www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/leag ... 1c1ba.html not a fan of introducing weight based junior teams. RL is a gladitaorial sport. if you are too small to take the knocks dont play it. teaches the smaller kids a good lesson about taking on bigger guys he future of the nrl will be players of Kiwi and Islander background their genetic gifts makes it harder for others to compete and if the PI and Kiwis can get just half of these kids on board int. RL will be doing very well

www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/leag ... 1c1ba.html not a fan of introducing weight based junior teams. RL is a gladitaorial sport. if you are too small to take the knocks dont play it. teaches the smaller kids a good lesson about taking on bigger guys he future of the nrl will be players of Kiwi and Islander background their genetic gifts makes it harder for others to compete and if the PI and Kiwis can get just half of these kids on board int. RL will be doing very well

Spoken like a true non-Aussie who doesn't have to hit it up against these guys every week.
This is more for the younger age groups.

watched the Storm v Reds SG Ball (U18's) couple of weeks ago and 15 of Storm's 17 were Polynesian looking kids. Fortuntely in our game a good small un can still be better than a big kid. Having said that it does seem that if you aren't 80kg+ by the time your 17 you are unlikely to make Toyota Cup.

The size issue is actually quite a big problem. The RFL have been aware of it inntheir schools programme where it was pproved that Kids who were born in september and the winter months were more likely to be playing the game in later years than were kids born in the summer months and this was due to size although they wre from the same age range.


Having big kids running over little kids does undermine attempts to develop skills for players. You dont develop much in the way of passing and kicking if the game is being played by 12 year old behemoths who get the ball and then just trample on the opposition. It is actually no good at all for either team.

That is why the author quite rightly points out the problems in skilful players coming through ( are the aussies really running out of skilful half backs).

I am sure those posters who run the amateur games can comment better but it it is an issue that needs dealing with

They have the same problem in union in New Zealand.I read a book called the Judas Game about professional union and a lot of the white kids are turning to soccer because they cannot compete.

If I was a Polynesian kids parent, I wouldnt be happy at sending, say, my 12 year old kid to play against a load of 16 year olds.

Age 12, the girls are usually bigger than the boys, let them play against them. It is a difficult one though because a 12 year old playing against say 14 or 15 year olds could end up being a fantastic player.

too small to hit it up go and play something else

no place to hide in RL, maybe they can play touch footy or something

you do wonder if we'll see the likes of Kimmorley, Campbell, Cronk, Sandow etc in the future? Having said that I watch a bit of Jnr RL here and the half backs and hookers are still generally the small white kids whilst the polynesians fill the forwards and outside backs now.

yeah theyll be fine

kids who cant tackle big polynesians arent suited for the nrl anyway because its going to be dominated with these kind of players so they might as well get used to it

I think a similar argument is going on in Rah Rah as well. Possibly even worse for them, because part of RU's appeal was that all shapes and sizes could play, from the fast thin kid to the lad who was built like a Portaloo. The pro era has changed all that, and it's feeding down into the juniors.

I guess that has probably been an issue in RL for a long time, but the specific demographics of the sport down under are causing this to be considered.

I'm not 100% convinced (I know nothing about junior RL) at all, but if there's a problem, it makes sense to at least consider a suggested solution.

I don't think you quite realise the extent to which the physical side of the game puts kids off. Kids who could with a bit of nurturing of their confidence turn out to be very good players. Even if they don't turn out to be players they've been kept in the sport and are more likely to at least be fans of the game and attend matches that if they had been lost to the sport at a young age.

Couple of points.

The best tackler on my son's U'14s team is the smallest (by some way!) boy on the team. So being of smaller stature doesn't always put kids off.

Likewise, my son is one of the biggest and fastest and plays a year above his age - he is of maori stock - but you wouldn't put him down as the youngest on the pitch. However, he also turns up for every training session and works hard to improve his skills. I have no doubt that playing above his age has improved him a lot more than if he played in his own age group. Natural size and strength can only take you so far. Big kids with no talent soon get found out on a rugby pitch.

I personally don't believe that they should introduce weight divisions and should keep to the current age-related rules.

I have seen kids including (this Sunday) who are well over 6ft and probably around 18+ stone playing in the U18s.

Is it fair? Maybe, maybe not. It's just the way it is. Most are Tongan or Samoan and not maori.

Dally should go and see some juniors play rather than quoting articles. He can get a true understanding of the size differences on offer.

i see the size difference in the nrl

good small players will make it to the NRL and the poor ones wont ...

just a fact that RL is a game for big kids that can run fast

much harder to play the game when your genes arent the right ones

kids might as well find that out when they are younger

they can still play touch footy if they want to play the game without getting hurt