Junior Development and Reward for Clubs

[ElectricEelMan]

2 wooden spoons says to me that your club isn't very good at developing juniors

No.
Bad at junior player evaluation and retention.

Paul Gallen is probably the best example


Though some of juniors making their debut over the past 12-18 months, or about to make their debuts, have Eels supporters salivating.

 

[El Diablo]

Milford isn't a Canberra junior

 

[nick87]

Signed to the club and developed by us at the age of 13.
Doesn't get more junior than that.

 

[Perth Red]

And what will be the justification for pokie leagues clubs if they cut jnr sport out f their scope? Reality is this jnr development isn't coming from the NRL grant/club in majority of cases, it is coming from the leagues clubs.

Also last time I checked Canberra were paying full cap and cutting jnr spending doesn't increase salary cap level so how is he going to sign more established stars?

 

[100%green]

Milford isn't a Canberra junior

Technically he was as the Broncos passed on him and we picked him up at a young age.

I think even if we had jnr concessions it would not have mattered as he wanted to return home but who knows. It may have made a difference.

As for the Roosters fan RWB who said for Don give them the word?

Your team barley produces their own juniors now little alone moving into regions like the Riverina where you'd have to take on Union and AFL who would take over quicker than any NRL club who tried to start up in Canberra's place.

And Parramatta are one of the clubs that do develop juniors as well along with Penrith etc so that argument serves no purpose.

 

[El Diablo]

Signed to the club and developed by us at the age of 13.
Doesn't get more junior than that.

where in Queensland do i find Canberra?

 

[ek999]

Lol @ Union taking over the Riverina.

 

[Pete Cash]

He was developed by Canberra that's the point. The raiders are quite good at talent identification. Now Milford would have eventually been picked up by one of the Queensland teams if the raiders weren't so aggressive in the area of junior development but the nrl needs to recognise the raiders importance in southern nsw as far as other sports go. Developmental concessions are only fair. I understand clubs like the roosters have a junior catchment area the size of a stamp but they also have access to tpas that the raiders don't so it balances out. Also they could be more aggressive with talent identification.

 

[RWB]

Technically he was as the Broncos passed on him and we picked him up at a young age.

I think even if we had jnr concessions it would not have mattered as he wanted to return home but who knows. It may have made a difference.

As for the Roosters fan RWB who said for Don give them the word?

Your team barley produces their own juniors now little alone moving into regions like the Riverina where you'd have to take on Union and AFL who would take over quicker than any NRL club who tried to start up in Canberra's place.

And Parramatta are one of the clubs that do develop juniors as well along with Penrith etc so that argument serves no purpose.

I wasn't purely speaking about the Roosters, I was speaking in general about all clubs loving the chance to invest in an area like the Riverina. The Roosters have invested in Redcliffe & Ipswich successfully in the past, they're one of many clubs who would jump at the opportunity I'm sure.

This theory that the Roosters have no interest in developing talent is also a myth. Kids who have come through the junior system & still at the club include; Minichiello, RTS, SKD, Pearce, Friend, Cordner, Aubusson, FPN, Evans, Napa, L'estrange off the top of my head.

You're kidding yourself if you think there's NRL clubs out there who actually have no interest in developing talent through their junior systems.

 

[Pete Cash]

If that's the case why doesn't the nrl reward that.

 

[nick87]

where in Queensland do i find Canberra?

Right next to Kempsey


Being serious for a moment, this is 2014, not 1974. Juniors are developed in a different way than they were before. We signed Milford to our development system when he was 13 years old, he's been contracted to our club from the age of 13, through to now as the best 20 year old product in the code.

If he's anyone's junior, he's ours. You dont get them younger than 13. He is who is he is because of a) the hard work and talent of Anthony Milford himself and b) the hardwork and dedication by the Canberra Raiders to him

if you want to call him something else, go ahead, no one can stop you. But by any objective measure and 99% of objective people will tell you he's our junior. If you want to be pedantic, he's a Raiders junior, not a Canberra junior.

 

[nick87]

Lol @ Union taking over the Riverina.

Union will take their fair share, as they always have. The major concern is the AFL, and Soccer.
Underestimate those foes at your own peril. ARLC certainly are underestimating them, so you wont be alone there.

 

[morley101]

16 is now the youngest you can recruit.

 

[ek999]

Union will take their fair share, as they always have. The major concern is the AFL, and Soccer.
Underestimate those foes at your own peril. ARLC certainly are underestimating them, so you wont be alone there.

No doubt AFL is and always will be a worry. The two sports have always been split 50/50 in the Riverina with the southern area towards Albury being more AFL and further north being Rugby League and Wagga split right down the middle. If Rugby League development dwindles than they will pick up the slack pretty quickly. Soccer is less of a worry and is always the second sport for juniors who will generally stop playing once they become teenagers. Union though is the 4th choice junior sport but seniors are probably stronger than soccer

 

[Crazy Steve]

Ridiculous point.

We develop juniors.
Other teams poach them.

We buy players to complement our juniors.

We are NOT one of the 'buy players and not develop juniors' type of clubs as the OP mentioned. That is absolutely absurd to suggest ..

You mean like Daniel Tupou, who was told by the Eels that he wasn't good enough to play first grade, so the Roosters gave him a shot and he has become a star. Now you want to claim that we poached him from you.........

The same thing happened back in 2000 when Jayson Cayless was told by the Eels that he wasn't good enough for first grade, we picked him up and he became one of the props in the game.

It's not our fault that Parramatta management are unable to determine who is good and who is not....

 

[Captain Apollo]

Ridiculous point.

We develop juniors.
Other teams poach them.

We buy players to complement our juniors.

We are NOT one of the 'buy players and not develop juniors' type of clubs as the OP mentioned. That is absolutely absurd to suggest ..

The Eels have had problems for decades at keeping the right players that they've developed. I mean have a look at players running around at other NRL clubs who are Eels Junior who were unwanted by Parramatta. How many of those types of players were amongst the 2 teams in the 2013 NRL Grand Final?

Crazy Steve mentions Jason Cayless. He was told point blank he would never get a run in front of his brother nor of Michael Vella. He signed with the Ro9osters as he wanted to be a starter. Daniel Tupou was an Eels junior who was told he was not good enough to make first grade.

Hell, both the Adamason brothers went to Penrith from Merrylands as they were told they were not up to first grade standard by the Parramatta development staff.

 

[ek999]

Hodkinson, Gallen, T-Rex are another 3 let go by Parra

 

[Canard]

And what will be the justification for pokie leagues clubs if they cut jnr sport out f their scope? Reality is this jnr development isn't coming from the NRL grant/club in majority of cases, it is coming from the leagues clubs.

Also last time I checked Canberra were paying full cap and cutting jnr spending doesn't increase salary cap level so how is he going to sign more established stars?

Luckily PR, a couple of people's opinion on LU aren't going to influence club's junior's policy.

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

Daniel Tupou wasn't seen as good enough for their 20's team lol they were happy to steal Cheyse Blair from us though. How'd that work out? :lol:

 

[ElectricEelMan]

The Eels biggest problem in the past 5-10 years (apart from hiring three horrible coaches in Hagan, Kearney and Stuart) has been their player evaluation and retention. Some of the juniors they let go were/are mind-boggling. Hopefully it all has been fixed now.