QRL moots a better comp
Steve Zemek | 18th March 2011
THE Toyota Cup should be axed as early as 2013 to make way for rejuvenated Queensland and NSW Cup competitions, according to Queensland Rugby League boss.
The Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles and other Queensland Cup clubs could benefit from the TV coverage that a revised competition might bring.
THE Toyota Cup should be axed as early as 2013 to make way for rejuvenated Queensland and NSW Cup competitions, according to Queensland Rugby League boss Ross Livermore.
On the eve of tomorrow's 2011 Queensland Cup kick-off, Livermore told the Daily a majority of NRL clubs now viewed the national under-20s competition as sub par.
He proposed the NSW and Queensland Cups be reformatted to become the national second-tier competitions, with a final to be played as a curtain-raiser to the NRL grand final.
The call comes on the back of a QRL-commissioned report, completed by former Sydney Roosters chief executive Brian Canavan, which found 80% of NRL clubs would prefer to use the Queensland and NSW Cups as pathways for their young players.
Under Livermore's proposal the statewide competition would also include under-20, under-18 and under-16 divisions, and the current FOGS Cup teams would be absorbed into local leagues.
Livermore said he hoped the revamped competition could get off the ground by 2013 to coincide with the new NRL TV-rights deal.
Should the plan succeed, the two competitions could potentially receive live national television coverage similar to what the Toyota Cup enjoys now. If so it could prove a boon for Queensland Cup sides such as the Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles.
We did a report on the under-20s and it very clearly said 80% of people don't think the under-20s is the best way to go, Livermore said.
We've got to take that up with the 20% that thinks it is.
Though I was a bit buoyed on it when the other day at an NRL meeting, one of the directors from down there said the clubs that were supporting (the Toyota Cup) had dropped off.
Hopefully, come the end of 2012 we can have a competition up and running where you've got Intrust Super (Queensland) and NSW Cups and under that your under-20s, and under that your 18s and 16s. The clubs playing FOGS A-grade would go back and become a Brisbane Rugby League competition.
Livermore said many NRL clubs had soured on the Toyota Cup because they believed it did not properly prepare players for the rigours of first-grade NRL.
He cited the poor defensive standards of the National Youth Competition and echoed the sentiments of master coach Wayne Bennett, who said young players should be sent to the Toyota Cup for a maximum of one year before being moved up to statewide league.
If the players are good enough they should be playing against men rather than boys anyway, Livermore said.
