I saw that, we have very good depth in lower grades compared to other clubs .
All goes well for another successful season.
This is the result of a deliberate strategy. We move guys up a grade to see how they go and then drop them back down again when they get tired. We have done this even when it means we damage our chances of winning junior trophies.
By the time a player gets to NSW cup, a 16 year old will have had experience playing in the grades above them for the last three or four years and when we debut them in first grade they are ready for the fact there is a jump in quality. They will already know the need to train hard if they want to cope because they have seen what the grades above them are like all through their junior development. It's a good way of keeping the junior stars ego in check too. Do this enough times and you have a number of players with first grade experience sitting in NSW cup waiting for their chance.
I haven't seen this done so well since the Broncos did it under Bennett. He used SOO to debut so many players and they were always ready to play. The SOO period was like finishing school for the junior players who were used to cover the wholesale loss of players into the QLD squad. The "Baby Broncos" always gave a good account of themselves and a few seasons later you could guarantee some of them would be rep players.
Even if we are going well and have no injuries, we should continue to use this process to keep the supply line of juniors flowing. That may mean dropping somebody from the bench who is a seasoned first grader and who is playing well, but you have to give juniors experience. It has the added benefit of getting some miles in the legs of the bench players too.
Every so often this process throws up somebody like Crichton who didn't need to be dropped to reggies for a rest. He was good to go from the get go. It doesn't happen that often, but it's nice when it does.
