I believe, and history proves it, the Eels small window of success ( early to mid 80s) was achieved from a core group of experienced players combined with a group of young superstars that came through our junior systems. Throughout the past 25 years the Eels have had successful years in junior competitions but for some reason this success hasn't continued through to NRL level. This could be due to several reasons. Not keeping the best players. Developing young players that perform as juniors but struggle to step up to NRL level. Have the Eels been developing the wrong kids? Do the Eels have the right talent scouts searching for the best kids? The Eels list of junior developed halves and dummy-halves is way below par. Surely more can and should be done in the junior development systems at the Eels. Some clubs with very little juniors have had regular success over the past 25 years. Melbourne and the Roosters in particular.
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When we venture out to meet the talent we're dressed in canary yellow then it's spanking time
(Dapto has entered the chat)
Look I think it has been all those things, but you have to remember the juniors system was reset only fairly recently. This is starting to finally produce quality juniors, with Penisini and Russel the first to become regular NRL players. Jason Ryles knows this, and he also knows that the conveyor belt of junior talent is starting up, but of course it needs regular maintenance to make sure it operates efficiently.
This, together with appropriate buy-in quality players is what Ryles is setting up for. We haven't seen such vision at this club for a very long time. The trick now is to ensure development players get access to the very best systems. The Centre of Excellence is a massive boost here. Let's see how it all progresses over the next few seasons.
We must have the greatest jnrs in the history of rugby League, it's the only thing that makes sense about our recruiting.
Me thinks it's the recruiters who can't land anyone so to save face the club plays the 'pathways' card.
We haven't been consistently successful in the junior reps that matter since Brian Smith ran the entire football department. Since that time, every club has become more professional and head coaches no longer run everything. There is now an entire football department staff running everything from scouting to recruitment/retention to pathways (including pathways recruitment). This is why the likes of the Roosters have become so successful in the junior rep grades. Other clubs that are successful in these grades are the Panthers and Storm. We haven't been successful in this area other than Harold Matthews (under 17s, previously u16s), and the reason for that is that under 17s players are children and can't sign legally binding contracts, so the big clubs don't bother recruiting in this age group. Instead they focus on SG Ball, Jersey Flegg and reserve grade for pathways. In our case we have barely won any of these competitions. Not that winning these competitions is the goal, but over a long period of time (i.e. decades) it is a reasonable indicator of the strength of a club's pathways development system.
Here's how it looks since Brian Smith left, comparing the four clubs. Remember, competitions with an age limit lower than under 18s is fairly meaningless because they are comprised entirely of children. And the big clubs are happy to wait until our under 17s players are old enough before they come and pick the eyes out of our squads.
Total wins for child-age comps:
Eels: 4
Storm: 3
Panthers: 2
Roosters: 0
Total wins for comps with players old enough to sign binding contracts (u18s or above):
Panthers: 9
Roosters: 5
Storm: 5
Eels: 3
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