So we’re going full 2020 again and replacing experience with untried youth…
cool….
I remember Robinson once discussing his views on roster balance and how he tries to manage his for the long term.
I forget how he exactly grouped them but it was something like
Veterans
Seasoned
Rookies
I decided to do my own exercise with it for the Broncos 2023 Squad, adding a few more categories into the mix.
200+ Games
Adam Reynolds
100-199 Games
Corey Oates
Kurt Capewell
60-99 Games
Payne Haas
Corey Jensen
Thomas Flegler
Kotoni Staggs
Patrick Carrigan
20-59 Games
Herbie Farnworth
Jordan Riki
Jordan Pereira
Jesse Arthars
Reece Walsh
Kobe Hetherington
Billy Walters
Tesi Niu
Keenan Palasia
Cory Paix
Selwyn Cobbo
Tyson Gamble*
6-19 Games
TC Robati
Ezra Mam
0-5 Games
Xavier Willison
Deine Mariner
Brendan Piakura
Blake Mozer
Ethan Quai-Ward
Now I may have gone too far with the sub-categories, but this was the general rule of thumb.
200 Games
Your veterans who maybe past their physical peaks but have a great understanding of the game and can problem solve with the best of them.
100-199 Games
Typically an experienced player who has made a career out of the sport. Ideally these are players entering their peak years but can often be filled with veterans who had their share of disruptions whether it be code changes
60-99 Games
A player who has broken out of the 3 season average and they're important parts of the team but they may lack experience in the bigger games.
20-59 Games
Most NRL careers only last three seasons, so this is your regular category where you expect the most amount of movement. You also see tend to see a mixture of depth players and developing players.
6-19 Games
These are the players who have played enough games to earn more responsibility but they're still essentially rookies and have to be shown some level of patience.
0-5 Games
These are your rookies and typically you've promoted them to the NRL squad because they're supremely talented but you know that you've really got to simplify their role and give them room to make mistakes.
Now is that the general rule of thumb clubs operate under? No, but I thought it was an interesting way to look at squads under those terms.