Not sure you are understanding my posts.
My point is not about the ones I have named in the teams it is about the ones I haven’t named in the teams
You can only name more young players if you have spots but they appear to be filled with older players who are not of first grade quality
Tell me what Maranta, Runciman, Nicholls, Allgood really give you?
While ever they hold down spots where do the emerging players play?
The club has an older is better mentality.
Lomax in 1st grade with Aitken in ISP and Runciman not signed and replaced by a an up and comer sounds much better to me but you won’t get that.
I do understand your point but you cant back it up with names.
Better still who have you not named in the 2 grades that should be?, remembering the 4 blokes you mentioned above contracts expire this year and Runciman is not guaranteed of a ISP spot. The club has to be looking at getting ready for 2020 and beyond as well.
Why sign these blokes?. You need some experience in ISP and perceived older heads.
We are going round in circles, you cant have all development youth in ISP and we will have a few anyway.
The blokes bought up from Under 20's are not necessarily gunna make it or a ready for next year, they are the best of the bunch that have been earmarked to potentially progress and likely best handle the big boys. They are training with ISP to see how they go.
They will bide their time playing against men in Coal League or then ISP if good enough.
The whole problem to your argument is Jersey Flegg in 90% of cases should not be the undercard or pathway to ISP, they are too young (not all but most of them) to handle and rub shoulders with men even at ISP level. That is the point your missing and explains why you need experienced plodders around the 1st or lower grades.
The ones that can handle it in our club are already in our Top 29 or will play ISP even at 18-20 yrs of age because they have something special.
I see kids get spat back to CRL or park level constantly cause they could not make it or not ready. Tom Angel has come back to his junior club as an example as turning 20 but not wanted for ISP as a good sized forward but obviously not got enough to progress yet..and now...may never will. His chance may be gone but if he could of stayed in the system in a lower grade till he was least 22/23 to develop and finish growing things could of been different. He may of not been good enough or never made it but likely now will never find out.
The pathways created and endorsed by the NRL are crap, are the reason so many are lost to the game and parents and was bought in for TV and the high paying sponsors / corporates so people could watch the exciting youth and speed then go on to watch the best. No one at NRL or their predecessors will admit to that mistake made so they just fluff it up a bit, change it round slightly, shoving it out of sight to make it look like they have done something, but the old 3 grade age system worked for a reason.
Money has dictated all that we have now not the sport itself.
