NSW Clubs forced out of QLD Cup

[skeepe]

I don't think it's 'just fine' at all. Common sense tells you that a NRL club should foster the game in their own district. Go and tell the local Canberra junior league if this arrangeemnt is 'just fine'. Can you imagine if every club did what the Raiders did? Can you imagine the outcry if the Broncos had a Sydney-based feeder team.

If Canberra want to help the game in Queensland instead of NSW and don't want to be in the NSW Cup then the NSWRL should also kick them out of the SG Ball and Harold Matthews junior rep comps and tell them to send those teams to the Queensland junior rep comps as well and you watch the Raiders change their tune.

Canberra can't pick and choose what suits them, and that's what the NSWRL is telling them.

Can someone explain to me how taking players from the local district and sending them to play in a much stronger competition is not "fostering the game in their own district"?

The only thing that changes is where they play, the players in the local area that have talent are still getting the exact same chance.

 

[Timmah]

If the NSWRL wanted to improve they could try and actually make their own competition more legitimate.

Don't you that's exactly what they're trying to achieve with this movement?

Quite apart from the fact that both clubs already have enough feeder teams, it's not that simple.

The leagues club is owned by the Raiders, for example.

This has also been more than a 2 year deal like some are making out. The Raiders/Souths connection goes right back to the days of Mal Meninga. Why should they terminate what has been such a mutually beneficial arrangement for such a long time simply because the NSWRL don't know how to run a strong regional competition?

Make no mistake, demanding that the Raiders cut ties with Souths Logan is exactly the same as walking into Souths Logan and demanding that they be shut down.


Unfortunately, something being regarded as "common sense" by some doesn't mean that the bills are automatically paid. The Raiders have stated several times that they cannot afford to run a club in the NSW Cup.

The juniors from the local area are already well looked after by the Raiders, with a reasonably strong ACT competition and, when they're good enough, they're able to go on and play in a strong over-age competition with a great history in the shape of the Queensland Cup.

It's not a one-way street though, the Raiders do benefit by having access to the Souths Logan juniors, and obviously they would like to keep that association going.

More to the point though, Don Furner has consistently told the NSWRL that if they can provide the Raiders with a viable alternative, then they'll strongly consider it. The fact is that the NSWRL are simply telling Canberra not to link up with Souths Logan, without providing any alternative arrangement whatsoever.

If they are permitted to enforce this ban, the NSW Cup will NOT be getting any stronger - the ACT's Canberra Raiders Cup will instead.

I'm sure there's a negative aspect to this but I can't see with over a years notice how Souths Logan can't at least try to find a viable alternative.

The fact the arrangement started in the first place is just odd, having NSW & ACT players ending up in QLD and ultimately playing Origin for a state they weren't bought up in because their first grade club didn't have the foresight to set up a local feeder team in the state comp.

 

[Stagger eel]

sounds like the swifty the Sharks tried

yep..

 

[skeepe]

Don't you that's exactly what they're trying to achieve with this movement?

I'm sure there's a negative aspect to this but I can't see with over a years notice how Souths Logan can't at least try to find a viable alternative.

The fact the arrangement started in the first place is just odd, having NSW & ACT players ending up in QLD and ultimately playing Origin for a state they weren't bought up in because their first grade club didn't have the foresight to set up a local feeder team in the state comp.

They did have that feeder team - it was called Reserve Grade.

With that being killed off for the Under 20's, it was inevitable that the Raiders would use their existing links rather than try to forge another.

Oh and I don't think you can dismiss the death of a club as a "negative aspect". It's a pretty important point.

Even with the Raiders support, they are in severe danger of going under THIS season - in fact, if they don't find another $30,000 in funding by the end of March, I think this point may well be moot.

There are no two ways about this. Supporting this move is supporting the death of a grassroots club.

 

[Big Pete]

No, I don't think that's what they're doing Tim.

I think they're just trying to bust an QRL club without taking care of their own s**t.

At the very moment. The NSW Cup is a black hole, there's no point in investing in it.

 

[gronkathon]

Canberra can still send all of their up and coming juniors to the Qld Cup under this arrangement. They just will not be able to send fringe first graders there and they will be fielded in a NSW CCup side.

The relationship can still exist with Souths Logan.

Also on the point of much stronger competition that is really up in the air. For instance last season the Balmain & SSunshine Coast (Eventual Premiers) played off without either side having NRL talent and the Balmain side destroyed them by in excess of 30 points. However in the residents game the Qld sides are generally better of late than the NSW so it really is up for debate

 

[Perth Red]

and some people want the clowns running the whole game?

What difference does it make if they play in Q'land, NSW, WA or Vic? Its just the NSWRL trying to protect their own comp. Maybe they should be asking why clubs are so keen to have their players in the QRL comp and then sort out their own 5hit!

As an alternative we would love to have the Raiders fringe players playing in Perth with a NSW cup team!

 

[skeepe]

What I really don't understand is why this rule will apply only to the Raiders.

They're not going to ban players who play in the Queensland Cup from playing in the NRL.

They ARE going to ban players who play in the Queensland Cup and are contracted to the Canberra Raiders from playing in the NRL.

Sometimes it's not paranoia, they really ARE out to get you.

 

[gronkathon]

Well a Raiders side playing in the NSW Cup under the Perth Reds flag sounds like a possible solution to me.

The other option that was being mooted recently was Western Suburbs be the feeder team although I think with Hammond gone as Chairman that may be dead in the water

 

[gronkathon]

Raiders & Manly.

 

[El Diablo]

What I really don't understand is why this rule will apply only to the Raiders.

They're not going to ban players who play in the Queensland Cup from playing in the NRL.

They ARE going to ban players who play in the Queensland Cup and are contracted to the Canberra Raiders from playing in the NRL.

Sometimes it's not paranoia, they really ARE out to get you.

nutcase

same applies to anyone who does it

 

[sooperdooper]

i agree with car... the raiders and manly are a large reason as to why the nsw cup is in shambles.

 

[Red Bear]

carrs a wanker

the qld cup will be always superior to nsw cup, despite his efforts to strengthen it

Really? Qld Cup is better organised, maybe, but i'd imagine with the NSW Cup having more NRL clubs involved with feeder sides it would be a stronger comp, having more NRL contracted players involved.

I'd hazard a guess that all most have seen of the NSW Cup is a couple of sh*t grand finals in the last couple of years, but sh*t GF =/= sh*t competition.

 

[yappy]

However in the residents game the Qld sides are generally better of late than the NSW so it really is up for debate

NSW puts token CRL and Bundy Cup players in the side each year. If we were serious we'd smoke them.

All this crap about NSW Cup being inferior just comes from people who've never seen a game in either comp. The top few Qld sides are good teams, but NSW is the stronger comp week in and week out. I only wish we could organise a combined finals series like they're now doing with the junior reps to prove the point.

 

[yappy]

The other option that was being mooted recently was Western Suburbs be the feeder team although I think with Hammond gone as Chairman that may be dead in the water

You might want to give Kevin a call and let him know he's no longer chairman.

 

[Timmah]

skeepe, Manly are in the same boat. It's just that Canberra are whinging about it.

 

[gronkathon]

You might want to give Kevin a call and let him know he's no longer chairman.

Ahh of course. I am getting confused between Wests and Wests Tigers again

 

[yappy]

ALL NSW (and ACT) based NRL clubs are in the same boat.

The problem has only come about because a few years ago the NSWRL were wimps and didn't enforce their own constitution. Now they're starting to grow a pair, better late than never.

 

[Bluebags1908]

and some people want the clowns running the whole game?

What difference does it make if they play in Q'land, NSW, WA or Vic? Its just the NSWRL trying to protect their own comp. Maybe they should be asking why clubs are so keen to have their players in the QRL comp and then sort out their own 5hit!

As an alternative we would love to have the Raiders fringe players playing in Perth with a NSW cup team!

"What difference does it make if they play in Q'land, NSW, WA or Vic?"

Are you serious? Common sense tells you an NRL club should have a feeder team that promotes their own juniors and fosters the came in their own junior district.

Can you imagine WA Reds in the NRL without using the local comp as a feeder? That might be the case to start with but as they get established they would have a WA-based feeder team. Look at the Melbourne Storm - they had feeder arrangements in Qld Cup and then Central Coast but now they have moved their NSW Cup team to Melbourne for a reason.

"Its just the NSWRL trying to protect their own comp"

If it's for the betterment of the game is NSW, then what the hell is wrong with that?

 

[danmiles73]

Does anybody else see the irony of the, after a century where the reverse has been true (and which led to the formation of State of Origin), that there is now an uproar over NSW going to Queensland to ply their trade? Just saying.