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I'd be surprised if the new format makes much difference for most clubs. The better run clubs will be able to grow on the back of more competitive games, and the rest will continue to puddle along. The new format gives any club a realistic opportunity to become one of the big boys, but most clubs are so badly run that they will continue to fritter away the opportunities. Clubs like Wakey & Cas will be satisfied with not being the worst, and clubs like Fev will try and get to the top too quickly. The biggest change the game needs, is more sensible club administrators.
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If you subscribe to the notion that the game needs a system where clubs can move between divisions based on performances on the pitch, then the 2x12 & 3x8 isn't a bad model. Any club could get a backer with lots of money and could jump from bottom to top. Salford COULD do this with Dr K's money, if it is spent wisely. In the grand scheme of things it isn't too much money to do so. If a club doesn't have that option, and so has to build up it's business, then the proposed new structure lends to that more readily than the current one. Take Wakey for example. There is no hope of them catching Leeds as a business by steadily growing. They can't afford a squad that can compete on the pitch, and so the whole mood at Wakey will be of survival and it won't be a business that people will want to associate with. Wakey are small fish in the big pool. The new structure provides for 22 league games, followed by 7 play-off matches. Wakey's play-off matches would be against clubs with a similar size budget, so there is an opportunity for Wakey to be successful at that level. Their ambition would be to be top of the middle eight and gradually good enough to make the top eight. The same would apply to clubs like Fev/Sheffield who would set their sights on getting on top of Wakey, and clubs like Dewsbury/Barrow would set their sights on getting ahead of Fev/Sheffield. At the moment the gap between the levels (certainly SL & championship) is too large for a club to do this in a sustainable way, without a large benefactor. The downsides to the proposed new structure, are the same for any system that allows movement between leagues based on a year's on field performance. But if we're going with that in RL at this stage, then that is probably the best way to do it. Worth also bearing in mind that Lengahan et al, are nor objecting to the 2x12 & 3x8 structure, they are simply using that as leverage to gain more control over central funding from the RFL.
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Cameron Smith to captain Kangaroos
South Wakefield Sharks replied to League Express's topic in The General Rugby League Forum
Well it's not too shabby that team is it? Still we knew they would have a good squad. To be the best, you've got to best the best and our squad's not too shabby either. -
We then end up with a SL comp with very few teams in it! It's easy to say "kick them out", but what other option do you have? The 14 clubs in SL are probably the top 14 clubs in the northern hemisphere. There may well be a bunch of them that are little more than glorified community clubs (only worse run) but I don't see a long queue of clubs of the calibre of Wigan, Leeds etc chomping at the bit to take their place. What we need to do is gradually increase the number of quality clubs. Salford dropping on DR K should help lift them out of the mire. Wire have become a serious club in recent years, and there is a danger that the Giants might become the real deal. We're getting there, but it's a long haul.
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Think RL Meltdown is going to be busy with this topic!! Seems to me we need to consider whether the changes will replace poor home trained players with better quality non federation trained players. For instance is Wakey's 8th home trained player simply in a job because Wakey have to have 8 home trained players? Could Wakey get a better non-federation trained player for the same money? If so, that would drive up the standard of the comp as a whole, would have no impact on the national squad, and would send a very clear message to young home trained players about the level they needed to attain to turn pro. I don't know the answer to the questions, but it might be worth considering them before we all launch into the usual "sack the RFL nonsense"!
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Ok article, but it leaves lots of questions unanswered. However I'm sure the League Express team will be on to it to ensure we get some 'depth' to the story and the rationale behind the proposed move. If it was developed by people with expertise in developing elite rugby league players then I'd be much more relaxed about it, than I would be if it was hatched by the club chairmen! What we do know though is that many of the current academies are simply not fit for purpose (see latest RFL review). A serious question to ask for example is whether in the Wakefield district, if you pooled the money that goes into the Wakey, Cas & Fev academies, would you be more or less likely to get more top quality players out the other end? The academies should be about elite player development, not making up the numbers. The community game provides an outlet for players at junior and youth ages, and provides a structure for late developers to mature. Again in Hull. Is that city likely in the short to medium term to produce twice as many elite players as Leeds? If not, why have two academies in Hull and only one in Leeds? We have limited resources and we need to be sensible how we use them.