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Parramatta Eels Centre of Excellence Build

Chipmunk

Coach
Messages
16,310
My opinion is we should completely abandon that.
We breed kids like Dylan Brown....Hoping these kids will be loyal is not smart. If they are heaps talented they are going where ever their agent gets the biggest initial contract. Parra has wasted its time with this stuff for 40 years. We should cherry pick the best 16/17 year olds we can get from where ever.
I'd rather we become like the Roosters and Storm.

There is merit in this theory. it appears on the surface, far more successful than what 'development' clubs are doing.
 

Obscene Assassin

First Grade
Messages
6,085
My opinion is we should completely abandon that.
We breed kids like Dylan Brown....Hoping these kids will be loyal is not smart. If they are heaps talented they are going where ever their agent gets the biggest initial contract. Parra has wasted its time with this stuff for 40 years. We should cherry pick the best 16/17 year olds we can get from where ever.
I'd rather we become like the Roosters and Storm.

Dylan Brown is from NZ. We signed him, basically, as a 16 year old.
 

Joshuatheeel

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
19,608
We should cherry pick the best 16/17 year olds we can get from where ever.
I'd rather we become like the Roosters and Storm.

Well aren’t we already doing that?

Drown, recruited from NZ
Mahoney, recruited from the dogs
Salmon, recruited from Sharks
Schneider, recruited from Knights

These players have all played 20’s and are some of our most promising rookies.

And there is probably few others in the 20’s / 18’s recruited outside the area - such as the Fijian winger / qld half back I think (others would know more then me)
 

forward pass

Coach
Messages
10,205
The other significant announcement is that the new Kellyville Sports club being built near the station will be run be the Eels. Good to know where my money will be going.
 

jk13

First Grade
Messages
6,150
Sounds fantastic, but I agree that all this does is set up a sales yard for merkins like roosters. Loyalty will dwindle as the new generation need cash to survive. I hope it works.
 

Obscene Assassin

First Grade
Messages
6,085
Lol why is everyone so focused on the juniors about this? This facility is for the entire footballing organisation. From the 14's development and their staff to first grade and their staff. Including the women's teams in the Tarsha Gale and eventual WNRL team. All the way to the board of the PNRL.

Plus the 3 juniors we've "lost" have gone to the dogs, manly and roosters. It didn't matter when we were training at Richie Benaud Oval or Parramatta Marist for the juniors, teams were still looking to poach players from our districts. But this doesn't mean we haven't done the same, we've got players from; Cronulla, Bathurst, Innisfail, Wauchope, Manly, Central Coast, Nambucca, Fiji (1 via England), NZ. Every club does it but those 3 represent a small percentage of "juniors" that we'll lose to other clubs, in a few years I expect a lot more to be at other clubs, not because of the CoE but because we have wave after wave of strong juniors coming through.
 

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