I had been coaching rugby league in the Parra district for 10 years but pulled the pin on it 2 years ago. Even back then I could see that the Parra district comp was going backwards at a 100 miles an hour. We were playing in a comp with 4 teams & even with only 4 teams still struggled to get enough players. I was at a BBQ on Saturday night & caught up with a few guy's that are still coaching & they are telling me it's getting worse. The basic line I was getting from all of them was " If it's not Wenty, Parra just don't care. I was told Wenty is fielding up to & over 4 teams in an age group while smaller clubs are unable to field 1 team in each age group. Parra need to step in & assist with equalising player numbers in their district rather than having 4 teams in an age group where Wenty have 2 of the 4 teams involved. I have nothing against Wenty, They are getting as many kids as they can but all it is doing is killing off the smaller clubs. I know because I have been involved with a club that had to finish up due to parents wanting their kids to play for the bigger clubs, so we couldn't even get enough players to field 6 teams throughout all age groups. It is killing the comp in the juniors. Also in regards to Parra's large nursery, You have the big ones in the district which is Wenty, Mounties & Cabra. All backed by a leagues club & are seen as the glamour clubs as far as parents are concerned. Mounties are feeder for the Raiders & as of next season Cabra will be feeder for The Bulldogs. Wenty as we all know are Parra's feeder. Remember most of the kids & parents want to play for these clubs & they can't all play for Wenty so the massive Parra nursery is open slather for opposition teams. IT was heartbreaking to listen to these people that give a hell of a lot of their time to coaching & helping out in Parra's junior league, feeling helpless & wondering why they bother anymore. We have been hearing the stories of Eels juniors that go on to the NRL with other clubs & the same old reply of " You Can't Keep Them All ". I'M SICK OF PARRA USING THIS LINE. For gods sake find a better way of running YOUR juniors so you actually know what juniors you have.
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It was happening back in the early 2000's when i was coaching, cabra were the team with an advantage gateway into parra back then. I believe too many smaller clubs is not good for stronger competition but you also dont want too few. 1 year cabra had two teams in 1st div in the age group i was involved in and they played each other in the GF.
I don't know what the answer to the problem is, it's a hard one.
Maloney, Gallen, Klemmer slipped through our fingers.
Thanks Jim for a very significant blog.
If I'm reading u correctly, the problem concerning juniors is basically not one of resourcing. The junior base is actually shrinking & at the same time the NRL has fragmented the makeup of what remains of our once traditional juniors catchment area.
My guess is that we r witnessing a permanent change probably due to a change in demographics.
If the situation that u describe is indicative of the Parra Junior District, then there will be a lot less juniors playing & consequently a lost less number of them being developed & available for FG. Those few that do make the grade will also be targeted by other NRL Clubs also chasing talent from a shrinking pool. I wonder if Penrith r facing a similar situation?
Unfortunately for the long term, a recruitment strategy largely based on Juniors will probably be flawed. I have heard Gus state on a number of occasions that the Polynesian Players r the games future, maybe he is correct. If Gus is correct, then our recruitment resources & focus should be elsewhere.
Michael & Jim, it makes me want to puke with the way that the Junior league has been destroyed over the years, the number of teams, has shrunk, sure there are other options in sports now available to them and likely better supported by their networks. but I saw this happening when the old system was changed from 3 primary teams and then the Junior comps starting with Presidents cup, to under 23's then Presidents took and how many other jnr rep sides?
Canterbury pushed years ago to get areas from the PDJRL and got it, now Wests have a large proportion that they got from the dogs, now the dogs want more of our stronger clubs. Many taking Blacktown does not help either and where are their developments within their own areas.
The now more common aspect of the game is that we now only have one match per weekend that showcases the main club, in our case the eels NRL side, Flegg mostly seems to play elsewhere and sometimes at Ringrose but the ISP team plays later in competition to the NRL match, 3 teams in the same basic grouping each playing at times that are not friendly for players, families and supporters.
The lower grades as they may be, play with a few families watching and that is exciting to watch, not!. Then if they want to see the senior side they travel miles to get to the ground.
We need coaches who are supported by the senior club and they also have the support of the players and others in the game. The way I see it heading is that the desire of the emperor to see the eels amalgamate with another team will happen, prior to RL actually folding in this country completely. Won't probably happen in my lifetime but its going to happen, unless there is real change at the top level at RL headquarters and clubs.
Hi Col, the subject of juniors is really a very sensitive one. There r different perspectives, biases & priorities. Some fans r very passionate about the Club & the juniors. Their focus & priorities stem from that bias regardless of the long term impact on the NRL team. IMO those fans would probably identify with the district.
Other fans r really NRL team fans & r not passionate about the Club or the NRL team make up regardless of whether the team is made up of imports &/or juniors. What matters to those fans is essentially what they experience in their allegiance to the NRL Team including on field performances, marketing & PR image, related team merchandise etc. The Club is in essence a secondary & incidental matter.
Michael, very interesting response and I have to say that I agree with you on each point. I think its pretty obvious that the allegiances of old are no longer there in the majority of supporters. The way the game is today its more about following one team, that is the NRL side of ones choice, what's underneath is irrelevant unless lower grades are more successful, no longer do we see attendances build up to large crowds until close to the NRL kick off, so what point in having early matches even if the team is playing in ones chosen teams colours.
On a practical note, if we spend a lot of money on junior development, we r probably subsidising clubs like the Roosters. Not a particularly inspiring thought.
If we have to make a premature attractive offer to retain kids with potential then it effectively nullifies any financial incentive to develop the talent.
Do what the Roosters do, just cherry pick.
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