England's Youth and Academy squads for 2016

[The Partisan]

Certainly a case of planning ahead for these young fellows. Selected six months out from touring Oz in the case of the Academy.

Now can someone remind me of the age / status of the Academy guys ? Not the same as schoolboys is it ? ( And there is a separate England Schoolboys ??? )

Hopefully get to see them in SE QLD.


http://www.englandrl.co.uk/article/48224/england-youth--academy-squads

 

[The Partisan]

No idea where there tour takes them.......but gee it would be great if a genuine country centre was given a chance to see these possible future SL ( NRL ?) players.


A game v North Qld u/18's in Townsville would be nostalgic !

 

[Evil Homer]

Youth is U16s, Academy is U18s. There is no 'schoolboys' game in England. Kids leave school at age 16.

A couple of those Academy players have already been involved with SL first team squads during the pre-season trials and I expect maybe one or two of them will make their first-grade debuts this year, so it should be a competitive team.

 

[The Partisan]

EH could i ask that you explain more the 'no schoolboys game ' reference ?

Is there no regional / national championship for schools to compete in ? No county championships ? Even at younger levels ? ( like we have the Nationals for State / Territories Primary Schools Opens ~ 12/13 years)

Not ignorant of the English system ........just requiring education !

 

[Evil Homer]

EH could i ask that you explain more the 'no schoolboys game ' reference ?

Is there no regional / national championship for schools to compete in ? No county championships ? Even at younger levels ? ( like we have the Nationals for State / Territories Primary Schools Opens ~ 12/13 years)

Not ignorant of the English system ........just requiring education !

There is a national schools tournament, Champion Schools, it's an annual knockout tournament and the year 7 (u12s) final is the curtain raiser to the Challenge Cup final every year http://www.therfl.co.uk/play/competitions/championschools

I don't know what the situation is with schools RL outside of that, but it's not a big part of the sport at all here and certainly not part of the professional system. As mentioned, kids leave school at age 16 which is why there's no school listed for the Academy players.

 

[The Partisan]

Mmmmmm......now makes me wonder if the mid 70's creation of the National Schoolboys Comp here in Oz (originally the Commonwealth Bank Cup) contributed towards our acceleration away from the field internationally.

A slow progression in professionalism from the kids - many of whom probably played both school and club football and represented in both - may have lead to the 1979 demolition of all before the England and France touring Schoolboys of 1979.

Would be interesting to see a 'youth' aged (so 16's) Tri / Four Nations ( which totally contradicts my comment re the Junior World Cup age !!! )