It's official - reds gone frm BR cup!

[Perth Red]

Monday, August 31, 2009

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REDS / WA Rugby League step closer to NRL Franchise

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After two years in the NSW based Bundaberg Cup the WA Reds will now change strategic direction as they position themselves for an NRL franchise bid by focusing on the SG Ball under 18’s competition, according to WARL Chairman Geoff Baldwin.

“The logistical and structural experience gained over the past two seasons has been invaluable and we have learnt an enormous amount about what’s involved with a Perth based team playing in a National competition however it is now time to take the next step focusing on our younger players”, Mr Baldwin said.

“If we are serious about providing a career path for our local players whereby they can be part of our inaugural WA based NRL side in 2013 then we must start by exposing them to the higher level sooner rather than later.

“From next season the WA Reds will cease playing in the Bundaberg Cup and will instead kick off in the National under 18 SG Ball Competition which is a recognised stepping stone into the NRL.

“In our view, expansion of the NRL competition by another two teams is inevitable and following the success of recent NRL games hosted in Perth and the solid structures we have set in place we would be very confident of being serious participants in the bidding process.

“We intend to ensure we are prepared and an important component of that is the preparation of local players who can be serious contenders by season 2013 which is likely to be when the League expands.

“We also believe this decision will leave our local senior competition in a much stronger position that it was before the current Reds and we are confident that we will now also attract many younger players from NSW and QLD as they see WA being a clearer pathway to the NRL.

“It is our intention to run a substantial academy with between 40 and 50 participants from whom we will select our SG Ball side however this initiative will also strengthen our WA State Representative teams and breathe new life into our 16s and 18s competition locally.

“Although the NRL remains coy about its expansion vision there are simply too many pressures for it not to happen and it is widely expected by most knowledgeable stakeholders, that an announcement will be made sometime next year”, Mr Baldwin said.

 

[joondalup_giant]

will b interestin 2 see where they get the 40-50 participants 4 the academy squad from?

 

[Perth Red]

yeh just what i thought. Can't see alot of parents upping sticks and bringing their kids from Sydney to Perth to play RL!

 

[S.S.T.I.D]

Positive spin? It sounds OK.

 

[Nuke]

It's very much a positive spin on it. Like Joondalup_Giant and Perth Red said, it will be interesting to see where they pull all these 17-18 year old kids from. The WARL doesn't have that many of that age group playing that are any chance of competing against eastern states teams. Using the 2009 U-18's WA team as an example, I can tell you that while there are some good players, they are nowhere big enough or good enough to be anything more than a speedbump for other teams as far as I can see. I hope I'm wrong though.

 

[Perth Red]

We need to go to NZ and recruit some families to come over! looking at the SG Ball sides in Sydney most of them seem huge Polynesian kids!

 

[b0rt]

WA just lost someone to SG Ball w/ the Storm
so potentially one of the only kids good enough will be in the opposition

 

[joondalup_giant]

was that jake keating? If so i think it was him and the winger from centrals that would have been good enough, unless he's 2 old?

 

[b0rt]

yeah it is keating.
and i think i know who you mean from centrals (benjamin i think it might be) but im not sure if hes the same age as jake or a year older.

 

[joondalup_giant]

na not him he's 21/22 same hair style though! The guy i'm talkin about made the cas side this year

 

[Goldthorpe]

na not him he's 21/22 same hair style though! The guy i'm talkin about made the cas side this year

Jarrod Young? If so, massive potential.

 

[b0rt]

na not him he's 21/22 same hair style though! The guy i'm talkin about made the cas side this year

Jarrod Young? If so, massive potential.

haha knew i thought i was probably getting there names around the wrong way, but i couldnt remember jarrod