Get Rid of Under 20's

Ever since the Under 20's came in I've always believed it was never going to prepare younger players for the NRL. And so far I've been proved right. There are only a small number of Under 20 players who have made the complete transition from U20's to the NRL. Most of these players are backs and not forwards. This is becasue the forwards aren't completely, physically developed. When they are called up to play in the NRL they come up against guys like Fui, Dave Taylor, Aiden Tolman, Petero Civinoceiva etc. Most of the guys are bigger, faster and stronger. The u20's forwards can't compete with these guys because they haven't been tested like that before. The backs also find it hard because they have to try and compete with guys like Tahu, Gasnier, G.I, Hodges, Jennings etc. Again, these guys are faster and stronger. When the Reserve Grade was around young players were able to compete against NRL players who were either towards the end of their career or coming back from injury. For example, towards the end of Cliff Lyons' career he played reserve grade for Manly, he taught many young players, most notably Andrew Johns a lesson in how to play footy. The young players, after experiencing this would try and improve to play better the next time they played. These days this just doesn't happen and in the future the players will suffer. In the Parra Reserve Grade side we had players such as Weller Hauraki and Junior Paulo come through the ranks and perform well. Let's not forget what developed players like Burt, Hindy, Hayne, Lockyer, Thurston, Steve Price, El Masri, Joey Johns, Buderus and some of the greatest players to have ever played went through Reserve Grade before making the step up to the NRL. David Gallop: GET RID OF THE U20's IT'S NOT WORKING. BRING BACK RESERVE GRADE.

I think I agree, in principle.

The 'reserve grade', what is currently Wenty and the like, should be the 'second best' level. There should be quality players there, on their way to first grade. Players should graduate from the youth comp, to Wenty, to Parra. The standard in NSW Cup is so poor at the moment though, that it's preferable to have youngsters sit in the youth comp until they're ready for the first team.

I have a feeling that this has a lot to do with TV money. There's money in the under-20 comp thanks to Foxtel, but I can't imagine NSW Cup teams make anything at all.

Maybe things will change with the new TV deal.. First-grade squad sizes will increase from 25 to 30, which should mean there's more quality players in the 'reserves', which may mean it'll be more attractive to TV.

"Agreed. But that has to begin at an organisational level, not just the football department.
when staff turnover is like a revolving door, it is never a good sign of stability"

"I will say your last part i agree with that we should never have been in this position. Post 2022, we should have rebooted losing those players. Simply we should have tried harder to keep Mahoney and Papali'i, even laughable that we had the money…"

"We could have but Melbourne is a unique example that many have tried to emulate and failed to do so, maybe that is us again with Ryles. Penrith for a little bit of time had that pull but even their juniors decided to move on for opportunities. Only…"

Replies

EELS4lyf June 8, 2011 at 7:49pm

i think we need to have a mix of the two systems! bring back reserve grade and mix the fringe first graders and the emerging the U20's... Sort of how the NSW/Bundy cups are played. We need it for the better of the game. bring back 3 forms of footy at each game. U18's (replacing the U20's) Reserve Grade and the FG. or something like that
Tom Mus June 8, 2011 at 8:03pm

I think I agree, in principle.

The 'reserve grade', what is currently Wenty and the like, should be the 'second best' level. There should be quality players there, on their way to first grade. Players should graduate from the youth comp, to Wenty, to Parra. The standard in NSW Cup is so poor at the moment though, that it's preferable to have youngsters sit in the youth comp until they're ready for the first team.

I have a feeling that this has a lot to do with TV money. There's money in the under-20 comp thanks to Foxtel, but I can't imagine NSW Cup teams make anything at all.

Maybe things will change with the new TV deal.. First-grade squad sizes will increase from 25 to 30, which should mean there's more quality players in the 'reserves', which may mean it'll be more attractive to TV.
SuperEel 22 June 8, 2011 at 8:05pm

Sounds like how it used to be with Jersey Flegg, Reserve Grade and then FG
SuperEel 22 June 8, 2011 at 8:14pm

My entire point is that if we bring back Reserve Grade then we can have mix of youth and experience in the same competition. The competition will be more enjoyable to watch with closer games. EELS4lyf: I agree that the NSW Cup isn't the strongest competition but when you look at the Under 20's it isn't exactly the toughest competition either. Their version of a draw is a try-fest that ends up 36-all, rarely can a team in the Under 20's defend for any more than 10 min. Look at the NRL and the draw this season between Parra and St George had a total of 4 tries with each team defending for long periods of time. Very different from the Under 20's.
Ham Sammich June 8, 2011 at 8:26pm

Have an under 23's comp?
Fiddy June 8, 2011 at 9:06pm

i do agree with this blog. I would also like to see reserve grade be brought back. i miss the old days of watching all 3 grades play at parra
Shank Kore June 8, 2011 at 9:44pm

this blog is rubbish. the under 20s are great. the old reserve grade was like watching the rejects playing in the nsw cup. even the qld cup is boring watvhing it on fox. the 20's allows us to see the future. its great.
SuperEel 22 June 8, 2011 at 9:49pm

The Reserve Grade may not be as exciting but it is beneficial to the development of younger players. The younger players haven't been properly developed by the U20's and, in the future the NRl will suffer. And what do you mean by "rejects". I'm pretty sure that guys like Ant Mitchell, Chris Walker and Reni Maitua aren't rejects. With the Reserve Grade they'd be able to play against younger players and show them how players in the NRL play.
Shank Kore June 8, 2011 at 10:55pm

supereel go and watch a game. you get better games in the local comps. most players dont want to be there so they are like rejects.
SuperEel 22 June 9, 2011 at 9:36am

I have watched a couple of local games in my area and the quality is quite high but it's not as fast and hard as the NRL. You can often pick out the players who have NRL experience because they are that little bit quicker and stronger.

This reply was deleted.

Eels Blogs

Get Rid of Under 20's

Replies

More stuff to read

Eels blogs

Friday 13th look away

Refs lower team bias

6 weeks yikes

Wonder why no one likes Bulldogs fans

Note: this page contains paid content.

Social Blogs

LUKE METCALF

NSW Origin Squad 2025

I say if we lose this week against Newcastle we will come last

Jim Sarantinos on SEN: Moses an outside chance before R9

Note: this page contains paid content.