Quote: martinwildbull "both Hood and Potter stated that they only wanted to play the younger players when it was right for them and their development, but they are still (well Potter now) hostage to the misfortune of injuries and fixtures.'"
This is only relevant for the first team and young players going into the first team
It does not really have relevance to what I am saying about the U18s in the current circumstances
The reason for having a U20s / U23s / (second team in my day) is as follows:-
1) so that any first team squad over 20 (up to 5) can play whilst on the fringe or coming back from injury,
2) any other signed on players Under 20 (this age restriction is STUPID and will hopefully be increased to 23) can play and develop hopefully into getting into the first team squad - with the aim of building up 1st team squads with home grown players to replace overseas players
The 20s play in a competition, so that games are meaningful, but as is the case now with Bulls U20s results to date, their meaningful involvement in that competion is OVER for this season.
So it is my opinion that it is now wrong to dilute the U18s so that the 20s have a team, which does not contain any (or many) first team squad members and has no chance of achieving anything in its competition.
Only put 18s in the 20s when it will help their development, which under the current circumstances, is not likely when they will go into a team with few or no first team experienced players in it, those 20s who are playing have not achieved a win this year, and with other U18s with little experience.
Keep the U 18s together as a strong team to grow with the confidence of having a chance to win and the rewards will come in the next two years with a strong 20s which will be a positive environment for the development of these players and should lead to more of them coming through into first team contention.
