10 local players to start for Newcastle on Saturday night

[RP London]

On 2/2/2018 at 6:32 PM, Captain Survival said:

This is very admirable. 

Realistically I have to question whether this would be possible for a full time professional club.  I cannot think of one sporting franchise in any of the following in North America:  NFL, CFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, Lacrosse or Soccer that has more then 1-3 local players on its team, and in certain sports more likely they have none.

It does show a commitment on Newcastle's part to their local development system but I think realistically this is only achievable due to the non-pro and very local geography of the sport.

surely does that not depend on what you mean by local in regards to North America? surely there must be a fair few Texans in the Cowboys or Texans line ups.. 

It works differently too with the draft where even a local may get drafted across the country, it also isnt up to the franchise to develop the youth, the colleges have a vested interest and school sport is much larger in the states anyway.. dont think you're really comparing apples with apples.. 

 

This is brilliant news, got a real soft spot for the North East as one of our biggest products Jesmona Black Bullets is very North Eastern centric, so they have kept my family in food and clothes for many years (shameless plug) 

[David Shepherd]

Fantastic news.  Well done Newcastle.

It proves that player development outside the heartlands and outside Super League is possible, despite what the wise sages of this forum claim.

Keep up the good work, this is how expansion should be done, you've got to have buy in from the community you serve and it sounds like you have.

[RP London]

2 minutes ago, David Shepherd said:

Fantastic news.  Well done Newcastle.

It proves that player development outside the heartlands and outside Super League is possible, despite what the wise sages of this forum claim.

Keep up the good work, this is how expansion should be done, you've got to have buy in from the community you serve and it sounds like you have.

equally the fact it can take some time to gain that buy in and build... something else some people need to keep in mind. 

[David Shepherd]

1 minute ago, RP London said:

equally the fact it can take some time to gain that buy in and build... something else some people need to keep in mind. 

Very true.  There are far too many people that think a team and it's associated support structure can somehow be magicked into existence. 

This is my big worry with Toronto, it's all very well setting up a retirement home for Paul Rowley's mates and having some early success, but they need to plant deeper roots than that and get the locals playing for fun with a view to developing their own players longer term.

Very nice to see a good number of locals coming through in London now too.

[Quinskolar]

Both Wigan and Toronto actively looking at developing London youth I hear. Interesting times. 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Quinskolar said:

Both Wigan and Toronto actively looking at developing London youth I hear. Interesting times. 

Sounds exciting. Any more info?

[yipyee]

On 02/02/2018 at 10:16 PM, Pie tries said:

This is how sport should be. 10/10 to Newcastle. What a great way to truly engage with their loved cal community and put their name on the local map.

 

newcastle is prime League material

10/13 ?

[yipyee]

Wonder what impact magic has had on the upturn and shows what taking top grade games to an expansion area can do!

[Guest]

1 hour ago, yipyee said:

Wonder what impact magic has had on the upturn and shows what taking top grade games to an expansion area can do!

Exactly. This is why we should have taken a test match against the kiwis to st.james Park this autumn. Sell a load of discounted tickets to the local amateur and junior clubs in the region get the kids to play matches at halftime and be ball boys/girls and mascots and invite their parents to the match as well. 

Maybe more people from the region would be more inclined to attend and get behind a test match involving England rather than supporting 12 out of region super league clubs at magic.