ARL considering return to reserve grade
16th April 2009
It's what every league fan wants: Three grades playing at the same ground on game day, just like in the old days. The ARL is considering bowing to public demand, conceding that the muddled NSW lower grade system is having issues. ARL boss Geoff Carr last night said he would consider a new look reserve grade playing on NRL match day alongside the Under 20s after Bulldogs coach Kevin Moore threatened to abandon the NSW Cup because of a scheduling blunder. Moore slammed the competition and warned of sending players to the Queensland Cup because of a farcical situation that has delayed the return of his $200,000 a year prop Jarrad Hickey by 20 days. "Hickey has been busting his arse to get back early and now he is fit to play but can't find a game," Moore said. "Our feeder side, the Bankstown Bulls, didn't play last weekend because of Easter and won't play this weekend because they have the bye. I would have picked Jarrad this week had he had a game under his belt." NSW Cup teams only play 20 games compared to the NRL's 24, exposing a gaping hole between the Under 20s National Youth Competition and the NRL. Moore's spray last night prompted ARL boss Geoff Carr to concede that the NSW Cup was a work in progress before saying he was open to a return to three-match game days. "We need NRL clubs to support this competition," Carr said. "We want to be the second tier NRL competition. Premier League was always the second competition but then the Under 20s started." Moore slammed the NSW Cup as substandard and said only a few NYC players were ready for the NRL. He claimed it was a major issue. "The quality is diluted by the fact there is another competition (The Bundaberg Red Cup) that is in direct competition with it. "I can't get blokes fit or get a gauge of form. It is quite ridiculous. The word 'diabolic' is close to the mark. I can't get a bloke on the fringe of first grade into a regular, good quality competition." NSW is at risk of losing some of its most promising players to Queensland or rival codes, because of a gaping hole between the NYC and the NSW Cup. The Under-20s competition is great but it should not have come at the expense of an elite competition below the NRL. League powerbrokers who pushed for the NYC will argue that is what the NSW Cup is - a competition as good as reserve grade. It is not. It is a Metro Cup comp with a sprinkling of NRL talent. Glorified park football. And it is embarrassing for NRL-standard players like Jarrad Hickey and Daniel Holdsworth who must play at grounds like Ringrose Park in front of a couple of hundred fans, mostly friends and family. Or not play for 20 days because of gaps in the competition. The Bankstown Bulls, where the Bulldogs send their full-time over-age players who miss out on NRL, will play 20 games this year in the competition regular - four less than the NRL. That means those NRL-contracted players will have nowhere to play on those weekends, losing match fitness and missing out on the opportunity to push for an NRL berth. What a farce. That's why clubs like the Sea Eagles and the Raiders base their reserve- grade teams in Queensland. The axing of the Premier League in 2007 was a cost-cutting exercise but it has become a major issue. NRL players who don't make the grade are now sent for a run around the park with former Metropolitan Cup teams. They got it, but at the expense of a decent over-age competition and league will pay the price. Players over 20 are dropping out of the game or moving to Queensland to play in the Queensland Cup. There is no longer a genuine NRL pathway for them in NSW. And that is bad for the NRL because most teenagers aren't ready for the NRL. Also some U20s players (who are now too old for the NYC) don't like the idea of playing for NSW Cup sides. After a year of playing in the stadiums, and wearing the colours of an NRL side, they see playing in the NSW Cup as a step down. The Broncos know this - that's why they are playing their best young talents in the Queensland Cup, not in the Toyota Cup. Sure guys like Israel Folau and Dave Taylor were born ready but most, especially forwards, need time to develop. We need a proper, professional pathway to the NRL and we don't have it. There is a solution. The NSW-based NRL teams, plus the Raiders and Melbourne, could have a reserve- grade competition to be played on game day before or after the Under-20s. Travel costs would be minimal and players would not have to leave their clubs to get a game. Of course wages would be higher, but I have been told clubs would be able to find sponsors for reserve-grade sides. There are issues. Stadium managers don't want the wear and tear on the ground and scheduling would be a problem but we are talking about the future of the game.