Quote: SmokeyTA "that may be the case (and it certainly is in some areas, though not all) but Australia is a much much smaller country than GB, about 5 times smaller, the fact 55% of the kids play is immaterial in real numbers where the difference in player numbers (at youth and amateur level) is surprisingly small,
the main difference is that from youngsters to pros, RL in australia has quality coaching and quality competition, youth grade and reserve grade players in Australia are playing at a massively higher level than their british counterparts, our reserve comp isnt even worth comparing to the Aussie reserve grade comps, which are a higher level than the championship never mind our reserve comps which are barely above amateur level,
this gives them massive strength in depth, but also a clear path from youth, to reserve to first grade which allows players to develop,
here players like Kallum Watkins are stuck in limbo, they are far too good for youth and reserve grade, not yet good enough or developed enough to be playing week in week out super league, something like the Queensland cup or Bundeberg cup would be ideal for him, a mixture of seasoned players and youngsters perparing him for Superleague.
Australia have strong competitions providing huge numbers of talented players, we dont, we challenge and often better the rest at youth level, but we, as a country, arent bringing enough to the next level for us to ever have a competitive comp, we simply dont have the numbers right now
i would agree, the salary cap has nothing to do with it, its the quality of coaching, facilities, and pathways'"
I do agree with what you are saying, I just think the reason they have these pathways, and vast mount of talented players is a lot to do with the profile of the sport, something unfortunately the game doesn't have in the UK.
In Sydney and Brisbane the majority of young kids playing sport want to be RL players when they grow up (nothing to do with money) in England they want to play Soccer, it's something that RL in England will always battle with.
