Whilst watching the Exiles game I had a thought, do we have a problem in the youth coaching setup in this country by the fact that our best players are always the biggest. Our forwards could match the Aussie forwards but the backs are significantly poorer, this theme also translates to other sports such as football.

Take Messi for example at an English club it is widely regarded that he wouldn’t be a forward based on the fact English centre forwards have to be big and strong ala Shearer, Carroll and Heskey etc. He would have been converted to a winger probably such as Lennon and Walcott have. He would be significantly less of a player than he is now. We have an emphasis in this country that size seems to be as important as skill.

As kids all develop at different rates is it possible that the ones that develop earliest and become bigger and stronger first will be prominent amongst their peers therefore stand out more and be encouraged more by clubs/coaches. There are of course examples of smaller players such as Sam Tomkins and Burrow making it but there must be a reason why we have been able to create forwards capable of competing in the NRL such as Ellis, Burgess and soon to be Graham whilst any backs that have ventured over have quickly been deemed not good enough.

My question is do we as a country emphasise power and build over core skills? do we select the kids at too early an age meaning the kids later to develop are overlooked for the bigger lads meaning they are not encouraged as much until they in turn develop, by then they’ve missed a few key years?

I don't disagree but the side will always be vulnerable to the offload because the little guys can only tackle round the legs

Could not agree more - having followed my two lads from U11 to open age what you describe is exactly what I used to experience every week. The abuse these kids took was appalling especially from parents of their own side and how they ever found anyone willing to ref the game was beyond me.

This situation gets worse the better the player. The coaches on the whole do their best to develop skills and a love for the game.

This issue is an enormous discussion point in Australia too. Apparently the white Australian boys are being pushed aside, no matter how talented, by Polynesian boys who can be up to twice their size. It means junior representative sides are packed with Islanders and these are always the first to be pulled up into the professional system, leaving the talented white Australian's who haven't developed physically cast aside.

It's a big issue in every sport. The 'best' players in most school football teams are the big lads who are physically dominant. You see them storming through, relying more and more on their size and power as they go on, often neglecting their skills completely. They reach 18, start playing with men their own size and suddenly find out they aren't all that afterall.

This unfortunately is totally correct.