www.totalrl.com/plenty-in-reserv ... rve-grade/ Halifax coach Richard Marshall thoughts on running a reserve side and the benefits it has. My personal view is that all super league clubs should be made to have a reserve side, it should be a condition of being in super league, all championship clubs should be offered some financial support to run a reserve side.

www.totalrl.com/plenty-in-reserv ... rve-grade/ Halifax coach Richard Marshall thoughts on running a reserve side and the benefits it has. My personal view is that all super league clubs should be made to have a reserve side, it should be a condition of being in super league, all championship clubs should be offered some financial support to run a reserve side.

They also should run their OWN academy

We had it right when we had u18's academy and u20's with a few overage players allowed. This could have been tweaked slightly but was along the right lines. This was scrapped simply to save clubs a few quid.

The reserve grade used to work in the semi pro game as there were lots of young lads (like myself) who could get a chance at a pro club, then the step up to first team was not as great as the levels of personal fitness were no where near todays standard. For super league clubs to run reserves they would need to be full time & as in my day the club would have a lot of players on the books who would never make the grade just to make up the match day 17. Unlike the past the cost would be a drain on any club & keep players away from championship & lower league teams. I am not a fan of academies as they are a real drain on the amateur game to a point where player numbers are causing clubs real problems & unfulfilled fixtures as many of the kids never return to the amateur clubs. Also the academies have large numbers of kids in the side to make up the numbers who wont make the fist team they would be better off increasing the ranks at amateur level.

There is a lot of sense in this. Reserve grade would see big numbers of dual reg players leave the championship increasing the gap between SL and the Championship, this would then be exacerbated by the fact the best 20-23 year olds who currently drop down would stay in reserve grade.

Then ambitious championship clubs like that mentioned in the article are scratching down at their current reserve level for senior level and bringing in the next level as reserve grade and academy taking more kids out of amateur RL.

I know the aussies have more money then us but why don't we ask how they do it and maybe we can learn from them and do it has well but at a cheaper way

The main issue is there aren't enough kids playing the game. Increase the numbers and all levels of the game are better off.

In the past the game thrived with colts and "A" team set ups. This should be possible at SL level at least.

too many kids nowadays just leave the game at 16-17 if there not singed to a pro club, the once vibrant open age amateur game is really dying. this is partly pro clubs fault has they want to throw players on the scrap heap at 20, it would be interesting to know how many players who are cast aside go back to playing for fun compared with just how many just give up playing.

i new a few players who did not make the cut at academy level but then were signed to pro clubs after 2-3 years in the tough national conference league, that would not happen now.

we cannot and never will be able to compete with Soccer, even in USA soccer as made use inroads and is pushing the big fore sports over there. but like soccer in usa which will never be able to compete with NFL or Major league baseball. we must strive like you say to grow the game as much as possible, we used to be arguably the the number 2 team sport and are lagging behind too many sports, women football is overtaking RL at moment. we should be able to over take cricket and back on a level with union.

I agree 100% but I live in hope that our game will thrive & grow. It is worth remembering that our game is less than 150 years old in fact most team sports are relatively young so it shows what can be done in a short period of time. The trick is to find that spark that will ignite the publics interest in league. But as we see even us anoraks who live the game can't agree on how to proceed or what we actually want our game to be. Interesting times eh.

Reserve grade in Queensland is an entirely stand alone competition amongst the traditional Queensland clubs. Those same clubs are where the likes of Meninga, Kewis et al played, sometimes their entire careers. Now its genuinely a feeder comp for the NRL. In itself it belies the fact that players need to be full time in reserve grade, as by far the majority of Queensland Cup players are part time. The only full timers are those contracted to NRL clubs. Yet Queensland Cup players are fit and as a competition it would easily rank with the Championship IMO.

NSW Cup is on a par with lower ranking Super League clubs, generally. A few anomalies (I noticed Cameron Phelps playing at 6 for Mounties last year) - but overall pretty good.

It sounds similar to non league soccer here with a mix of old pro's handy young lads trying to make the jump up to full time pro or young contracted lads getting experience at open age. But as we keep saying our problem here in the UK is numbers. We don't have enough teams from under 8's to open age to allow it to happen. I would love the fringe pro lads to play in the national conference as it would maybe attract more of their age group to come along, add interest to amateur teams & show a clear development path to the late developers who are surely about.