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Rugby Australia to target top NRL talent

Captain Apollo

Captain Apollo

Coach
Messages
15,416
The Great Dane said:
Nothing is stopping the Roosters or any other club from expanding their juniors operations, and suggesting juniors concessions would be inequitable is just nonsense, especially when considering the inequity in corporate sponsorship and third parties deals which most clubs have very little power to change.

Frankly the whole cap is archaic and broken, and has desperately needed a significant update for a long time now.
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LOL. Yeah right. If the Roosters started funding juniors down Canbearra way, I bet the Raiders would be the first ones to complain.
 
The Great Dane

The Great Dane

First Grade
Messages
7,957
gerg said:
I think it's happening slowly in Canberra and NZ. NRL crowds and viewers seem to be increasing over the past few years and Union heading in the other direction. It's hard to break it down further but the NRL seems to have got their shit together - with back office and on the field product - while again Union seems to be tracking the other way, particularly in Australia.
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Correlation doesn't equal causation.

Genuine RU supporters in Canberra aren't switching to RL now anymore than RL fans were switching to RU back in 00s when RU was thriving and the Raiders were struggling. That support will start to resurface again if/when RU sorts through some of it's issues.

Community RU is still strong in Canberra anyway, so it isn't that bad off, there's just a disconnect between the support base and the professional tier and ARU. That disconnect exists for very good reason mind you.
gerg said:
I agree that it's not great for ACT sport if Brumbies fold or were removed from the Super (whatever its called) comp. But Barr isn't budging. We have NRL, NRLW, Brumbies and a W-League side and talk of an A-League side and he still refuses to go with a city stadium. Because he knows how successful that would be. The bitter merkin is so up to his neck in the AFL that he's putting his own preferences ahead of the community he is supposed to represent.
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It's not just the stadium, the Brumbies folding would be more than enough to justify cutting funding for all sorts of grassroots, juniors, rectangular infrastructure, school programs, etc, that RU shares.

That would be a disaster not just for the Raiders but RL in the ACT and Southern NSW region more generally.
gerg said:
If Brumbies folded I think Vikings would try to step up their presence. Very powerful club. Rugby in ACT was fairly strong before the Brumbies and would survive, but it most definitely would be hurt. Rugby Australia would be absolute morons of the highest order to cut the Brumbies.
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The Vikings have been blocked from buying into the Brumbies multiple times and I see little reason why that wouldn't be the case again. I doubt that the ARU would cut the Brumbies either, however they've proved time and time again just what out of touch morons they are, and many of the people whom run in those circles never wanted the Brumbies to exist in the first place and have attempted to murder them before, so I wouldn't put it completely beyond them.
 
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The Great Dane

The Great Dane

First Grade
Messages
7,957
Captain Apollo said:
LOL. Yeah right. If the Roosters started funding juniors down Canbearra way, I bet the Raiders would be the first ones to complain.
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They'd probably kiss Uncle Nick's feet if the Roosters created local professional pathways and genuinely took some of the burden of funding and administering grassroots RL in Southern NSW off their shoulders, and you're seriously out of touch as to just how bad things have got in the Bush if you think otherwise.

There's plenty of other areas in NSW and the rest of the country that're almost completely ignored by the NRL anyway, and there's nothing stopping the Roosters from investing into the sport in any one of them.
 
Perth Red

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
69,542
The Great Dane said:
There's plenty of other areas in NSW and the rest of the country that're almost completely ignored by the NRL anyway, and there's nothing stopping the Roosters from investing into the sport in any one of them.
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Many clubs already are. Raiders have a pathways link up with Perth, Redcliffe with PNG, Roosters with CC, Storm with sunshine coast, Bulldogs with Christchurch, Manly NZ etc. The days of clubs being confined to pathways in their own back yard are long gone.
 
Matua

Matua

First Grade
Messages
5,112
SpaceMonkey said:
Been like that in NZ for a long time. Piri Weepu, Ma’a Nonu, Tana Umaga and Jerry Collins openly followed league and likely would’ve switched for the right opportunities. Worth noting that they’re Wellington boys too, so it’s not just an Auckland thing
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Pretty much every single rugby player I know (from school/low grade club through to NPC/Super to a couple of ABs) follows/ed league (as I keep telling Gob and his mate). But I think the right opportunities is pretty wide within your comment. Piri grew up a league diehard and turned down a few opportunities to switch. I was always disappointed he didn't switch at some stage.
 
Iamback

Iamback

Referee
Messages
20,296
Perth Red said:
Maybe with the clubs now getting $5mill over cap the NRL should be dictating how much they spend on jnr pathways? Maybe every club has to spend $2mill a year on U17's, U20's and reserve grade feeder club arrangements? That way clubs can stop whinging about 'poaching' in the knowledge they are all investing the same.
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They spend easy as it is. Teams know they can't get ahead otherwise
 
Captain Apollo

Captain Apollo

Coach
Messages
15,416
The Great Dane said:
They'd probably kiss Uncle Nick's feet if the Roosters created local professional pathways and genuinely took some of the burden of funding and administering grassroots RL in Southern NSW off their shoulders, and you're seriously out of touch as to just how bad things have got in the Bush if you think otherwise.

There's plenty of other areas in NSW and the rest of the country that're almost completely ignored by the NRL anyway, and there's nothing stopping the Roosters from investing into the sport in any one of them.
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I used that as an example. Also, I doubt if they would if a good player was devloped and the Roosters then signed them.

IN all seriousness, the club is pouring funding into the Cemtral Coast. Has been for a few years now.
 
G

Gobsmacked

Bench
Messages
3,124
Perth Red said:
Maybe with the clubs now getting $5mill over cap the NRL should be dictating how much they spend on jnr pathways? Maybe every club has to spend $2mill a year on U17's, U20's and reserve grade feeder club arrangements? That way clubs can stop whinging about 'poaching' in the knowledge they are all investing the same.
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I kinda agree with this. If the NRL are serious about developing talent, why don't we cast it in stone ?
 
W

wain

Juniors
Messages
369
Gobsmacked said:
The only concern is if players leave league in order to return under an exemption but I'm sure they will mitigate that some way
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agreed.
my thought, it should be something as simple as 'any player who has not played RL in QLD/NSW/NZ or ENG over the age of 18...or something similar.

That way it's not just union players, but all athletes globally. It also allows clubs to take a bit of a risk on unearthing existing RL talent from France, PNG, even affiliate states. But I think it must exclude NZ or England, otherwise it will be abused to just pilfer those places, and have a detrimental effect on Super League.
 
The Great Dane

The Great Dane

First Grade
Messages
7,957
Captain Apollo said:
I used that as an example. Also, I doubt if they would if a good player was devloped and the Roosters then signed them.

IN all seriousness, the club is pouring funding into the Cemtral Coast. Has been for a few years now.
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I never suggested that the Raiders would be happy if the Roosters came in and poached talent the Raiders had developed, or strip mined the joint of whole age groups and relocated them to Sydney. None of that would be in anybody's interest either.
 
G

gerg

Juniors
Messages
2,487
wain said:
agreed.
my thought, it should be something as simple as 'any player who has not played RL in QLD/NSW/NZ or ENG over the age of 18...or something similar.

That way it's not just union players, but all athletes globally. It also allows clubs to take a bit of a risk on unearthing existing RL talent from France, PNG, even affiliate states. But I think it must exclude NZ or England, otherwise it will be abused to just pilfer those places, and have a detrimental effect on Super League.
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But that wouldn't allow the Roosters to buy Suaalii back in 4 years time. I don't want Apollo to get all uppity but that is what this proposal looks like.
 
jim_57

jim_57

Moderator
Staff member
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