In all sports, we love to try and pick out a teenager who is going to be the next legend of the game. They might play a certain way, have a certain "look" or downright dominate the junior levels.
Often we'll take that kid, shove them in the spotlight and ask them to sink or swim. Very rarely does that actually work.
For every Kalyn Ponga there are a dozen Daniel Mortimers. Talented kids who either never quite make it, or just become squad players where they fill a role.
This promotion of talent at a young age often comes at the expense of a seasoned professional. Think Bevan French for Michael Gordon.
Gordon played for the Eels in the 2016 season at the age of 32. He'd been in the NRL for 10 years and played his 200th game that season. He was and still is the consummate professional and he played 24 matches for the Blue and Gold that year.
By the middle of the year he'd been released and joined the Roosters for the 2017 season as the Eels saw Bevan French as the future fullback. We're nearly three years on and he still doesn't own the spot. Hell, he'll be lucky to be in the side come round one.
French is no doubt a talented footballer. But he's raw. He's still finding his feet in the NRL. Gordon knows his game, he's about to enter his 14th season and he'll pass 250 games this year. He's also not on a hell of a lot of cash.
So why did we ditch a seasoned professional in favour of a bright talent? I understand the issues around player poaching and the fact rugby league is a business. But surely having a veteran player in the 2017 season to guide French along in his first full season would've been the smart move?
Instead with asked French to sink or swim without a real back-up. By the end of the season we were down to a third choice fullback who did an admirable job, but Will Smith is not exactly any side's first choice custodian.
And this brings me to the crux of the issue. The majority of the time in the NRL and across sport, we look for the bright young star when there is a better option in that moment right in front of us.
We've already heard the talk around our youngsters coming through. I'll be surprised that if all seven in Mahoney, Brown, Salmon, Stone, Utoikamanu, Kaufusi and Niukore have long careers in the NRL. History is probably against them in the regard. But they have the time to show they belong.
The interesting thing we seem to miss is the "bridge" player. They're the guys you bring in to do a job for two-three years while your juniors prepare to come into grade. Sure, on the odd occasion you'll have a junior like a Ponga or Fittler who just belongs. But they might as well be unicorns because they come around maybe once every 10 years.
Now, your bridge player generally isn't a 34 year old with shot knees. They're more your David Gower type players. Although Gower is beginning his sixth and final season with the club, he'd still do a job if called upon.
It's all well and good to develop your juniors. You need to as they're essential to success, especially in a game with a salary cap. A good crop of juniors means you can spend less in their initial forays into first grade which allows you to invest in established players.
But you need to give them the time to develop without throwing them into the cauldron of the NRL while also providing them with mentors to help them with the transition. It's little wonder that many successful sides have a mix of experienced players with the right sprinkling of youth.
I could draw the parallel between Parramatta and the Australian cricket side right now. Australia is currently throwing a bunch of kids at a larger, systemic issue stemming from a lack of domestic development, hoping they strike gold with someone like a Labuschagne or Pucovski when, throughout history, Australia's best players have plied their trade for years at a first class level with senior teammates whereby they are ready for Test cricket when called upon.
Now I think Parramatta's further along solving their development issues than Australian cricket is. We started fixing it several years ago, Australian cricket broke their system about 10 years ago and they still haven't worked out how to fix it.
So, at the end of the day, we have to consider what our backup options are if our juniors fail to fire in the NRL or they take longer to adjust. Who are they learning off and what are the long-term considerations for their development into NRL quality players?
Comments
Good points I think BA has bet the house on youth this year. Who knows we could have a crop of kids coming through like 2001 but the odds of that are very low more likely a bunch of Kris keatings. Through a lack of depth we are a couple of injuries away in a number of positions of having to throw some very green players into first grade and who knows how that will affect their development.
I'll reserve judgement on whether parra have 'fixed' the lack of junior development till I see the guys this year go and what the result is. Will throwing them in at this stage be the right time for them or are we throwing them in early as coming of a spoon signing players was difficult, as it would be hard to tell a player coming here we would be turning that form around and they would have sucess here when we haven't decided who our coach will be after this year.
I hope we have a good year mid comp with the juniors showing some promise is the best we can hope for I think. After last year I'd be happy with that
For Parramatta, the "Next Best Thing" is what brought us success in the past (Sterling & Kenny, Hindmarsh & Lyon etc). As fans that's what we know works to bring short term success, and is probably why we have had little success in the past 32 years. Ideally these young guys would be drip fed into NRL in a controlled way, but the NRL systems do not allow for that. The club has to make a decision to put them in the top 30 or leave them for another year. That is a crazy way to handle inexperienced players and is probably why most of them don't make it. You get the odd player who remains dedicated despite setbacks and learns from his more experienced peers, but they are in the minority.
As fans we should lay off the pressure this year, or this crop of young players could very easily burn out. There will be setbacks and these players will have a lot to learn. It's going to take time to come together and we may not see great success this season. Hopefully though this season will set the scene for coming seasons.
Good to see excusefin getting in early with his excuses.
That’s what this lot is good at - making excuses.
Excuse after excuse after excuse, year after year after year.
Youd think they’d give up making excuses and start placing the blame where it belongs.
Where does the blame belong? We haven’t made the finals two years in a row since 2007. What’s the one constant since then?
Where are the excuses? Where has the success been the past 32 years? Oh of course it's the coaches fault... Every player needs to step up this year, and that won't be easy. If you are looking for instant premierships then go and support Melboure - they seem to win the comp every few years.
I know you will be digging in to Brown as he struggles to find his place in the NRL. You will be digging in to BA for throwing him in there and you would have been digging in if he was playing ISP and Norman was still with Parra. If I didn't know better I would think that this is exactly what you want - you like acusing others because you can't face reality.
Well us being a devolpment club it looks like we are pinning our hopes on the next big things.
Remember when Sterling went on The Footy Show in 2005 and handed his jersey over to Smith basically annointing him as his successor, kind of turned out to be a wrongin in the end like.
Smith had all the talent in the world to be a legend. I don't think his try assist record will ever be broken. But it was things outside his football life that were his eventual downfall.
Just like a few other players and recruits we have got. They get "Homesick" or have a "Mental Illness". It always seems to happen to our team.
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