Quote: Riderofthepalehorse "Don’t think the lesson was ever hidden M.R. In our competition we are split and hampered by the threat of relegation, or the chase for silverware, whichever camp we fall in, all clubs choose quick fixes to strengthen either cause, while youth, the only sustainable way forward was overlooked rather than forgotten.
Let’s hope with the emergence of young talent coming through, indeed we ourselves are loaning some of these starlets, the penny has finally dropped, and this overhyped madness of bringing no longer hungry, or physically able ex NRL players is long gone.
Personally this Sky overrated jeopardy regarding the demise of Wakey or Toulouse in a fabulous battle at the bottom, with the added spice of dragging Warrington in, is absolute nonsense, the quality is poor, we need to freshen it all up.'"
Doesn’t the fact that Cas used to get loads of praise for bringing through players (Westerman, Shenton, Richard Owen, Joe Arundel and the like) while fighting relegation and generally being cack, but then improved significantly without much input from young academy products suggest that there isn’t just only one sustainable way forward? Opening with a passive-aggressive rhetorical question… might have to change my username at this rate.
A productive academy is obviously better than an unproductive academy. But I really don’t get why it being seen as such a key differentiator is so ingrained in the RL psyche. I don’t think the evidence remotely supports it (unless you go cherrypicking), so it seems like an emotional thing of people wanting it to be true or just one of those ‘conventional wisdom’ things.
At least if you fail in a conventional way there’s no criticism and if you lose games, year after year, while trying to do things ‘the right way’, your eulogies will be full of patronising praise. I wonder which period Cas fans preferred and which was better for long-term sustainability of their club.
The chase for silverware and the threat of relegation and generally trying to win aren’t distractions. They’re meant to be the whole point. Developing players is meant to be just a means to that end, not the main goal in itself.
Ahhhhhh, Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!
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