New Zealand 2 will deal a massive blow to NZ rugby

[BuffaloRules]

Otago Whalers … good name!

 

[Wb1234]

40%
Holy crap!

Rugby league juniors in nz are collapsing

I swear they are

I live in nz trust me !

 

[warriors 95]

Yeah that’s who I was thinking of, it was either a podcast with Matthew Ridge or Graeme Lowe where the spoke about some of the names, think it was Zinny that even signed a contract before backing out.

I remember seeing it on a documentary style programme which followed Matthew ridge singing for Manly back in the early 90's.

It had John kirwan basically shadowing Ridge for his 1st season in league playing for Manly and the Kiwis.

 

[Wb1234]

Ridge was a quality league player

Halligan was decent but his goal kicking at a time when 60 percent was the norm was the difference

Except for the missed goals when he was playing in the final vs Penrith and they lost due to them

 

[Matiunz]

Ridge was a quality league player

Halligan was decent but his goal kicking at a time when 60 percent was the norm was the difference

Except for the missed goals when he was playing in the final vs Penrith and they lost due to them

Yeah Halligan played way more games than he realistically should have due to goal kicking, was the days where you could get away with ‘hiding’ someone on the wing. Defensively he was ok but wasn’t anything other than serviceable on the wing.

 

[warriors 95]

Ridge was a quality league player

Halligan was decent but his goal kicking at a time when 60 percent was the norm was the difference

Except for the missed goals when he was playing in the final vs Penrith and they lost due to them

He was a great defensive fullback from that era but the style of the game changed dramatically towards the end of the 90's with the introduction of more attacking fullbacks with the likes of the Paul bros and Ritchie barnett etc for the Kiwis alone.

 

[Matiunz]

Rugby league juniors in nz are collapsing

I swear they are

I live in nz trust me !

To be fair the big argument was league was struggling at grass roots in the regions and needed strong admin and systems to turn it around, many regions had very little if any of a league scene. Even the articles posted state that some of these completions and tournaments didn’t exist a couple of years ago, the Otago one stated no junior comps the year prior and no teams south of Rotorua competing at the high level.
Fantastic to see some solid inroads being made, particularly in places like Otago which hasn’t traditionally seen much league but would add another partner to a SI bid. It’s all good to have participants but will need solid systems to develop those players to a better quality than they have previously been, the lower north island still remains an under utilised region which would be great to see some briars made there too

 

[Matiunz]

He was a great defensive fullback from that era but the style of the game changed dramatically towards the end of the 90's with the introduction of more attacking fullbacks with the likes of the Paul bros and Ritchie barnett etc for the Kiwis alone.

Ah the Paul bros- speaking of ones that got away from the Warriors, letting them go was a tragedy, especially as we got ‘payday’ players like Betts and Platt in return…

 

[warriors 95]

Ah the Paul bros- speaking of ones that got away from the Warriors, letting them go was a tragedy, especially as we got ‘payday’ players like Betts and Platt in return…

Think that was just for Henry and not Robbie.

Wigan definitely got the best part of that deal.

 

[Wb1234]

To be fair the big argument was league was struggling at grass roots in the regions and needed strong admin and systems to turn it around, many regions had very little if any of a league scene. Even the articles posted state that some of these completions and tournaments didn’t exist a couple of years ago, the Otago one stated no junior comps the year prior and no teams south of Rotorua competing at the high level.
Fantastic to see some solid inroads being made, particularly in places like Otago which hasn’t traditionally seen much league but would add another partner to a SI bid. It’s all good to have participants but will need solid systems to develop those players to a better quality than they have previously been, the lower north island still remains an under utilised region which would be great to see some briars made there too

Warriors doing one pilot program leads to 40 percent more juniors in Otago shows the potential

I genuinely don’t think getting kids to play league is the issue if they have another nrl team and Aussie scouts spend more time in nz etc

 

[warriors 95]

Warriors doing one pilot program leads to 40 percent more juniors in Otago shows the potential

I genuinely don’t think getting kids to play league is the issue if they have another nrl team and Aussie scouts spend more time in nz etc

I'm mean seriously how hard is it for the NRL to figure out that putting south island teams into the SG ball and Jersey flegg competitions will benefit the game immensely in both NZ and Australia irrespective of the south island getting a NRL team or not.

 

[Wb1234]

I'm mean seriously how hard is it for the NRL to figure out that putting south island teams into the SG ball and Jersey flegg competitions will benefit the game immensely in both NZ and Australia irrespective of the south island getting a NRL team or not.

Wellington too

 

[warriors 95]

Wellington too

Maybe 20 years down the line as south island takes priority

 

[Dark Corner]

I remember seeing it on a documentary style programme which followed Matthew ridge singing for Manly back in the early 90's.

It had John kirwan basically shadowing Ridge for his 1st season in league playing for Manly and the Kiwis.

Yeah saw that kast year on YouTube.....good little piece.

 

[warriors 95]

Yeah saw that kast year on YouTube.....good little piece.

Ah, cool.

What's it called as I'd love to watch it again?

 

[Dark Corner]

Ah, cool.

What's it called as I'd love to watch it again?

 

[warriors 95]

That's it.

Cheers mate

 

[Dark Corner]

That's it.

Cheers mate

Have you seen the British documentary Up and Under from the early 90's.

 

[warriors 95]

Have you seen the British documentary Up and Under from the early 90's.

The one that follows Wigan RL and orrell RU clubs?

 

[AdelaideSharky]

Did they opt for John timu instead?

Yep, Timu played in the centres for the Dogs win over Manly in the 1995 Grand Final.