West Hull this week then East Leeds for Crigg

The sharks can smell blood.

nice contribution

think he could be on about the exodus snowie! at least another 2?

Oulton Under 8's played a very tough East Leeds team at the weekend and struggled a bit against their defense. Uphill in the first half, we couldn't really get on the front foot against them, they hit very hard - certainly harder than any other team we have played. They moved up in defense, tackled hard, hardly ran into touch and had good ball retention.

Our lads stuck at it, and got going a bit more in the second half and closed the gap but we still had a bit too much to do. We asked the boys to keep hold of the ball and not go into touch, and they did this very well - so a pleasing improvement on the previous week in the areas we worked on in training. The lads showed plenty of bottle against a team very different and much tougher than they have played against previously, so we learned a lot.

Their parents said that this team had played under 8's for the last 2 years - don't know how that would have worked, but they certainly appeared much more hardened than other sides we have played against. It does appear though from talking to other coaches that a fair few of the "new" sides in this years under 8's are in at least their second year at this level so it will be interesting when they split into divisions at Easter.

This is for excited dads , mums etc but I just find it a little bit of a giggle to read some references of the 8s games at the moment.

Its as if the scouts sould be out , sorry no offence . Next year the 8s wont even be scoring as wont the 7s. I think some of the changes made recently do good for the game but our impossible to referee.

I do think when you do your reports at this age its always important to remember how "bravely" the opposition fought etc . Even if you did find it an easy win.

You are dealing with very small children on either side bud.

? Are we on about Shaw Cross or the post above Crigg v West Hull cos im baffled by innuendos.

Is this post aimed at me?

The new rules are a joke. They are aimed at developing skill and stoping individual players dominating games. My youngest tonight scored 9 tries under the new rules, last week he scored 8. Some players don't get the ball because the dominant players were taking it on their own to play between themselves. Players were throwing the ball anywhere pushing rather than tackling and running backwards to avoid contact.

My youngest after tonight asked me if he could give football a go because he no longer enjoys "playing" rugby league he is not alone in his age group of kids who find the new rules, the ref at the end says there are no winners the kids stand round wondering what is the point.

I would be happy for anyone to watch my U9s they play to because they enjoy it but they also enjoy it more when they win. It is not the be all and end all but it is important. Still what would I know.

Genuine question then why does it suddenly become important to start recording or acknowledging wins at 12 more than it does at 7?

I've coached 2 teams now each for about 5 years, including the one I'm currently with. At mini and mod each lost to 'give it to the big kid' rugby, while we emphasised the importance of skill development in all the players regardless of the result, our opponents though took the ball standing still ran zig zags across the pitch all to get a
win with the coaches thinking it was great?! My role was to let the players know it's good to want to win though their long term development is more important than playing crap Rugby to get a win and they 100% bought into this as the players perceptions are very much influenced by the coaches behavior and responses. I'm very proud that both sides progressed from the lowest 'group' to the 1st division through the skills they developed.

Don't forget that at this level of the game the biggest influence over the result at mini and mod especially is physicality, with the bigger sides dominating and their coaches on the side line thinking they're doing a great job. Though when that levels out some of these lads have not a clue how to play due to the reliance on size.

The window of opportunity to develop 'athletic' skill over sport specific skill is 8-12yrs, the intention of not placing too much emphasis on the result is to try prevent coaches living vicariously through their players and doing anything to get a result at the deferment of development. The LTAD model was put together to illustrate the important phases of trainability and what the emphasis should be at each stage, that's why 12s becomes more competitive.

Bang on the money with both posts Seth. The issue of winning and losing is an issue with the coach.

The level 1 coaching badge does very little to address this either. In fact I am not really sure what it does apart from let a group of blokes throw a rugby ball about for 2 days of a month.

I personally try to ensure all players are coached the same set of skills regardless of size or ability. All kids get the same amount of game time regardless of ability even to the potential detriment of the result. I have seen examples in games where subs do not get used at all by come coaches, or where 1 player gets 3 drives in a set because they are the biggest.

I am passionate about junior development and part of that development is encouraging competition. I am a big fan of the principles of Muscular Christianity encouraging competition and outcome goals. Is it the be all and end all? No skill development and fun is but to question if winning and losing matters I think is wrong as it does to the kids.

When I was involved with Academy rugby I was far less worried about winning and losing than I am now as those lads had hopefully developed the competitive trait. That for me was purely about getting players to First Team level.

Junior coaches are molding personalities at a crucial age and competitive spirit and confidence for future success in whatever they do is important in my opinion.

Panthers 14s game with siddal was abandoned 10 minutes into the second half due to a serious leg injury to a siddal player. The panthers were leading 14-0 at the time and in complete control. I'm not sure if the result will stand given the circumstances.

I hope the lad isn't has badly injured has he looked and I wish him a speedy recovery.

Has for the panthers this was another step in the right direction with some cruel defence on a much bigger side.

in a word NO .

you have cleary not read the thread im having a discussion with john