Agree with you about needing to play reserve grade or 2nd tier to get used to the grind as opposed to just playing against your own age group. That's why I also said in my post there are mtigating circumstances with a lack of 2nd tier football. I think George Dragon also previously pointed out the player has also been hampered by injuries which is another mitigating circumstance for not having developed or played 1st grade.
Let's just hope the young guys us supporters are hanging our hats on to drive us forward turn out to be as good as we hope or think they are. Sloan, Amone and Sullivan have shown alot of promise in the little game time that they have had. If we can also get 2 or 3 young forwards to also come through, that's half a team and you can build from there, especially as they are all roughly the same age and with many years in front of them.
It's what the Panthers have been able to do and they have a team for the next 5 to 10 years, baring injuries and the salary cap squeezing them out. Having success also drives other good players to want to come to your club. They can pick and choose which players they want to buy to supplement any gaps from their own nursery and not play moneyball, pay overs or be a retirement village like some of the bottom teams.