If we really cared about Int RL and cared more than we do about SL then here is what I would do when made king!

1. Remove 500,000 pounds from each SL club grant per year
2. Give each SL club an area containing 50 schools
3. Entice those 50 schools to play RL with an annual grant of 10,000 pounds each to run two age teams in an inter school comp running from Feb-June. The grant could be used for pitch and facility development, teachers to get coaching qualifications, kit etc.
4. For the SL club to get the rest of the TV grant they have to provide those 50 schools ith support, coaching clinics, meet the players etc etc
5. As part of the holding of a franchise Sl clubs have to run an elite schoolboy academy picking the best kids from thsoe 50 school competitions. These elite squads then play each other during summer holidays in an interclub elite competition. The kids receive a higher level of coaching as well as get inspiration to go on and work hard to become pro RL players.


Imagine somewhere like Hull. 100 schools running two well coached and equipped teams each. 4000 kids playing schoolboy RL. Two elite squads at two age groups. WE"D SEE dozens of quality players coming through within a decade. And all for the price of 3 or 4 overseas players salaries a year!

Last time I checked there wasn't a problem in the Wakefield district with High Schools producing good players, 2 high schools from Cas alone make the National finals every year, Wigan/St Helens area have good schools, so does Wales. It's not the fault of schools the national team aren't good enough, it's BARLA's for not moving the junior game to the summer - that would increase participation numbers because football isn't played at the same time and it's far better weather to play the game, what 11 year old wants to play RL on a Sunday morning in fog and minus numbers temperature?

Absolutely spot on!

How many schoolboy players are ther? In my schme there would be 2000 in Cas's area, 2000 in Wakeys area etc. Only when we get to these sort of numbers (as the Aussies have done) will we see large amount of talent coming out of the school system. re the summer bit, this is where the SL clubs elite system would kick in. With all due respect to BARLA we need a structure that teaches kids under a high talent scheme from the age of 14 onwards. Jus like the Australians have done.

ps Imagine how much quicker the likes of France and Wales would develop as well if they were forced to have 50 schools each unde rthem!

the money is there, we are just choosing to spend it in the wrong places for what oour game needs

taking money from the top of the game wont help.

standards will drop at the top level and we will never get anywhere near as close as we are now. crowds will drop further, money will drop further..etc..

the problem is that RL is a minority sport here, and the number 1 sport in Sydney - the best athletes in Sydney play RL, the best athletes in the UK play football. There is nothing that can be done to address that IMO.

As much as I like the idea of schools being tied to clubs (especially in the Cas area, given that it is arguably the top hotbed of talent in the UK along with Wigan), I don't really see where clubs struggling to make ends meet will find £500k to cut from their budgets.

Points 2, 4 and 5 could be done without taking money out of clubs, and should perhaps be a part of the licence criteria - another tick box under youth development. Possibly put free tickets in for an incentive rather than cash?

TBH the money should be coming from the RFL, not the clubs. It's the RFL's job to maintain and develop the game so it's they who should foot the bill

I keep hearing this but is it really true? We produced world class RL players 30 years ago and Football was just as big in this country as it is now. Also who are these top athletes that play football how many English footballers have ever played RL? And how did we miss out on them? Apart from Giggs

Haven't the RFL just been awarded £30 million from Sport England for grass roots developement?

Nail, head. The fact that kids still play rugby in winter is incredible.

We certainly need the amatuer game to move to the summer. It's so silly that it's still a winter sport.

It would be doing, by not giving clubs all of the Sky money to squander on ageing antipodeans!

If you don't spend significant amounts on Jnr RL then we will never ever get anywhere. it is down to two things, 1. numbers 2. quality of coaching through the age groups

The more players you have the more cream rises and the better chance to find our own Slater or Inglis. We face a battle to entice schoolkids to play RL over soccer. What better way than "sponsoring" schools with significant amounts of money to take up RL and giving them an infrastructure to do it well?

The game has changed completely. no disrespect to the guys who played 30 years ago, but the athletic requirements of players at the top level now are completely different.

we are probably producing the same number of world class players we did in the past - we have never had a team of 1-13 world class superstars.

the Aussies have a freaky number of world class players us at this moment in time. Swap Billy Slater and Greg Inglis with Briscoe and Bridge - and we would be celebrating a 4Nations win now.



thats the point I was making - they never play RL, they never have and never will. There is nothing we can do about the domination of football in this country.

There seems to be a bit of a contradiction here: we can't compete with football because so many kids want to play it, yet we need to change RL to a summer season because kids don't want to play outside in the winter.

I disagree, get schools on board through first of all touch RL then money support and structured school comps and kids will play the game. I played hockey at school. Not because I liked it, not because I wanted to be a hockey player but becasue our PE teacher told us we had to!

Penrith Leagues spends over 300,000 pounds a year on jnr RL in their area, an area similiar in population to Huddersfield. I wonder how much the Giants spend on Jnr RL?

Send them an email.
Rugby league clubs shouldn't be funding school PE lessons. I dont think they'd be able to anyway. Working in partnerships with schools with regard to after school clubs is something that should be looked into though.

That of course assumes that there are 100 schools in Wakey's & Cas' area. Which there are not. More like 14-16ish high schools in the joint area. Pretty much most of which will already run a team in each year group. As it is, I think the involvement of SL clubs in school liaison and the general level of RL coaching in school has improved, although I think it is still rather haphazard rather than systematic.

As for the moving junior rugby to summer, fine at club level. However, it would be hard to synchronise schools rugby with this. You'd be limiting matches to the March-October time, which cuts across two different school years and has huge chunks of time taken out of it by holidays and the examination period (school cricket faces this problem, you end up with an effective season of about 10 weeks and you can't run teams in the last year).

In terms of maximising our player pool, I don't think there is masses of missed potential (i.e. kids with the athletic ability that are lost to other sports) as far as within areas where league is dominant. My experience within these areas suggests that the majority of kids who have the ability get into the game. The wider issue is broadening the base to areas that are beyond the heartlands. What seems to be an issue with some is developing from school age to beyond; far too many who have the potential don't seem to have the real commitment/aren't 'looked after' in the right way and so fall by the way side.

The game has moved on, but the core skills of a good RL player haven't changed that much, you still needed to be able to kick, and pass accuratly, to know how to run a good line, know how to offload in the tackle, but for some reason even our top players are lacking in this department.

Aaraon Ramsey was scouted by Saints IIRC

IMO, this is where the ex-players can be utilised.

People say that there aren't jobs for all of them in RL after they retire. Damn right they are, but imagine if ex-players went into the locals schools, and taught them how to play it. Not just the one off, but every week.

I know it sounds mad, it probably is, but imagine your kids coming home from school saying, "Hey dad, I was playing rugby with Scully/Farrell/Radlinksi etc"

As much as it sounds stupid, it would give these players the oppertunities when they retire to ease them into retirement.

Only just thought of the idea, didn't give it much thought, but these players who were at the top of our game for so long passing on their skills to the future of our game would only improve their future abilities.

Why would all these kids you find want to play professional RL when the clubs, with £500k less to spend, can't afford to offer them a decent salary?

we dont need to take money from clubs to do this,

all we need to do is make their success and participation dependant on it

cut the Sky money, but allow clubs to earn it and more back for providing SL quality youngsters,

cut £500k from the sky money, clubs get £5k back for each player that signed for them before their 19th birthday who plays 10 games or more for them in that season

with another £10k for any player who came through their academy who plays for Eng/GB (or Wales, france, Scotland, ireland if they are the onesplaying in the 4 nations for that year and they play in that comp) in that season

also cut the SC to £800k, any player who comes through that clubs academy counts 0% on cap,

any player who comes from one of the european developing nations (inc USA and Lebanon etc who seem to be in the European federation) counts 25%

any GB qualified player who comes through at a lower league or Union club counts 50% on cap

any GB qualified player who comes from another SL club counts 75%

any player from the NRL or Aussie lower leagues counts 100% on cap

force clubs to bring in players from place other than the NRL,

if clubs want to spend all their money on NRL players they can, but they will only be able to afford crap ones

Nice points about getting the game into schools but there is one big stumbling block the teaching union! they will strongly resist any non qualified (teaching degree) entering schools to even help in training Yes I know there are exceptions to this but they are few & far between.

A lot of people in the education system resist any money put into sport & a lot activley divert or turn a blind eye to funds going to other areas.

A lot of teachers in the primary schools wont let competative sport into thier schools.

On a historic note I live 9 miles from Hull growing up in the 1950,s I could only play soccer & only started playing Union (no league in our area at the time) at 11 then there was no organised competition. in my teens when I went for trials in league i was mixing with kids who had played in competative schools competitions from primary school (four years before I was allowed to play union) they were streets ahead of me & I despite being a so called prospect found it hard. The point is all that has gone it is no longer part of primary school education they were the years we could not loose to Australia.

Agreed. The athletes most suited to football would not be well suited at all to RL. To say we are losing players to football is a bit crackers. Beckham at prop forward? I don't think so.

Beckham at centre or fullback? Maybe!

The beauty of our game is caters for all shapes and sizes.