Leeds Rhinos - southstander.com • Re: IN | Ava Seumanufagai - Expires: 2021
I wouldn't agree that British kids are necessarily consistently ahead. We've beaten them a few times at Academy level, which is good, but the depth here is enormous.
Its partly a numbers game - RL really does have the pick of the juniors in Queensland and NSW for the most part, although AFL is making inroads through Auskick. Its also just that kids here have a proper development pathway - juniors to U19 then proper feeder competitions where they get to play open age against pretty good quality. They need to be physically mature when they get into the NRL - most players don't debut until 19 or 20 and don't become regulars until their early 20s. The level of competition means that kids can't just get by on being the best at U19 - they have to keep improving.
Its partly a numbers game - RL really does have the pick of the juniors in Queensland and NSW for the most part, although AFL is making inroads through Auskick. Its also just that kids here have a proper development pathway - juniors to U19 then proper feeder competitions where they get to play open age against pretty good quality. They need to be physically mature when they get into the NRL - most players don't debut until 19 or 20 and don't become regulars until their early 20s. The level of competition means that kids can't just get by on being the best at U19 - they have to keep improving.
Statistics: Posted by BrisbaneRhino — Thu Apr 25, 2019 11:40 pm