There have been a couple of comments from Bog brush man and MarkM in recent weeks about the selection of younger players on the basis of their size rather than ability. That struck a bit of a chord with me when watching some of the U20 matches last year, because quite a lot of the players seemed to have a very similar build. So I have dug into the handbook and looked up the physical dimensions of our young back row players;

Currie 188cm, 100Kg
Bridge 185cm, 101Kg
Laithwaite 188cm, 101Kg

They look virtually identical, almost clones in fact. Yet in our senior players, we do have rather more variation with House at 192cm, 106Kg and Grix 180cm, 95Kg.

So the question is, have coaches made a selection early in their careers, or has it been a process of 'natural selection' as they progressed through the academy system. Is 188 cm and 100Kg the perfect size for a BR forward, where both quick speed off the mark combined with sufficient 'mass' meets the needs of the modern day forward ?

Rob Burrow has got a lot of catching up at 66kg & 165cm.

Yes, I think his aspirations of playing prop have gone I am afraid, but he could still make a decent BR if he worked hard.

Rob Burrow is a massive exception. There is a school of though (right or wrong) that seems to think if you can get a big, strong athlete you can then develop the core skills.

To coin an old phrase; "A good big un's better than a good little un".

Different sport, but there is a brilliant Brazilian documentary from a few years back made by Fernando Meirelles who directed City of God and The Constant Gardener.
It is called "Ginga: The Soul of Brasilian Football" and it focuses on young kids in various backgrounds in Brazil, and shows how they try to get into professional football.

One thing it touches on is how some of the best Brazilian footballers have come in all different shapes and sizes over the years, but how in modern day Brazil, you can not even get a trial at a club unless you are a certain height and build by 16 and you can run 100 meters within a certain time.

There is a certain truth in it, because 8 years later the Brazil team is full of tall, well built, athletic footballers, but they have lost that magic they once had and haven't won anything for a good few years.

As has already been touched upon, the thought process behind this, is that skills can be taught, but build, height, speed, athleticism cannot.

So at 183cm and 86kg, i'm a little short and lightweight, that actually makes me feel a lot better

Many of the best players in our league today - Burrow and Tomkins for two - have been told at some stage that they were too small. It's pretty lazy stuff and this idea that you can learn the core skills later is why the Aussies cane us at international level.

Tomkins was nearly let go at 16 by Wigan as they thought he wouldn't make it, some of that was due to his height and weight.

Preston Campbell, how did he cope in the rough old NRL?

Avoided being tackled.

Perhaps if people spent less time studying body mass stats and a bit more time studying skills, we wouldn't be desperately trying to find an international half back pairing capable of timing a pass, and praying for Lee Briers recovery from injury.

Therein lies the very root of the problem.

If these small kids with great ball skills were so good then they would be running rings round the bigger guys and if the top clubs missed out on picking them up they would play their way through the lower leagues by showing how good they were.

Of course a few amateur coaches on here, know so much about junior RL, and unfortunately all of the professionals don't...