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http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/why-some-dont-love-nyc/2007/08/17/1186857781425.html
TO STEAL a line from a rival code's advertising campaign, you don't know Jay Lasscock yet.
Lasscock is a front-rower with Canberra who, in one of the game's true curiosities, is likely to relocate to Brisbane to stay with the Raiders.
Lasscock is seen as a future first-grader, but at 20 years old, is considered too young at the moment. Which means next year, after the introduction of the National Youth Competition (NYC), he is playing league limbo.
With the Raiders choosing not to field a side in the new NSWRL open-age competition next season, which will replace premier league, Lasscock will have to uproot his young family in order to play with Canberra's feeder side, Souths Logan, in the Queensland Cup.
"Every team's got them," Raiders general manager Don Furner says. "Not many forwards go straight into first grade at such a young age."
Rooster David Shillington is regarded as one of the outstanding up-and-coming props, yet he is already 24 years old, having made his first-grade debut when he was almost 22. Melbourne's Ben Cross is one of the best front-rowers in the game, yet he made his debut, for Canberra, when he was 24.
This is the crux of a groundswell of opposition to the new competition. Not so much the premise of it, but the format. Cronulla coach Ricky Stuart has been a vocal critic of the under-20 age group, believing the competition should be for under 22s. Here's why: statistics unearthed by one club official show that of 248 players to make their first-grade debuts between 2003 and 2006, just 11 of them came directly from Jersey Flegg, the code's present under-20s competition.
Others, however, don't know what all the fuss is about. Tigers coach Tim Sheens told the Herald the controversy over the new competition was "a load of crap", believing the NYC would give rugby league an advantage in the battle with rugby union and the AFL for the elite juniors.
"Where are they playing now?" Sheens said. "They're playing premier league. What are we worried about? Flegg is an under-20 competition. All we've done is upgrade the competition. We've got a great vehicle to attract young kids to our sport, because of the attractiveness of the competitions."
Sheens is one of many NRL coaches planning to play his elite under-20s talent in the new open-age competition anyway, because it will pit them with and against players with first-grade experience, and thereby give them a better grounding for the NRL.
"If I've got two 18-year-olds, I might play one in premier league, if that's the best option, to play them with older players and against older players," Sheens said. "And if they're good enough, they'll play first grade. This crap, 'What about the late developers?' we haven't taken premier league out of the competition."
Sort of. The Bulldogs, Manly and Western Suburbs will field teams in next year's open-age competition, while the majority of NRL sides have formed arrangements with other clubs to play in it. Brisbane will continue their arrangement with Aspley in the Queensland Cup, North Queensland with the Young Guns, and Melbourne with Brisbane Norths and the Central Coast. And it should be said, Canberra could have fielded a side but chose to link with Logan.
As Roosters chief executive Brian Canavan said, "There will be an evolution" of the competition. And for the moment, there will be no revolution; it will run next season in under-20s form and will be reviewed thereafter. "We still lose good young players from North Queensland to Brisbane and Sydney," Cowboys boss Peter Parr said. "Now there's a career path."
For most, anyway. You don't know Jay Lasscock and time will tell if you ever do.
TO STEAL a line from a rival code's advertising campaign, you don't know Jay Lasscock yet.
Lasscock is a front-rower with Canberra who, in one of the game's true curiosities, is likely to relocate to Brisbane to stay with the Raiders.
Lasscock is seen as a future first-grader, but at 20 years old, is considered too young at the moment. Which means next year, after the introduction of the National Youth Competition (NYC), he is playing league limbo.
With the Raiders choosing not to field a side in the new NSWRL open-age competition next season, which will replace premier league, Lasscock will have to uproot his young family in order to play with Canberra's feeder side, Souths Logan, in the Queensland Cup.
"Every team's got them," Raiders general manager Don Furner says. "Not many forwards go straight into first grade at such a young age."
Rooster David Shillington is regarded as one of the outstanding up-and-coming props, yet he is already 24 years old, having made his first-grade debut when he was almost 22. Melbourne's Ben Cross is one of the best front-rowers in the game, yet he made his debut, for Canberra, when he was 24.
This is the crux of a groundswell of opposition to the new competition. Not so much the premise of it, but the format. Cronulla coach Ricky Stuart has been a vocal critic of the under-20 age group, believing the competition should be for under 22s. Here's why: statistics unearthed by one club official show that of 248 players to make their first-grade debuts between 2003 and 2006, just 11 of them came directly from Jersey Flegg, the code's present under-20s competition.
Others, however, don't know what all the fuss is about. Tigers coach Tim Sheens told the Herald the controversy over the new competition was "a load of crap", believing the NYC would give rugby league an advantage in the battle with rugby union and the AFL for the elite juniors.
"Where are they playing now?" Sheens said. "They're playing premier league. What are we worried about? Flegg is an under-20 competition. All we've done is upgrade the competition. We've got a great vehicle to attract young kids to our sport, because of the attractiveness of the competitions."
Sheens is one of many NRL coaches planning to play his elite under-20s talent in the new open-age competition anyway, because it will pit them with and against players with first-grade experience, and thereby give them a better grounding for the NRL.
"If I've got two 18-year-olds, I might play one in premier league, if that's the best option, to play them with older players and against older players," Sheens said. "And if they're good enough, they'll play first grade. This crap, 'What about the late developers?' we haven't taken premier league out of the competition."
Sort of. The Bulldogs, Manly and Western Suburbs will field teams in next year's open-age competition, while the majority of NRL sides have formed arrangements with other clubs to play in it. Brisbane will continue their arrangement with Aspley in the Queensland Cup, North Queensland with the Young Guns, and Melbourne with Brisbane Norths and the Central Coast. And it should be said, Canberra could have fielded a side but chose to link with Logan.
As Roosters chief executive Brian Canavan said, "There will be an evolution" of the competition. And for the moment, there will be no revolution; it will run next season in under-20s form and will be reviewed thereafter. "We still lose good young players from North Queensland to Brisbane and Sydney," Cowboys boss Peter Parr said. "Now there's a career path."
For most, anyway. You don't know Jay Lasscock and time will tell if you ever do.
