NRL boss Dave Smith embarks on quest of massive reforms

[CC_Roosters]

No no no no noooo. This is absolute rubbish. No player should be told where to play, especially not 18-year-olds, having to leave their family and hometown, even if the local club would love to sign them. What the hell are these idiots smoking? Turning young, passionate players into bloody mercenaries. Typical "growth beyond all else" approach.

Funnily enough this is the part that does not bother me. The non proathletes in the population i.e 99.5% of us have to make career decisions at 16 and 18 which may involve leaving home or going interstate/overseas. An 18 year old is not a baby and if his career of choice is professional rugby league then you take what you are given and get paid handsomely for it

 

[shiznit]

The only way this will work is if the NRL centrally control the U20's.

Otherwise there's no incentive for clubs to fund the U20s team if they can only keep the top 5.

The NRL will also need to pump a heap of money in to NZRZL junior development... As I know the Warriors fund the whole u16 and u18 competitions in Auckland.

 

[CC_Roosters]

I'm not totally against the idea but i just don't think it can be made to work without alienating vast swathes of fans, in the name of evening out the playing field which looking a the ladder is pretty even year on year.

 

[shiznit]

Few major issues with a draft.

Who funds junior development?

How can you tell an 18 or 20 year old to move to new zealand or melbourne for a pretty average salary (often under 80k if not in top 25) that is quite dependent on whether or not he can even handle FG.

The comp is already crazily even.

Tanking.

Its awesome seeing players like Brooks and Moses (for me) come up through the ranks and play FG.




Personally i dont really agree with it. It could potentially work if they really tweaked it considerably for RL. They cant just take the NBA system and put it in, it would not work whatsoever.

Actually I think you'll find it will go the other way around...

The Warriors would almost certainly just pick the best 5 kids.

However, forcing a young kid from NZ to move to Australia could be an issue... The U20s have been a huge success for RL in enticing young RU stars in NZ to jump to RL... But you could find that if some kids miss out on the Warriors top 5 they might just switch back to RU.

People seem to forget one big thing that makes the NRL different to the NFL, NBA & AFL... Those competitions don't have to fight off another sport to keep there athletes like the NRL does.

 

[butchmcdick]

How about before everyone gets all uppity we actually see a) if the story is true and b) what's actually being proposed

For mine the bit I hope is correct is the restructuring of club boards

Time to get rid of the jobs for the boys/dysfunctional f**ks who are running clubs into the ground

 

[Big Sam]

No wonder Richo's in favour of the draft when he lets local talent like Mansour go...

 

[CC_Roosters]

How about before everyone gets all uppity we actually see a) if the story is true and b) what's actually being proposed

For mine the bit I hope is correct is the restructuring of club boards

Time to get rid of the jobs for the boys/dysfunctional f**ks who are running clubs into the ground

The SMH is running with the NYC being scrapped and replaced by state based underage competitions. Both major publications have something on pathways today so change is coming, whether its a rookie draft or not we will see.

 

[Noa]

Obviously if they did introduce a draft nrl teams would cease to be directly involved with youth teams

 

[bobmar28]

It seems a rookie draft works in other codes, why not NRL?

 

[Edwahu]

This must be the junior development incentives the NRL promised the Raiders they would introduce :sarcasm:

I'm still not sure why clubs who invest nothing in junior development deserve equal access to juniors? If the NRL is now going to cover those costs then I hope they realize what it will cost them.

 

[Sunshine Coast Tiger]

How what a draft help a struggling side like the Tigers? The Tigers problem is not developing good juniors and a draft that would let other clubs get some of our junior players (as there is a lot more than 5 juniors the Tigers would want to keep most years) is not going to help out club one bit.

 

[thorson1987]

It seems a rookie draft works in other codes, why not NRL?

Because other codes don't have the same junior systems as the NRL.

 

[betcats]

f**k a draft.

 

[Kiwi]

The only way I would agree with a draft is if it wasn't forced on players coming through the ranks of clubs. For example Jayden Nikorima at the Broncos, coming through the ranks if he wants to stay at the Broncos then fine he doesn't get drafted so to speak and can re sign with them, if he chooses to test his worth on the open market then he goes into the draft. If clubs that spend a lot of money and time in developing their own juniors like the Broncos, Cowboys, Souths, Tigers, Dragons, Raiders, Knights and Panthers get nothing but seeing those players then have to go into the draft then they won't poor as much into it.

 

[southwalesrabbitoh]

No to a draft, as Gallop said, want to see local juniors play for their local teams if possible. Draft is just there for the yobbish element. Don't want to see them trying to get on TV, hearing them shout, probably obscenities...

 

[BuffaloRules]

People seem to forget one big thing that makes the NRL different to the NFL, NBA & AFL... Those competitions don't have to fight off another sport to keep there athletes like the NRL does.

There are a lot of good points made in this thread why a draft will struggle in the NRL, but I think this one is the strongest.

Superstar kid from West Sydney gets drafted by some club thousands of KMs away from family. Quickly tells agent to get on the phone to Yawnion .

Plays Yawnion for a couple of years, and then hopefully decides to return to the NRL club of his choice, or just stays there.

 

[cleary89]

It seems a rookie draft works in other codes, why not NRL?

Because kid's wont want to move to have a chance to earn their dream and it's like slavery... if you read this thread lol.

 

[cleary89]

Because other codes don't have the same junior systems as the NRL.

And what about if the NRL funds juniors?

 

[Lockyer4President!]

There are a lot of good points made in this thread why a draft will struggle in the NRL, but I think this one is the strongest.

Superstar kid from West Sydney gets drafted by some club thousands of KMs away from family. Quickly tells agent to get on the phone to Yawnion .

Plays Yawnion for a couple of years, and then hopefully decides to return to the NRL club of his choice, or just stays there.

Over half the comp is based in Sydney though, more than likely he'll stay in the same city.

Not to mention that most juniors outside of Sydney already travel hundreds or thousands of kms to get a start.

The NRL has been doing this pathways review for over a year, least we can do is wait and see what the proposal is before we start trashing it mate.

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

My concern is that the NRL won't have the funds to match what the teams combined put into junior development. Cuts will have to be made there, and if that happens, how many kids slip through the cracks?

Union like to trumpet the occasional high profile signing, but what doesn't get mentioned is the amount of youngsters we sway to league from Union at an early age. I don't want to see that change.

Never been a big fan if the draft, but winks like to see a full proposal before condemning it.

Personally I'd be a little more concerned about losing the NYC without thought to what will replace it, especially in NZ. It's more than just the Warriors who benefit from NZ, and so many of these players get poached from Union and put into teams U20's side. We simply can't afford to reduce the amount of pathways from NZ to the NRL.