Has the cancellation of Canterbury and Intrust Super Cup in 2020 affecting the NRL in 2021?

[Steel Saints]

Alot has been said of the lopsided start to this season. And the start of round 4 is no exception with Penrith, Souths and Melbourne hammering Manly, Canterbury and Brisbane respectively.

Maybe one of the reasons for having this big gulf between the teams is because last year, there were no lower grades been played like Canterbury Cup and Intrust Super Cup due to the pandemic. Many promising young players missed out on seasons footy. If everything was normal last year, then who knows, a team like Manly could've had three or four younsters making a difference in the early rounds in first grade. Some say there is not enough talent for 16 teams and expansion. But the young talent weren't playing due to the pandemic.

Then you look at someone like Harry Grant. He was on loan at the Wests Tigers. If there wasn't a loan system, we may not have heard of Grant. Instead he would still be playing in the Qld Cup and still be behind C.Smith and B.Smith. Funnily enough, if Grant didnt play for the Tigers on loan, then who knows, Cam Smith may still be playing.

I think people should never underestimate what the cancellation of lower grades in 2020 has done to this years comp.

 

[Fangs]

Perhaps the most salient thread in LU history.

You may be right OP. And as usual I will offer no further comment.

 

[Bring back John Fifita]

It’s good food for thought.

I actually thought it was having a dramatic effect last season, especially toward the back end when guys were getting called up with no footy under their belt all season.

I agree that there’s a hangover Into this season. However I’m not sure it’s the primary cause of the gulf.

Yes, some lower grade players would be more ready for the NRL this year with a solid CC season under their belts. They would be very fresh but not as experienced.

I think one of the major factors is the lack of strong halves across the competition. Probably the weakest collectively I can recall. The top teams all have top halves. The bottom teams haven’t, however Cherry Evans is the exception.

You can have good players in all other roles but without top talent in the halves, it’s like having a Ferrari driven by Mr Magoo. The Roosters have been written off because their main man is gone for the year. They still have bucketloads of talent everywhere else, some to return from injury. But now Kearys gone... most people think their chances went with it.

Most of the modern day halves were coming through in the era of “structure”. And so maybe any natural footballing instincts had suffered as they were being coached coming through.. I don’t know but it’s a theory.

However the lack of 2nd tier footy last year would have stagnated a lot of player development including the halves.

I can see the merits in this theory though.

 

[Twizzle]

Has Covid in 2020 affected the NRL in 2021 ?

 

[Ronnie Dobbs]

Bad teams just need to get better or perish.

Its unsustainable as it is and its a new world.

 

[Munted]

It's more than just good halves. Take my beloved panthers. Everyone hangs shit on cleary as a half and name one club who would have picked up jarome Luai prior to 2020.
Good halves absolutely contribute, but everyone needs to be firing. I'd say there is a talent shortage across the game, there's less 'solid' first graders and also less all stars. We just lived through a golden age of phenomenal qld players that dominated for a decade. Nsw had some amazing talent as well, which highlights just how good qld were. All that talent is now gone.

 

[Perth Tiger]

I’ve said it before but we don’t have a player shortage we have a coaching shortage!

Each new coach comes in with ‘their system’ and expects players to play their style regardless of what that actual players strengths and weaknesses are, then spends 2 or 3 years stuffing up the cap just to be sacked and a new coach comes in to repeat the process.

If we had 16 coaches of Bellamy, Bennet & Robinson standard instead of muppets like Walters and Barrett the comp would look different

 

[Steel Saints]

I’ve said it before but we don’t have a player shortage we have a coaching shortage!

Each new coach comes in with ‘their system’ and expects players to play their style regardless of what that actual players strengths and weaknesses are, then spends 2 or 3 years stuffing up the cap just to be sacked and a new coach comes in to repeat the process.

If we had 16 coaches of Bellamy, Bennet & Robinson standard instead of muppets like Walters and Barrett the comp would look different

I remember back in the early nineties, the coaches were Wayne Bennett, Tim Sheens, Chris Anderson, Graham Murray, Bob Fulton, Phil Gould, Brian Smith, David Waite and Warren Ryan.

 

[Perth Red]

You should all be thankful we dont have relegation here, it’s no fun going through a season worrying your club may be dropping out!

 

[Munky]

The inability to adapt during games is what stands out for me.

The Roosters against the Tigers would run the same play against the left hand side defence and make a break everytime.

The Panthers did the same to Manly's right side defence.

Are modern professional players unable to make on the go adjustments?

As an American president once said 'Fool me once, shame on... shame on you. Fool me—you can't get fooled again.'

 

[Bring back John Fifita]

I remember back in the early nineties, the coaches were Wayne Bennett, Tim Sheens, Chris Anderson, Graham Murray, Bob Fulton, Phil Gould, Brian Smith, David Waite and Warren Ryan.

Its incredible isn’t it. The 90’s is the best era for league in my opinion and with coaches like that it’s not hard to see why.
It was also the best era for halves imo too.

These are a list of great halves who played in the 90’s (not necessarily the majority of their career, but at least at some point)

Lamb, Lyons, Lewis, Sterling, Kenny, Stuart, Daley, Langer, Walters, Fittler, Alexander, Mundine, Jones, Toovey, A Johns, Simon, Gower, Freeman, Hanley, A Walker, B Kimmorley, Barrett.

And while possibly not on the “top shelf”, the depth of quality was still there with guys like..

Soden, Taylor, Speechley, Hasler, Goldthorpe, Coleman, Buettner, Carter, Field, Polla-Mounter, J Smith, Lam, Healey, M Rodwell, Blake, Finch, Sherwin, Dykes, Campbell, S Hill, M Johns, Prince, Dymock, Drew, O’Neill, Trindall.

The success of these halves will have a lot to do with the guys they played under, their coaches etc...

It might be arguable which halves should be in the “top” or 2nd tier I’ve done above.. but all are quality halves that would walk into the majority of clubs today and could easily lock in a first grade spot IMO (despite changes in the modern game compared to the 90’s etc).

The only thing about modern day football that far outstrips previous eras is the back 3. The evolution of these positions and the things they can do these days is incredible.

 

[AnonymousLurker]

I’ve said it before but we don’t have a player shortage we have a coaching shortage!

Each new coach comes in with ‘their system’ and expects players to play their style regardless of what that actual players strengths and weaknesses are, then spends 2 or 3 years stuffing up the cap just to be sacked and a new coach comes in to repeat the process.

If we had 16 coaches of Bellamy, Bennet & Robinson standard instead of muppets like Walters and Barrett the comp would look different

100% agree I’ve been saying it too, coaching shortage big time

Perfect example of what you said about systems is siebold . Now I’m sure he knows his stuff , but he was trying to get that broncos team to play to his rigid system which backfired , as Paul Kent rightly pointed out , it worked at Souths as McGuire was the same , but those broncos players had Wayne Bennett before and he had polar opposite style

 

[Perth Red]

Its incredible isn’t it. The 90’s is the best era for league in my opinion and with coaches like that it’s not hard to see why.
It was also the best era for halves imo too.

These are a list of great halves who played in the 90’s (not necessarily the majority of their career, but at least at some point)

Lamb, Lyons, Lewis, Sterling, Kenny, Stuart, Daley, Langer, Walters, Fittler, Alexander, Mundine, Jones, Toovey, A Johns, Simon, Gower, Freeman, Hanley, A Walker, B Kimmorley, Barrett.

And while possibly not on the “top shelf”, the depth of quality was still there with guys like..

Soden, Taylor, Speechley, Hasler, Goldthorpe, Coleman, Buettner, Carter, Field, Polla-Mounter, J Smith, Lam, Healey, M Rodwell, Blake, Finch, Sherwin, Dykes, Campbell, S Hill, M Johns, Prince, Dymock, Drew, O’Neill, Trindall.

The success of these halves will have a lot to do with the guys they played under, their coaches etc...

It might be arguable which halves should be in the “top” or 2nd tier I’ve done above.. but all are quality halves that would walk into the majority of clubs today and could easily lock in a first grade spot IMO (despite changes in the modern game compared to the 90’s etc).

The only thing about modern day football that far outstrips previous eras is the back 3. The evolution of these positions and the things they can do these days is incredible.

I wonder how much it had to do with the change of size of players from then to now? With the increase in large framed players in most of the positions, and 105kg plus being the norm, it’s not surprising the game has moved to a power arm wrestle rather than silky skills we used to see all the time from half backs, centre’s loose forwards, second rowers etc,also these players weren’t coached to an inch of their life from age 14 and so had a more natural style of play. Throw in the game is now a 17 man game rather than a 13 man one (2 subs were only used if injuries or player was dragged off for playing sht) and With all the money in the modern game we’ve seen massive coaching depts, use of video and data etc etc that has changed the way players are taught to play.
Or maybe I’m just getting old lol.

 

[blaza88z]

I am sure you are asking a valid question, I just have no idea what it is