I don't think the North Shore's junior base is as bad as being made out. Between Chatswood and Hornsby there is a black hole, but the lower North Shore is covered in Willoughby/Lane Cove/Nth Sydney Brothers, and the upper covered with the mentioned Asquith and Berowra.
What bugs me though, working with NRL development, is the difference between the quality provided between Manly juniors and Norths juniors when running clinics. Norths got the token player this year in Matt King, claimed only through the Norths/Souths feeder relationship, whilst Manly get half the team showing up. On top of this they have dozens of handouts and things to take home from sponsors and club merchandise whilst the Norths kids get a kicking tee, a boot bag and a footy (all of which Manly kids also got).
I don't think Manly taking the area is the solution, simply because of the rivalry, but something has to be done. Seeing as though the CCBears bid seems to have been put on the back burner, maybe in the interim (the 10, 15 years until the Bears would have hopefully been readmitted) Souths could take over the area in development and funding as part of the feeder with the Bears NSW Cup side?
I guess that's more a bandaid fix however and doesn't solve the problem that the Bears area is being taken by another club. Whatever the case, I think the North Shore should be on the list of priorities for the NRL to fix, because the current set up is not working. The Norths-Manly A Grade is in shambles at the moment, and it's not going to get better for the North.
What bugs me though, working with NRL development, is the difference between the quality provided between Manly juniors and Norths juniors when running clinics. Norths got the token player this year in Matt King, claimed only through the Norths/Souths feeder relationship, whilst Manly get half the team showing up. On top of this they have dozens of handouts and things to take home from sponsors and club merchandise whilst the Norths kids get a kicking tee, a boot bag and a footy (all of which Manly kids also got).
I don't think Manly taking the area is the solution, simply because of the rivalry, but something has to be done. Seeing as though the CCBears bid seems to have been put on the back burner, maybe in the interim (the 10, 15 years until the Bears would have hopefully been readmitted) Souths could take over the area in development and funding as part of the feeder with the Bears NSW Cup side?
I guess that's more a bandaid fix however and doesn't solve the problem that the Bears area is being taken by another club. Whatever the case, I think the North Shore should be on the list of priorities for the NRL to fix, because the current set up is not working. The Norths-Manly A Grade is in shambles at the moment, and it's not going to get better for the North.