Oldest / youngest players in the NRL

[imported_justme]

Well it must be drying up then Roopy as there were only 2 from Newcastle chosen in theU17 and U19 rep sidesthis week. Also the Knights were walloped in the H Mathews by Penrith and never got past the qrtr finals in S G Ball. Both junior comps were dominated by Western Sydney teams as were the junior rep sides.

Maybe Newcastle is on the slide

 

[imported_Roopy4246]

"Well it must be drying up then Roopy as there were only 2 from Newcastle
chosen in the U17 and U19 rep sides this week. Also the Knights were
walloped in the H Mathews by Penrith and never got past the qrtr finals in S
G Ball. Both junior comps were dominated by Western Sydney teams as
were the junior rep sides.

Maybe Newcastle is on the slide"
The Harold Mathews side lost the grandfinal. They lost it badly, but still made the grandfinal. The Ball side had a shocker, only winning a few games.
Last year was our best year ever with teams making the semis in all five grades for two titles out of five (first grade and Ball).
The amount of junior talent at the club last year allowed the club administration to drop almost all players over 23 who had not made first grade from the roster. i think the only players in first div who do not qualify for Flegg are James Wynne, Josh Smith and Dan Quinn, and I think Quinn and Smith are just 23. The Flegg halves, Tyrie and Dureau, along with most of the Flegg side, could still play two grades lower in Mathews. At the end of last season the club dropped Smailes, Grainger, Petersen and Donaldson, all of whom were about 23 and had either played first grade or have gone on to play firstgrade since. All these kids were displaced by teenagers who just have more potential.
The junior ranks at Newcastle are in a critical position, we are going to have to start dropping guys in their early twenties with first grade potential every season from now on, because we have too much talent. God its tough.

 

[imported_eels fan...]

Justin Holbrook

You may want to do a little research before calling him a Novocastrian.

 

[imported_justme]

we are going to have to start dropping guys in their early twenties with first grade potential every season from now on, because we have too much talent. God its tough
Sounds more like trying to make a silk purse from a sours ear Roopy.

I think it is irrelevant that you have let go a bunch of guys around 23 or 24 from your lower grades.Turning players over is not an indication of an abundance of talent, it is more indicative of a lack thereof, iethey have no talent? If a player can't crack first grade by21 -24and is still stuck in flegg or 1st div then you can forget them. This is the same for every club.

More to the point is what do you have on the way up from 16-18. If your Ball,Mathews andFleggsides arestrugglingthen they are obviously coming up against teams of the same age group with greater talent. The extremely high representation from western sydney in both U17 and U19 as well as schoolboys seems to suggest that the majority of talent is coming from that area. I would have thoughtjust 2 places out of a possible 34 is indicativeof a lack of talent withinthat age group. It doesn't matter what grade they are playing in if they were good enough they would have been selected.

 

[imported_Roopy4246]

This is a pretty silly argument. Either 13 or 17, can't remember which, of our junior players made different rep sides last season, and all those guys are still at the club except for Bird and Franze. Brad Tighe, a promising Aboriginal 5/8, made several rep sides, while about 5 players made combined high schools, including the standout halfback Tyrie.
Franze was our only junior Kangaroo last year, which is a lot smaller number than we usually have in the junior Kangaroos.
Last year our teams featured in the junior finals, and the players were rewarded with rep jumpers. This year we haven't gone as well, but all the players are still there.
Quite frankly, if you think we haven't got the strongest juniors at the club ever, you are in for a shock.
I'd hate to be a junior rep selector. So much talent and so little to go on to sort them out.

 

[imported_justme]

Yeah, it is silly. I'm talking about the present and you keep going back to the past. Anyway, if last yearsjunior repsare still at your club but haven't been slected in this years rep teams (even the older age ones) then obviously they weren't considered good enough this year. Doesn't matter what spin you want to put on it Newcastle has basically no representation in the junior rep teams this year ergo they are not up to the standard of others.

Forget it mate, it's all irrelevant anyway, you go on believing whatever you want.