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I seem to regularly be reading about NRL players who are at the end of their careers in the NRL being signed by SL clubs rather than retiring. This just seems to be where SL clubs and SL in general is at the moment. NRL players don’t see SL as a place they want to play unless they’ve finished their NRL career and just want to extend their careers by a couple of years and to see a bit of Europe. 
Surely it would be better for SL clubs and SL as a whole if they put more faith in their juniors and just had a few better quality NRL players.

Wigan, Saints and possibly Warrington seem to be the only clubs that aren’t doing this as much

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SL is the only other professional rugby league competition in the world. There is always going to be plenty of movement between the two leagues. Including NRL players wanting to move to the other side of the world for a few years.

Not sure which players you are referring which made you post this. The most recent NRL-SL singings have been TPJ, Nick Cotric, Tristan Sailor, David Armstrong, John Bateman, Reimis Smith, and Luke Keary. All of those guys besides Keary are 23-28 and in the primes of their career.

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48 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

I seem to regularly be reading about NRL players who are at the end of their careers in the NRL being signed by SL clubs rather than retiring. This just seems to be where SL clubs and SL in general is at the moment. NRL players don’t see SL as a place they want to play unless they’ve finished their NRL career and just want to extend their careers by a couple of years and to see a bit of Europe. 
Surely it would be better for SL clubs and SL as a whole if they put more faith in their juniors and just had a few better quality NRL players.

Wigan, Saints and possibly Warrington seem to be the only clubs that aren’t doing this as much

Sorry, are you new to Super League? This has been going on for 15 + years. 

Wigan, Saints and Warrington tend to do it the same. They're not signing genuinely big NRL names, French, Field, etc weren't big when they came here.

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26 minutes ago, Click said:

Sorry, are you new to Super League? This has been going on for 15 + years. 

Wigan, Saints and Warrington tend to do it the same. They're not signing genuinely big NRL names, French, Field, etc weren't big when they came here.

I know it has. Just disappoints me

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1 hour ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

I don't know what you were expecting when one league has a considerably larger budget and more to offer in terms of profile and lifestyle.

It would be nice for a lot of clubs to put a bit more emphasis on bringing juniors through. 
I know we can’t compete with the NRL so instead of just signing who they don’t want let’s develop more of our own

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59 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

It would be nice for a lot of clubs to put a bit more emphasis on bringing juniors through. 
I know we can’t compete with the NRL so instead of just signing who they don’t want let’s develop more of our own

You can't just bring juniors through for the sake of it. They have to be good enough for the level you're playing at.

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3 hours ago, NRLandSL said:

SL is the only other professional rugby league competition in the world. There is always going to be plenty of movement between the two leagues. Including NRL players wanting to move to the other side of the world for a few years.

Not sure which players you are referring which made you post this. The most recent NRL-SL singings have been TPJ, Nick Cotric, Tristan Sailor, David Armstrong, John Bateman, Reimis Smith, and Luke Keary. All of those guys besides Keary are 23-28 and in the primes of their career.

Ta for that list.

I wonder if there is a full list of ex-NRL to SL/UK 2025 list anywhere.

I know we have a thread on TRL for the opposite, ex-SL/UK players in the NRL.

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1 hour ago, JM2010 said:

It would be nice for a lot of clubs to put a bit more emphasis on bringing juniors through. 
I know we can’t compete with the NRL so instead of just signing who they don’t want let’s develop more of our own

You're clearly not a Hull KR fan then?

This world was never meant for one as beautiful as me.
 
 
Wakefield Trinity RLFC
2012 - 2014 "The wasted years"

2013, 2014 & 2015 Official Magic Weekend "Whipping Boys"

2017 - The year the dream disappeared under Grix's left foot.

2018 - The FinniChezz Bromance 

2019 - The Return of the Prodigal Son

 

 

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2 hours ago, JM2010 said:

It would be nice for a lot of clubs to put a bit more emphasis on bringing juniors through. 
I know we can’t compete with the NRL so instead of just signing who they don’t want let’s develop more of our own

Clubs sign players to fill a void in quality. Whether they're from a different English club or overseas doesn't negate the issue with juniors. 

Juniors will never develop to a higher level without being in a high quality environment. So unless you already have a high quality environment, you'll need to bring in people from somewhere else. 

There appears to be a line of thinking that simply giving more game time to youngsters is all that is needed to develop them and that simply isn't true. We don't have the depth in quality across the league to simply produce a high enough standard of junior in high numbers. There needs to be a mixture of importing and producing. 

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6 hours ago, JM2010 said:

I seem to regularly be reading about NRL players who are at the end of their careers in the NRL being signed by SL clubs rather than retiring. This just seems to be where SL clubs and SL in general is at the moment. NRL players don’t see SL as a place they want to play unless they’ve finished their NRL career and just want to extend their careers by a couple of years and to see a bit of Europe. 
Surely it would be better for SL clubs and SL as a whole if they put more faith in their juniors and just had a few better quality NRL players.

Wigan, Saints and possibly Warrington seem to be the only clubs that aren’t doing this as much

Overseas players should be phased out of English clubs over a period of time making all clubs get serious about junior development.

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11 minutes ago, lucky 7 said:

Overseas players should be phased out of English clubs over a period of time making all clubs get serious about junior development.

I'm not aware of any league, in any sport, in any country across that world that doesn't allow foreign players.

RL has had overseas player bans at various times in the past, it never worked.

I think the answer is about getting the balance right, not adopting one extreme or the other.

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8 hours ago, JM2010 said:

I seem to regularly be reading about NRL players who are at the end of their careers in the NRL being signed by SL clubs rather than retiring. This just seems to be where SL clubs and SL in general is at the moment. NRL players don’t see SL as a place they want to play unless they’ve finished their NRL career and just want to extend their careers by a couple of years and to see a bit of Europe. 
Surely it would be better for SL clubs and SL as a whole if they put more faith in their juniors and just had a few better quality NRL players.

Wigan, Saints and possibly Warrington seem to be the only clubs that aren’t doing this as much

Pangai Jr box office any player who adds to the spectacle of the greatest game is a plus to me.

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2 hours ago, lucky 7 said:

Overseas players should be phased out of English clubs over a period of time making all clubs get serious about junior development.

Easy to say if you support one of the "big clubs" Try getting kids to sign if you are a samll club, local lads still go to the bigger clubs.

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4 hours ago, Wollo Wollo Wayoo said:

You're clearly not a Hull KR fan then?

Are Hull KR putting more effort into developing their juniors? They seem to be doing a lot of things right at the moment 

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3 hours ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

Clubs sign players to fill a void in quality. Whether they're from a different English club or overseas doesn't negate the issue with juniors. 

Juniors will never develop to a higher level without being in a high quality environment. So unless you already have a high quality environment, you'll need to bring in people from somewhere else. 

There appears to be a line of thinking that simply giving more game time to youngsters is all that is needed to develop them and that simply isn't true. We don't have the depth in quality across the league to simply produce a high enough standard of junior in high numbers. There needs to be a mixture of importing and producing. 

I agree. There’s not enough quality about for all clubs to bring through lots of juniors and the big clubs take most of the best ones. Increasing the junior pool is the best way to get better quality juniors coming through and then good quality coaching and set ups at the professional clubs for these juniors is what’s needed.

Unfortunately a lot of the overseas players being signed are the ones that are surplus to requirements in the NRL not top quality players (with a few exceptions)

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51 minutes ago, MrIzzard said:

Pangai Jr box office any player who adds to the spectacle of the greatest game is a plus to me.

I agree on that one but how many more are box office players in their prime?

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20 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

Are Hull KR putting more effort into developing their juniors? They seem to be doing a lot of things right at the moment 

Yes. The current crop of 16’s look like they could be a special group. Beat all the big teams this year including going to Wigan and winning. 5/6 in the reserves who have a real chance of making it (Gorman, Tennison, Fishwick, Ellis, Moore) and although all might not at rovers, I would be confident to say they will have careers.

 

Work to do still but I think the foundations are in place now for long term success. Helps the first team and club in general are succeeding making us a more attractive proposition. 
 

Hull doing well as well, both clubs seem to have their heads screwed on

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19 minutes ago, East Hull Robins said:

Yes. The current crop of 16’s look like they could be a special group. Beat all the big teams this year including going to Wigan and winning. 5/6 in the reserves who have a real chance of making it (Gorman, Tennison, Fishwick, Ellis, Moore) and although all might not at rovers, I would be confident to say they will have careers.

 

Work to do still but I think the foundations are in place now for long term success. Helps the first team and club in general are succeeding making us a more attractive proposition. 
 

Hull doing well as well, both clubs seem to have their heads screwed on

I like the sound of that. Hull is a hotbed for the game and it’s great that both Hull clubs are starting to take advantage of what’s on their doorstep. If the Hull clubs, Leeds and possibly Wakefield/Castleford can start to have the same success as the big 3 clubs on the other side of the Pennines with their juniors then the future of SL looks pretty good

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10 hours ago, NRLandSL said:

SL is the only other professional rugby league competition in the world. There is always going to be plenty of movement between the two leagues. Including NRL players wanting to move to the other side of the world for a few years.

Not sure which players you are referring which made you post this. The most recent NRL-SL singings have been TPJ, Nick Cotric, Tristan Sailor, David Armstrong, John Bateman, Reimis Smith, and Luke Keary. All of those guys besides Keary are 23-28 and in the primes of their career.

John Bateman is nearly 31 and nowhere near the prime of his career.

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13 hours ago, Red Willow said:

Easy to say if you support one of the "big clubs" Try getting kids to sign if you are a samll club, local lads still go to the bigger clubs.

My understanding is that you have an academy again, but didn't you have one before that your club owner at the time chose to shut down?

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