Father Ted wrote:
IMG should be insisting that to get a Super League licence a club should have a scholarship, academy and reserve team to complete a pathway structure to the first team.
I think I'm right in saying some clubs are prevented from running fully fledged academys/scholarship teams. To be honest I'm not sure that even in an ideal world everyone should have one anyway. There are a lot of players running round in reserves at some clubs who very obviously are never going to be Super League quality. They just chuck them in there because they are obliged to run a reserves. Meanwhile those players pour their efforts into an unobtainable dream instead of getting a normal job, qualifications etc, then they don't return to the amateur game when it all falls apart. It doesn't really get talked about but I do think there's a level of responsibility from the pro game to not irresponsibly get lads involved who have no real chance of making it.
It would take some smart management but I'd sooner see closer links between NCL sides and reserves so that players who mature later or take up the game later still have opportunities, and those who don't make it still return to the amateur game.
