We're barely over a week from the end of last season so I'm not worried unless we get into November without both bodies making some sort of official announcement.
Based on the
Rabbitohs/Bears announcement this morning, it looks like the NSW U20s structure will be directly linked to the ISP teams going forward, which yes, will include a mix of NRL clubs as well. Massey and Shield comps remain.
So ultimately it looks like NSWRL will have six comps to QLD's four?
My impressions so far...
Souths
1) Usually announce and show their u20s team. This has not occured. There has not been any real news regarding an u20s squad also.
2) There have been several announced signings of players that are from the 2017 u20s squad but are included in the FG player profiles. Whether they are signed up to aim for a FG spot or are just locked up as priorities to get fulltime training...dunno. One of these players hasnt even played any u20s yet, just SG Ball.
Bears
1) Unfortunately have not been communicating much about their squads and I personally find their info quite poor (particularly for a team that wants to push for NRL inclusion) however it has improved during this season it still is below-par.
2) As to illustrate point 1 there have been absolutely ZERO announcements on players whether new signings, re-signings or even players leaving.
3) They have had a trial that included both ISP and JF. There is also pages on their site (with a Coming Soon message) that are available for both ISP and JF.
Some JF teams are keeping their NRL name, some are not. But what that means as to how much the NRL teams are involved???
Plus is the amount of involvement or lack of, uniform across each team or does it vary?