RUGBY LEAGUE NEWS:
| Younger, fitter, stronger… | ||
| Written by: phantom eel (Eels) | ||
| January 30th 2010 05:59 PM | ||
At this point in each season we often find ourselves discussing which players should be given their first taste of representative football, with an Origin series up for grabs – or perhaps an Origin dynasty to either break or maintain. Again, the younger, fitter, stronger and more confident players get the nod as the older, tried and tested players having less impact make way. But during the Origin series itself we also get to see temporary glimpses of yet more young players, stepping into rather big shoes as they fill the representative vacancies in their club sides. It is these tentative steps into first grade that can be the indicator of whether a prodigy who has shown all the skill through the junior leagues might be capable of making a lengthy first grade NRL career in the years ahead. If they perform reasonably during their earliest tastes of top level footy, then a young player’s card is marked as one to watch… one for his club to attempt to re-sign, or for other clubs to approach and poach. Of course, we now have the National Youth Competition in place for players under 20 representing each of the NRL clubs, and televised as a curtain raiser to some weekly NRL matches on pay TV. This competition is often played on NRL game days and helps give the youthful charges a small taste of the lifestyle, the schedules, and rituals of what lies ahead if they make the cut for a professional rugby league career. The NYC is a great concept, and finally brings us back to a successful structure that had been part of the pre-expansion Sydney rugby league experience years ago, where you could trace the careers of players like Peter Sterling, Brett Kenny and Eric Grothe through the junior grades simply by getting to the first grade game day a little early. The game of rugby league evolves year on year based on the strength of its younger players coming through, the result of one giant generational production line. It’s what makes our game great and helps our code to survive in an increasingly crowded sports marketplace. So long as we look after the junior participation base – and the areas our young players are typically drawn from, including the country group competition areas – then our game can withstand all sorts of geographical incursions, broadcast arrangements and publicity campaigns from sporting codes. However, along with our constant celebration of the younger, fitter, stronger and more confident players filtering through into our game, there are some downsides to the rate at which we turn these talented kids into stars. Like Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Gray, the ever evolving, ever improving and ever youthful spectacle of rugby league also has a less attractive legacy hiding in the shadows, a result of our fascination with youth and the next best thing. Like Dorian Gray himself, we all need to be careful that we don’t sell out our game’s soul just to try and ride on the crest of this wave of youth. My point in this discussion about young players I guess stems from the news that a young Eels halfback named Albert Kelly has been snapped up by the Sharks for next season. I’ve seen this Albert Kelly play. And if you’ve read the papers you’ve likely heard his name, and perhaps even seen him on TV during broadcasts of the National Youth Competition matches. He is yet to play a single first grade match, and we have no idea how he’ll fare in open age footy – whether he’ll be one of the ones capable of a lengthy NRL career or whether he’ll fall at the first hurdle. But the shadowy side of our collective fascination with the younger, faster, stronger and more confident in rugby league is the hype that comes with it. Will Kelly eventually become the next Peter Sterling, or simply be next year’s Ben Barba? That’s the risk the Sharks have taken, and that’s the challenge that Albert will face. If he can be younger, fitter, stronger and more confident than those who've come before him, he will be proof that rugby league indeed is a young man's game. ---- 750 words Posted in the F7s Matches forum in July 2009 The F7s is an article writing competition hosted on The Front Row forums here on LeagueUnlimited.com To join a team, click on the banner below  FOR ALL F7s MATCHES, CLICK HERE |
