NSW City Origin coach Brad Fittler believes each NRL team should each be given a country region to foster as their own, to help promote bush footy after the axing of the City-Country match following this year's fixture.
Fittler's plan involves far more than just each club taking a game to the bush, but a holistic approach that includes juniors and retiring players' wellbeing.
The Penrith and Sydney Roosters legend is still frustrated over the end of the annual game, which will be played in Mudgee on Sunday, and is adamant more needs to be done to promote the game outside of capital cities.
Fittler wants a draft system to allocate regions of Australia to NRL clubs based on performance.
The country areas with the best talent and on-field performances would be open first to the lowest clubs on the NRL ladder.
Each side would then have clearer access to the club's juniors, and have retiring players encouraged to take up development officer and senior bush player roles in that zone, if they wish.
Clubs would also be forced to take at least one home game to the region each year - an idea often met with resistance due to finances, but Fittler said that should be irrelevant.
* NRL clubs are allocated zones via a draft, with lower-ranked sides given best talent areas.
* Clubs given a salary cap dispensation for picking up players from their region.
* Retiring players are offered jobs in game development in region to assist post-football transition.
* Clubs take at least one home game to their region each year.
Read more at http://wwos.nine.com.au/2017/05/06/18/55/fittler-s-grand-plan-to-save-country-footy#k0Vh43erYyDhUgUO.99
Replies
Don't have a lot of time for Fittler, but don't mind this idea.
Not sure if whole story came across as a lot of other stuff came across and had to edit out
Link works though.
But NT aside I would like to see clubs take ownership of country areas in some form as Fittler described. It would be great for the game.
Flapper's biggest problem is his mouth, when he opens it that's when to turn off. No one can help the voice they have but his is the most annoying, especially when he has a hosting role in sports shows as he constantly talks over others, I refuse to watch shows with him in them, likewise his on field interviews, turn the sound off.
Sixties, wouldn't surprise me at all if Flapper has plagerised someone elses idea.
Brett, I doubt that Flapper is too concerned about the QLD teams, or even Melbourne aside perhaps for the Gold Coast who do have closer ties to NSW owing to the closeness to NSW. The horses and Cows can basically name anywhere in QLD as an overall to pillage from but, they should both be responsible for development in specific areas of their state, same with Storm in Victoria which can help them in the regions. While that may be harder in Victoria with the AFL being the primary winter sport, they could work into areas that were RL strong in the past, such as up to and including Albury/Wodonga.
Some setup for the NSW clubs could be to work with the old group set up to try and strengthen that and have it up and running again, by also including perhaps an annual games with play offs against the ISP clubs and group teams, culminating in a city/country type fixture.
Bush footy is awesome. I sat on the hill yesterday afternoon here in Coffs Harbour and watched the Coffs Harbour Comets v Grafton Ghosts in the Group 2 competition. The sun was shining and the cans were ice-cold. The highlight (for an Eels fan) was watching Danny Wicks in action and he certainly didn't disappoint. He was playing in the second row and wasn't even close to being the biggest bloke on the park (there's a scary thought). He ran the ball hard, hit like a mack truck and showed some neat little offloads in attack. Fitness proved to be the difference in the end with the Ghosts running out winners 56 - 28.
I read in the paper that the Ghosts held an AGM at the start of the season with only a handful of people in attendance. Then they announced the signing of Danny to the club and at the follow-up AGM it was standing-room only. A single decision, a single signing was enough to save a team and a club. The administration needs to know of the impact that something like that can have. Fittler's proposal has merit.
Something definetly needs to be done to help promote the game in the country, whether this is the right option i'm not sure. The NRL needs to do something though. Some of the games greatest ever players came from the bush and these country towns that produce great players are being neglected. NRL are focusing and putter their efforts into the wrong parts of the game, as usual.
Without the continuation of some form of Country rep games its only going to get worse, the reply from Anguillidae above shows that there still is interest in country RL, especially in the areas that that are traditional RL strongholds, the North Coast being just one. The aspect that has one of their own return after playing in the NRL and continue to play helps a heck of a lot.
The sorrow for me is that many NRL players who end up in England or other countries after being shed by the NRL clubs is a waste, especially if they are originally from the bush, this is where the NRL could step in and assist with some of the players returning to the bush and play, like Danny who is captain/coach they can lift the standards and draw youngsters to the game as well.
My mind goes back a fair distance and even in the 70's/80's there were strong Group comps, many places had more than one team playing, a good area from memory was Albury and Wagga Wagga, both had two teams in a strong group comp, Albury/Wodonga sat very much in the old AFL territory with AFL seemingly winning out as there is but one team left there now. Dubbo, Parkes, Tamworth were other strong areas as well, the list could go on but certainly nothing like they were anymore.
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