had.

They play about 3-4 games during the season. This year the Tigers development teams played against the Sharks and Panthers and a Country side. I went out and watched a couple of games. The kids really stepped up and they were high paced games. Decent crowds to watch as well but just the chance to play in a rep side against playeers they have never seen before all trying to prove that they are the best kid for that position.

But its not for all kids though. We had a couple of kids from our club actually in my Sons team make the Tigers 13s side this year. They are twins and young Samoan Boys. 1 is a prop and the other a centre. Both decent players who probably deserved their selection. I went along to one of their trainings and they were pretty demoralised. Wernt enjoying it and didnt seem happy. I went to 1 of their Tigers games and they both got decent minutes and opportunities but the effort wasnt there. I had a chat to them after and they said they were ok. I spoke to their older Sisters ( they come from a big family 9 kids and include 3 sets of twins) and the Sisters said they dont like it and want to quit. I get to their club trainings and they are full of smiles and doing their trick plays because they are comfortable in the enviroment they are in. They would rather play footy with their mates and hang out after training doing tiktoks than being in rep sides being pushed and pushed.

A lost opportunity but Like i said its not appealing for everyone

 

[Beavers Headgear]

The Bulldogs sent 3 of their coaches over to Auckland last week, and held a clinic with 60 of the best young players in Auckland. Long term goal to cherry pick the best of them once their education is finished to head over to Sydney

 

[Beavers Headgear]

Heard a bit from Tony Kemp this morning

I didn’t realise this was even a thing, but back in 2009, Sport NZ imposed a new district system on Rugby League, if it wasn’t followed, all funding to the sport would be cut. NZRL takes in 8 million a year since then, and many districts see nothing. The districts have had enough so there is a big meeting coming up today about abolishing this current system, what that does to any funding, who knows

 

[Matua]

The Bulldogs sent 3 of their coaches over to Auckland last week, and held a clinic with 60 of the best young players in Auckland. Long term goal to cherry pick the best of them once their education is finished to head over to Sydney

Once their education has finished or midway through and send them to an Oz league school?

 

[Beavers Headgear]

Once their education has finished or midway through and send them to an Oz league school?

It said after finishing school but if there was a special talent there I’m sure that would change

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

Adam Pompey used to go to school monday to thursday then fly out to sydney on friday.
Train with their SG Ball side friday night then play for them on Saturday then fly back to Auckland on Sunday

 

[Beavers Headgear]

The article behind the Kemp story I mentioned earlier. Shame he had to bring race into it

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02RjJe84dHThGSdXJN5MgyBDf6MHkULY9T8JkPywSb8Qzc64fd8h8RqyoNrVSu1Qxl&id=100068387270271&mibextid=qC1gEa

 

[Rich102]

The Bulldogs sent 3 of their coaches over to Auckland last week, and held a clinic with 60 of the best young players in Auckland. Long term goal to cherry pick the best of them once their education is finished to head over to Sydney

No surprises here. Gould was working with the NZRL to develop pathways.
Gould gone; Dogs come knocking.
Wonder if the NZRL has done anything?

 

[Penrose Warrior]

The article behind the Kemp story I mentioned earlier. Shame he had to bring race into it

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02RjJe84dHThGSdXJN5MgyBDf6MHkULY9T8JkPywSb8Qzc64fd8h8RqyoNrVSu1Qxl&id=100068387270271&mibextid=qC1gEa

Kemp is such an idiot. He might have a point if he didn't ruin it and throw in the ridiculous colonialism stuff, thus diluting what he was trying to say. If you want to make it about race, make it about race. If you want to finances and governance, talk that.

 

[Beavers Headgear]

Canterbury Rugby League trying to get on the front foot with a few ideas

We had 8 teams in Prems and 10 in reserves. Next season there will be a round of grading games where all the teams play each other, and at the end of it 3 grades of 6 teams will emerge, and promotion/relegation will run between the grades each year, with the stipulation you can’t have 2 sides from the same club in the same grade

mercy rule has been introduced, once there is a 60 point gap, the game is over

Also an opportunity for clubs down on numbers to be able to transfer 2 players across from another club mid season with a max of 8 allowed