Reserve Grade Rugby 🏉

[Liverpool Rover]

Reserves would e give players who can’t get into the first team and players who are returning from injury some game time but the biggest clubs would probably send their best young talents on loan to Championship clubs because it would be of a higher standard. 

If it is to be brought in then it has to be mandatory or otherwise it would only be just a handful of clubs who will bother, then it will end up dying another death as the reserve teams are dropped again as there aren’t enough games to play.

[Death to the Rah Rah's]

ABSOLUTELY !! .... and scrap Academys in their current format and reinvent the game's pathway working more closely with community clubs !

The number of clubs who can't field 17 players has become an absolute joke in recent seasons (covid apart obviously). Mainly due to the fact that clubs can't retain squad players as they can't give them pitch time, then expect them to jump into an injury hit first team squad having not played regular rugby for weeks  

[David Dockhouse Host]

The plan is to introduce a reserves with them playing alternate weeks to the u18s.

I like the idea, spreads out demands and resources, maybe they could increase this beyond 2022 but it seems a good start 

https://www.seriousaboutrl.com/will-the-reserves-return-in-2022-the-rfl-has-made-its-decision-42573/

 

[Saint Toppy]

1 hour ago, David Dockhouse Host said:

The plan is to introduce a reserves with them playing alternate weeks to the u18s.

I like the idea, spreads out demands and resources, maybe they could increase this beyond 2022 but it seems a good start 

https://www.seriousaboutrl.com/will-the-reserves-return-in-2022-the-rfl-has-made-its-decision-42573/

 

Any bets on how far from Headlingly Hetheringon has managed to spit his dummy at this news 

[dead man inc]

On 25/08/2021 at 15:27, Derwent Parker said:

Dual Reg is awful

In previous years you could play team "x" one week when they have 5 Saints players[for example]  on DR  and they win easy the next week they have none and get stuffed by your rival giving lop sided results.

If you are gonna stick with DR then it should be season long loans and not decided at 24 hours notice.

I’ve been against dual reg & I oppose the loan system for same reason - If you claim to be a serious candidate for a Super League/Championship place you have to be able to play your own players not someone else’s! It does distort the league table. Clubs need to make their case for promotion to Super League/Championship on their own players merits not by fielding up to 5 players in their match day squad from a team a division higher than them.

However, from a different perspective - that of a young player as an individual... would a 20/21/22 year old who is not quite ready for SL make more individual progress playing in the reserves competition or playing in Champ/L1?

[Futtocks]

 

[Ray Cashmere]

Fantastic news and hopefully the first step towards regaining an academy. Would love to see this formula replicated in other parts of the UK (and Ireland?) although obviously the challenges in terms of existing RL infrastructure are different.

[Tommygilf]

On 27/08/2021 at 14:39, Saint Toppy said:

Any bets on how far from Headlingly Hetheringon has managed to spit his dummy at this news 

Doubt it, sounds like a compromise he's come up with frankly.

[OriginalMrC]

Not completely sure how I feel about reserves. I think for some players playing in Champ and league 1 is better for development. Overall though I think it's a good idea but only if all SL clubs do it and not the half hearted approach we've seen previously. 

[Derwent Parker]

1 hour ago, OriginalMrC said:

Not completely sure how I feel about reserves. I think for some players playing in Champ and league 1 is better for development. Overall though I think it's a good idea but only if all SL clubs do it and not the half hearted approach we've seen previously. 

If a SL team as a young player they want to send to L1 then do it as a season long year - NOT DUAL REG

[Tommygilf]

1 hour ago, OriginalMrC said:

Not completely sure how I feel about reserves. I think for some players playing in Champ and league 1 is better for development. Overall though I think it's a good idea but only if all SL clubs do it and not the half hearted approach we've seen previously. 

I think people need to be realistic about reserves in the modern era.

Some clubs will love them and see them as a major route. Others will see them as an extension/repurpose of the academy and prefer loans for "real" development. Others will bring in local amateurs to pack out the squad. As long as the games are played then that should be fine.

Quibbling over quality and people "not taking it seriously" would be a misunderstanding of how different clubs will take different approaches.

[BrisbaneRhino]

I'm not sure long-term a reserve league would really drain players from the lower leagues.

The old A Teams used to be made up of a few youngsters stepping up from Colts, first teamers recovering from injury/playing to keep fit if not picked in the first team and guys who stayed on past Colts who simply liked playing for their club and maybe got the odd first team game in emergency.  A fair number of the latter are most likely completely lost to the game nowadays, as clubs bin them at 18/19 if they're not deemed good enough. 

For me at least the aim of reserves is junior development, primarily in getting kids used to playing against seasoned pros. A second benefit is extra reserves who can at least 'do a job' when injuries really bite. 

And frankly, for those of us who used to regularly watch the A Team, it was part of the fun of the sport as a whole.  I used to love the old Friday nights at Headingley. Me and about 100 other regulars.