Under 20’s, what should we do with them?

I have been hearing alot of dissention about the current format for our elite tiers of Rugby League in this State and the most contentious one is where the Toyota Cup sits amongst the other senior grades.

On one hand you have exciting young footballers who are testing themselves against the best of the best in the code right up and down the eastern seaboard and into NZ. This gives Rugby League a pathway to showcase the very best athletes in Australia on the big stage and also gives the NRL a ‘vehicle’ to generate value with bradcasters and sponsors. The players are treated like their NRL colleagues, by training 4 – 5 times a week, having support crews, multiple coaches, premium equipment and training facilities, are flown around Australia and overseas to play all at the ripe age of 18 and above.
On the other hand you have a lot of footballers who are over age for Toyota Cup and not quite in the top 25 being left to follow their dreams at suburban grounds in front of family and friends, training 2 or 3 nights aweek at sub standard fields with little or no support mechanisms in place.

For me personally I beleive there is room for both, as we need our over age comps to allow our next generation players to cut there teeth against hardened semi professionals and our youth competition needs to continue to generate interest in the game at an elite youth level.

My solution for this is to play the VB Cup (Second Grade) as a precurser to the NRL fixture and where possible play the U/20’s at the undercard for the VB Cup fixture. This will keep the quality chronological and give patrons value for money and a reason to get to the game early. Where games fall that teams play interstate or overseas then the U/20’s team will not travel and will become ambassadors for the code in remote locations like Dubbo, Wagga, Orange, Bathurst, Toowoomba, Rockhampton, Mackay, Sunshine Coast, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie etc. This will keep costs down and where possible play these games in these locations to help raise funds for struggling bush footy clubs.