Kid Dynamite said:
Is there a club in the whole NRL that isn't claming to have wonderful junior talent.
No.
Fans seem to swallow this sh*t hook line and sinker.
They do indeed.
I'm tired of hearing fans cry out "we need young blood, or give the young blokes ago", champing at the bit for their current players to move aside so their junior superstars can make a certain impact in first grade.
Me too.
Parra fans are constantly banging on about drop so-and-so and bring up whatshisface who scored 3 tries in Premier Legaue last week. they do it after every loss, year after year after year...
So I was surprised when Mateo and Inu had the impact they had this year, given they're only 2 of about 50 Parramatta lower graders that have been tossed into the ring to replace injured first graders this year.
A couple of years ago we signed a Junior Kiwi superstar named Josh Davis and every idiot had him at centre in their pre-season 13 back in 2005.
He's currently on the wing for Jersey Flegg. lol
Well heres the bad news. Chances are your juniors won't form a team of superstars.
Sad but true.
Every year there's a winning Flegg team (somebody has to win) and that club's lucky if only
one of them goes on to play Origin. They're even luckier if the ones who do become first graders all stay at the club.
But you get endless numpties going on about "we're not going to win this year but
next year our 21 year old backline will win the comp and all play for Australia".
It's ridiculous.
There are a couple of teams each year that are the best and will contend for the title (Gallop doesnt understand this).
I think he does.
What he doesn't want is a situation where for 10 years only 3 or 4 teams are the only ones with any chance of winning a Premierhsip, while another 3 or 4 fight it out for the wooden spoon
every single year.
Therefore most teams current juniors will blossom into ok first graders, not rep players.
I'd say most will never play more than a handful of first grade games in their entire careers.
A player can have glaring weaknesses and still be a star in the lower grades because of his strengths. It's much easier to hide his weaknesses in the lower grades but at the top level it's impossible to compensate for a bloke who can't catch or tackle but can run the ball like Matty Bowen.
I mean, have a look at any Premier League match - there are some brilliant ball-running backs there who will never make it as first graders.
This is especially true of young halves.
True.
Parra had a lower grade halfback a few years ago named Kieron Herring (I think that was his name). He played for the Junior Kangaroos and Australian Schoolboys for about 3 or 4 years - he was a dynamite runner and a great defender, at least at that level.
But he couldn't pop a short ball to save his life. Despite his impressive junior rep credentials he never made it as a first grader.
He's probably playing Jim Beam Cup now.
Look at Blake Green - Parra tragics rave about him but there's hardly a bidding war to secure his services when he comes off contract. He
might become a good first grader and maybe even play Origin one day but I seriously doubt it - Tim Smith, Brett Finch, Riddell and Marsh have all proven they can consistently make an impact at NRL level and they've all got a few years left in them. Blake Green won't get the opportunity unless there's injuries or the salary cap forces one or more of the others out.
Which is likely these days but there's no point crying about it.
How many times a year do we have to stomach fans talking up young halfbacks and five eights only to find they never quite make it.
Several.
Theres only a few great halves in the comp, so if you have one thats half decent then you should be very skeptical about whether someone in the younger grades will be better.
Agreed.
Building for the future in rep football is one of the great myths.
Agree totally.
They should get their experience from losing games for their clubs, not losing Origin matches.
You pick qld/nsw teams to win now.
True.
Picking Mullen this year was a sh*tty move, typical of the dumb mindset in rugby league of the wonderful qualities of youth. Orford and Gower are better players than Mullen now I dont care what anyone says.
Even Finch and Kimmorley were better options.
But no you gotta give the young blokes a go and look to the future.
Stop whinging.
