As most regular readers here would know, I am a staunch advocate for the NRL to establish a rookie draft to distribute the best young talent not already in the league to the teams that need it the most.
One of the most common criticisms is "Where would the players come from ?", to which I usually reply, "Well, where do they come from currently ?".
After a bit of a search I found this DT article from late 2015 that illustrates how it might look.
Just a couple of qualifications regarding this particular draft is that it was done at the end of the 2015 season in preparation for the 2016 season, so the draft order is in reverse to the finishing order in 2015, not last year.
Secondly, the players "selected" were 2015 NYC graduates, in other words there are no internal or recycled players considered, this is strictly an external draft, and their selection was based on the teams respective needs at the time and on their respective form in the NYC up to that point.
I want to stress that this is not a commentary on who the best players are now, but on their probable draft positions in 2015.
Finally, this particular mock draft is for just one round, in any actual draft I'd envision at least 3-5 rounds.
Anyhoo, enjoy ...
HE AFL draft has long been one of the code’s marquee off-season events, with many a career defined by the events on draft day.
That’s not the case in rugby league after it was outlawed following the disastrous 1991 draft, the only one that has ever been staged, which resulted in Terry Hill winning his court battle to play for Wests rather than the club he was drafted by, Eastern Suburbs.
In recent years the concept has been floated for a return but it divides clubs because it advantages those with small junior bases over the ones with big catchments who spend plenty to bring their best juniors through.
It may never return but it’s a worthwhile exercise to recreate to get some idea where the best junior talent would be headed if a draft was staged today.
With that in mind, we’ve drawn up a mock NRL draft to allocate new spots for 16 of the best young players in the game.
The rules are as follows:
*Draft order is based on the reverse of the 2015 ladder position. The last-placed Knights get the first pick, the 15th placed Tigers get the second pick and so on.
*To be eligible a player has to have played Under 20s this season but can’t have played first grade.
1) Newcastle Knights select Latrell Mitchell
The comparisons to Greg Inglis are laughably premature, but Mitchell has undeniable star power and standout athleticism. He’s still a scrawny little thing and he won’t be ready for a full season of NRL until at least 2017, but Mitchell is a no-brainer as the first overall pick. The Knights have Jake Mamo to cover fullback in the short term, but when a talent like Mitchell comes along you need to drop everything to get a hold of him.
Latrell Mitchell is one of the most coveted juniors of recent years.Source:News Corp Australia
2) Wests Tigers select Tevita Pangai Junior
This pick made sense for the Tigers even before they lost Martin Taupau but given the lightness of the joint venture’s pack this is another slam dunk. Pangai Junior was moved from the edge to the middle third of the field for 2015 with spectacular results — the Newcastle junior led the league in offloads by a comfortable margin and is the kind of dynamic forward presence that could help patch over the loss of Taupau.
3) Gold Coast Titans select Kalyn Ponga
Ponga only turned 17 in March of this year, but the Mackay product is already spoken of in reverential terms by those in the know. A multi-sport star, Ponga came into the Cowboys under 20s side midway through the season and immediately started destroying the competition from fullback — in the Round 24 win over the Warriors he broke an incredible 22 tackles.
Ponga will train with North Queensland’s NRL squad over the off-season but an NRL debut will have to wait until 2017 at the very least. With the Titans needing a new face for their franchise, Ponga would be an excellent long-term pick, especially if Kane Elgey and Ashley Taylor develop as expected.
4) New Zealand Warriors select Joe Stimson
No team would suffer more from the introduction of a draft than the Warriors. They’ve churned out gun prospects with monotonous regularity since the Under 20s was introduced in 2008 and boast three premierships in that competition. The arrival of Issac Luke and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck means the Warriors are well stocked for depth across the park, but Melbourne backrower Joe Stimson would still be a smart pick. With Ryan Hoffman approaching the end of his career, Stimson would be an ideal long term replacement on the left edge for the Test and Origin veteran.
5) Parramatta Eels select Brett Naden
A flashy utility back who can fill in at centre, wing and fullback with equal efficiency, Naden is one of the prized prospects in a strong crop of youngsters at the Panthers. With the Eels requiring reinforcements across their backline, Naden would be an immediate fit at centre with a possible view to shifting to fullback in the long term.
Te Maire Martin has captained the Junior Kiwis.Source:News Corp Australia
6) Penrith Panthers select Te Maire Martin
Trust us when we say that we’re not being boring or uncreative when we say the Panthers would select Te Maire Martin, it really does make sense for both sides. A two-time member of the Under 20s team of the year, Martin has led the league in try assists two years in a row but might still be a year or two away from first grade. With Peter Wallace and Jamie Soward both getting on, the Panthers will be looking for replacements sooner rather than later — which is why they signed Martin in the first place.
7) Canberra Raiders select Villiame Kikau
Canberra need another big man to round out their front row rotation and they have a bevy of promising props to choose from. The most dynamic of the bunch is the Panthers athletic Fijian prospect Viliame Kikau, who redefined the parameters of what front rowers could do in 2015. Playing for the Cowboys, Kikau smashed his way over the try line 21 times in just his second season of rugby league and scored a deal with the Panthers, where he’ll push for first grade in 2016.
8) Manly Sea Eagles select Liam Knight
Knight and Kikau are arguably the two best props eligible for the draft and Knight is a lock to stay exactly where he is. The big man had the third most runs in the Under 20s this season and would be a great long term partner for Jake Trbojevic. Athletic and dynamic in the Andrew Fifita mould, Knight has a rare combination of size and mobility and has a handy offload — his 45 were good enough for fourth in the competition.
Liam Knight is one of the most promising young props in the game.
9) St George Illawarra Dragons select Alex Twal
Twal is another fine front row prospect, and at times he was the only thing a struggling Parramatta side had going for them in a forgettable 2015 season. A wholehearted workhorse, Twal would be an excellent addition to the Dragons front row rotation and would eventually evolve into a high-volume, high-minute front rower in the style of Paul Vaughan.
10) South Sydney Rabbitohs select Jai Arrow
Arrow is a lock forward from the Broncos who plays like a clone of Corey Parker, minus the grey hair. He was third in the league in terms of average running metres with 151 per game and second in offloads. He could slot it at the back of the scrum at any club, but we’re going to get a bit radical and send him to the Rabbitohs.
If he could start at lock and Sam Burgess switched to prop (keeping in mind that his playing style and minutes would not change), Michael Maguire would be able to constantly rotate George and Tom Burgess as the other tight forward. The end result would be absolutely terrifying.
11) Cronulla Sharks select Gideon Gela-Mosby
There have been some serious try scoring freaks in the Under 20s, but nobody can match the outrageous try tally Gela-Mosby put up in 2015. In his first season in the Holden Cup, Gela-Mosby managed to cross for 39 tries in 22 matches, smashing the old competition record of 31. The Sharks could use another winger to round out their handy looking backline, especially if sanity prevails and Valentine Holmes plays fullback. Gela-Mosby would be a good selection.
12) Canterbury Bulldogs select Corey Harawira
A Kiwi import, Harawira played centre and five-eighth this season for the Panthers but he’s most comfortable in the backrow. He’s light on his feet, but strong enough to break through defenders and would be a great get for the Bulldogs. With Des Hasler reportedly desperate to move on enigmatic man mountain Tony Williams, Shaun Lane is projected to start on the left edge sooner rather than later leaving a spot on the bench for a backrow/utility who can come on and wreak a little bit of havoc — a role which suits Harawira to a tee.
Jayden Nikorima will join the Roosters in 2016.Source:News Corp Australia
13) Melbourne Storm select Jayden Nikorima
The Storm were reportedly chasing Nikorima before he inked a deal with the Roosters, so it makes sense that they’d grab him as a late first rounder. The talented Brisbane product can play centre, halfback, fullback, five-eighth and hooker and has been so effective across the park it remains to be seen as to what his best position will be going forward. Craig Bellamy excels at finding a task for every tool and would likely focus on Nikorima as the short term successor to Blake Green or the long term heir to Cooper Cronk.
14) Sydney Roosters select Paul Byrnes
The word round the campfire is that Blake Ferguson will switch to fullback for the Roosters and while that idea has its merits, the Roosters could definitely benefit from having a specialist custodian fill the breach, even if it’s a youngster. Remember, in this hypothetical they don’t have Latrell Mitchell, so Broncos flyer Paul Byrnes will step in and fill the gap. Byrnes struggled with injury at times this season, but his support play and metre eating style make him a fine fit.
15) Brisbane Broncos select Addison Demetriou
Demetriou is the ultimate project player — he was switched from prop to centre midway through the season and started smashing the competition to pieces. By season’s end, he was nominated for Holden Cup player of the year, he led the league in tackle breaks with 162 and was second in terms of total run metres and average metres per game.
However, given that he’s still learning the intricacies of the centre position, particularly in defence, he needs a little bit of time and Brisbane’s depth in the outside backs mean they can afford to wait. Wayne Bennett could ease him in off the bench or have him spend a season in Queensland Cup before unleashing him on the NRL.
16) North Queensland Cowboys select Brian Kelly
North Queensland have close to the most well-rounded squad in the competition but they have Antonio Wintertsein, Kane Linnett, Tautau Moga and Justin O’Neill coming off contract at the end of 2016 and could use a little new blood out wide. Titans prospect Brian Kelly, cousin of former Gold Coast halfback Albert, can play all three outside back positions but is most comfortable at centre or on the wing and would be a fine addition — he offers breakout speed and a great nose for the tryline. Kelly scored four tries in the New South Wales Under 20s win over Queensland earlier this season and is expected to fill a spot out wide for the Titans NRL side next season.
Replies
It's probably one of the only advantages we have over at least 70% of NRL teams so it's a foolish proposition that we would want to participate . It would probably finish this club
Well first of all, I've made my thoughts clear on the emotional attachment our fans have to our allegedly wonderful junior base, I personally think it's a bit of a myth. I'm a strong believer that professional clubs have no business in under age development, that is the purview of junior clubs, the current system of district leagues tied to a senior club is archaic and out of date.
But even if I'm wrong, a rookie draft would be coupled with rookie scale contracts & restricted free agency and would actually benefit a club like Parramatta not hinder it.
For a starters, we would be focusing our needs on what we need as opposed to mass production. There's no coincidence that the two most successful clubs of the last decade, the Roosters & Storm, focus their development on quality not quantity.
More importantly I am looking at the whole of game picture, the big issue that is facing the game IMO is the inequitable distribution of emerging young talent in the game. A rookie draft fixes this.
If it's good for the entire game as a whole, then it will be good for us as a club, and we would be free from the shackles of our over hyped junior system.
I dont like it, first off clubs would be rewarded for coming last and why would a club like us want to give our juniors away more than we already have?
If we were a club with no juniors, great, it would suit them, why bother putting money into young blokes?
Its not right to send young guys to places they dont want to go either imo, not ethical either.
It's not about rewarding clubs for coming last. I've yet to hear about a team that thinks getting the number one pick is better than winning a premiership. That's absolute nonsense.
Why bother putting money into young blokes ?
I agree. That should not be the job of professional franchises, that is the job of junior development clubs who are set up with those kinds of systems. The job of the 16 NRL clubs should be one thing and one thing only, trying to win a premiership. I don't want us to hang our hat on developing teenagers by the hundreds, I want us to be a club that is in contention to win premierships.
Melbourne & the Roosters focus on quality not quantity and they are the two most successful clubs of the last decade because they focus their development resources on a much smaller pool of potential players, they focus on their systems and find players to fit them rather than mass produce mediocre players. Now people might point to the Panthers as a great example of developing your own, but they have still spent big buying talent and have lost way more than they have kept. You could make the argument they haven't kept the best of their junior talent, and they aren't a whole lot closer to winning a premiership than us anyway.
As for sending young players to other places, playing in the NRL is a privilege, if you want that privilege then you have to serve your apprenticeship where the game sends you, plenty of other industries do that with no problems. Sure you'll get a few that get homesick, and in those cases trades can be accommodated to make that work. We are talking young men who will be earning large money even on rookie scale contracts, they can go where they are sent.
There is nothing unethical at all. They can choose not to play in the NRL if they don't want to be drafted.
AFL draft works well. Open and ethical. Complicated, but everybody understands how it works and they get results. Should work for the NRL but weak management would kill it.
It works great, as does the NBA, NFL & NHL drafts. But those sports have a much wider view, they're not insular the way Rugby League and its fans are.
Yeah they might tank, but as I said getting the number one pick is still only a consolation not the real prize and even if you do get the number one pick it doesn't guarantee that you're going to get a quality player.
But if you're really worried about teams tanking then the league could also follow the NBA lead and establish a draft lottery whereby finishing last doesn't guarantee you the first pick.
The other thing having a draft does is encourage teams to build their rosters via young talent rather than going for quick fixes via free agency, which if I'm not mistaken is what you have been banging on about for the whole year. Every team would have a certain number of picks in the draft, and assuming they signed them all immediately would then have to renounce their rights to older players who might be considered dead wood, which keeps rosters from getting too old.
Coupled with restricted free agency it also puts downward pressure on player salaries which makes it easier for clubs to stay solvent.
As I said, whole of game.
But you go on and think 1982.
Thank God this didn’t happen. We would have recruited the worst player with pick 5.
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