Kooly87
NRL Captain
- Jun 2, 2017
- 4,197
- 7,275
So I've been thinking hard about where the game will go in the next 5-10 years and the two things I see as likely inevitable are firstly the implementation of a Draft System, which I'll save for another time, as well as an overhaul of the current Reserve Grade System.
As most of you know, clubs either directly operate their own Reserve Grade side in either the Queensland or NSW Cup, or alternatively they partner up with one or several of the local state based sides to spread their surplus NRL talent around.
I'm curious to gauge people's thought's about a national Reserve Grade competition and whether an idea like this would firstly be sustainable, and secondly whether it would be more beneficial than the current State based systems already in place.
There are a couple of major obstacles, the first of which would be the cost. Flying teams around the Eastern Seaboard is expensive, time consuming, and would require many of the players who are only part time footballers to spend more time away from their families and their jobs.
The second major obstacle would be the considerable wealth gaps between the top and bottom level clubs in both states, which may only be exacerbated by the increased competition for finals football, exposure, as well as greater operating costs.
Obviously the NRL is in a less than fantastic position financially right now and until the fallout from the pandemic is fully known, any additional expenses would likely need to sit on the back burner.
That all said, if the NRL is able to improve it's financial position over the next few years, I think there are options open to them to embrace a format like this and underwrite some of the initial setup costs with a view to making the a national reserve grade competition viable in the longer term.
I think that by working with broadcast partners, as well as developing their own in-house broadcast capabilities, and with ever increasing ways to deliver content digitally with decreasing costs to do so, there is real potential for the NRL to ensure some of these games are televised or delivered on digital platforms so that fans can engage with it and sponsors and advertisers can be encouraged to jump on board.
This access to content would help drive fan engagement in Rugby League content beyond their own team playing in the NRL once a week, as well as helping developing players test themselves against the best reserve grade players in the country week in and week out, in order to grow the level of NRL ready talent that clubs can draw on at any given time, which is going to be critical in fuelling talent pipelines for any expansion efforts going forward.
In it's infancy this could even begin with something as simple as broader scale mid week knockout style competition, similar to the old Mid Week Cup, which could allow regional and lower grade clubs to play in knockout tiers building up to playing the Queensland and NSW Cup clubs similar to the FA Cup in football in the UK or the FFA Cup in Australia.
Broadcasters are desperate for content and if this was given the right promotion I think sponsorship and advertising dollars could make a competition like this viable in a short space of time, which would then over a number of years give an indication on whether enough fan interest could be generated to move to a fully national Reserve Grade competition like the one proposed above.
Curious to hear what other people think about these ideas or indeed the place of Reserve Grade football in the game going into the future. There are obviously some major obstacles at the moment, but only a few decades ago the First Grade competitions were both split along state lines and a national competition was an ambitious pipe dream, so it shows that with the right people in charge almost anything is possible. Reserve Grade clubs are the lifeblood of the game at grassroots and without them we have no NRL. The game in Australia encompasses a lot more history and tradition than just the 16 NRL clubs and with the right nurturing, investment and opportunity for promotion I think there is a very real chance to embrace these clubs and secure both their future as well as the growth of the game on a national level overall.
As most of you know, clubs either directly operate their own Reserve Grade side in either the Queensland or NSW Cup, or alternatively they partner up with one or several of the local state based sides to spread their surplus NRL talent around.
I'm curious to gauge people's thought's about a national Reserve Grade competition and whether an idea like this would firstly be sustainable, and secondly whether it would be more beneficial than the current State based systems already in place.
There are a couple of major obstacles, the first of which would be the cost. Flying teams around the Eastern Seaboard is expensive, time consuming, and would require many of the players who are only part time footballers to spend more time away from their families and their jobs.
The second major obstacle would be the considerable wealth gaps between the top and bottom level clubs in both states, which may only be exacerbated by the increased competition for finals football, exposure, as well as greater operating costs.
Obviously the NRL is in a less than fantastic position financially right now and until the fallout from the pandemic is fully known, any additional expenses would likely need to sit on the back burner.
That all said, if the NRL is able to improve it's financial position over the next few years, I think there are options open to them to embrace a format like this and underwrite some of the initial setup costs with a view to making the a national reserve grade competition viable in the longer term.
I think that by working with broadcast partners, as well as developing their own in-house broadcast capabilities, and with ever increasing ways to deliver content digitally with decreasing costs to do so, there is real potential for the NRL to ensure some of these games are televised or delivered on digital platforms so that fans can engage with it and sponsors and advertisers can be encouraged to jump on board.
This access to content would help drive fan engagement in Rugby League content beyond their own team playing in the NRL once a week, as well as helping developing players test themselves against the best reserve grade players in the country week in and week out, in order to grow the level of NRL ready talent that clubs can draw on at any given time, which is going to be critical in fuelling talent pipelines for any expansion efforts going forward.
In it's infancy this could even begin with something as simple as broader scale mid week knockout style competition, similar to the old Mid Week Cup, which could allow regional and lower grade clubs to play in knockout tiers building up to playing the Queensland and NSW Cup clubs similar to the FA Cup in football in the UK or the FFA Cup in Australia.
Broadcasters are desperate for content and if this was given the right promotion I think sponsorship and advertising dollars could make a competition like this viable in a short space of time, which would then over a number of years give an indication on whether enough fan interest could be generated to move to a fully national Reserve Grade competition like the one proposed above.
Curious to hear what other people think about these ideas or indeed the place of Reserve Grade football in the game going into the future. There are obviously some major obstacles at the moment, but only a few decades ago the First Grade competitions were both split along state lines and a national competition was an ambitious pipe dream, so it shows that with the right people in charge almost anything is possible. Reserve Grade clubs are the lifeblood of the game at grassroots and without them we have no NRL. The game in Australia encompasses a lot more history and tradition than just the 16 NRL clubs and with the right nurturing, investment and opportunity for promotion I think there is a very real chance to embrace these clubs and secure both their future as well as the growth of the game on a national level overall.
