Unfortunately Manu Sutherland can only work with lads who turn up to be looked at and chosen! I have seen him chase after those who he beleives possess some rugby talent in the dark code and sometimes to no avail (and believe me some of the lads i have seen him pursue are sublime players).
There is a lad from Hills Sports High called Zac Clay who is currently contracted to Parramatta. Clay played in the Parra SG Ball team this year (and is also eligible next year). Last year Clay was part of the ARU JGS and I believe he had been invited by Manu Sutherland. Nevertheless, like all 'Dual Coders' he did not receive and invite this year!
Last week Zac Clay (who is still is an U/17) was selected, and played in the Parramatta Toyota Cup team against Newcastle. He also had a very good strong game at hooker (equivalent to rugby scrum-half).
The point I make is this; Manu Sutherland and Ben Whitaker try and have a go! They can only work with the lads they have available to them. For mine they don't have a big talent pool from which to draw their current crop! League on the other hand is able to pick the eyes out of theirs and they do. To me he is always there trying to convert but in this league dominated city he will always face an uphill battle!
Give him some kudos for having a go!
Newbie,
I know you have a soft spot for those young fellows who dabble in the dark code and good luck to them I say. Where we may not agree is whether pursuing these players beyond the age of 16 is a worthy investment. In my time I have yet to see a young player turn his back on league in favour of rugby when being courted by the devils courtesans. But I digress.
My problem is not with Sutherland or Whitaker themselves. I just don't believe that we need high performance/elite player managers/squads at the age bracket they target. The power and influence they possess is also well beyond a healthy level of transparency. Now if they were to start this process at 19-20 I could see some value to it.
The sad part is that many think we have to travel this 'Pathway' to be successful at international and provincial levels because it makes JON's mantra sound like he knows what he is talking about or that he cares about development (not). We appear obsessed with putting younger and younger untried players into the fray and then don't understand why they get exposed by Richie and the black wearing hethens. When that experiment fails we pluck another one off the tree. Remember 2 years ago when Slipper was the next big thing in front row players, hasn't played much test rugby since? How did our U20's go this year full of S15 and
experienced Shute Shield players? Full International dominance must be just around the corner. The Bledisloe will once again be ours. Ha.
Have a good look at the state of the game here in NSW. Schools now dominate saturday rugby with a barely contestable SJRU comp the other option, yet schools want to continue running 3 x 6 team competitions where 50 point beatings are regular occurences. How long before they are 4 team comps as they canabalise everyone in the quest for school boy glory. Of the 5 major school associations (CCC included) one has a 50+% dominance of selections into higher level representation already. A cunning kiwi terrorist cell could take out Australian rugby with just 2 or 3 well placed detonations on a winter saturday afternoon. So much emphasis is placed on these kids being a success before they leave school and it can create in some of them an expectation that they are special and should be treated accordingly. I have witnessed the dissapointment on their tear stained faces as they have their name read out in the 2nds or 3rds colts teams and the other boys look at them with a sense of an injustice being corrected in some way .
Rugby has disengaged from its community. Saturday arvo Test matches stunned the ARU with its popularity. Rugby needs to re-engage with its wider support base and encourage the non believers to have a go too. How do you sell to a kid from Penrith or Campbelltown that his pathway to "Gold" has passed him by because he didn't start playing till he was in his last year of school. There's another one off to the Wests Tigers.
In days of Yore there was no "pathway" needed. As a kid you played hard and tried to make a District team each year until you were old enough to play Colts. If you were talented you might make an U21 team or be promoted to grade a year early. The mountain to climb was making first grade because from there you were a step from playing the maroon peril from north of the border and potentially a gold jumper. There were hardened and experienced old heads along the way to guide your education and slap christ out of you if your head became overly inflated about your own ability. Kids grew up wanting to play for the club they had a connection too. Now we have kids who come straight out of the factory of youthfull adulation into a slightly more adult version who may never actually play club rugby. This is where the Ellas, Poidevins and Campese's honed their talent before bedazzling the world. You could go down to your local oval and see them for a small entry fee if you didn't know the gate man.
Yeh, Yeh, Yeh we're professional now I know. Now JON wants me to fork out $180 a head (thats $900 for my family) to watch those from accross the ditch hand us our arses, or to pay at all for watching the Horrortahs play. Why do we need to pay people like Sutherland and his crew hundreds of thousands in salaries to do what a 41 yr old broken down Samoan prop does for free at Southern Districts colts. Credible observations like Tomasi's also show how ridiculous at times the schools selection system can be. Open up the game to all comers, double the rep sides and tournaments if necessary and wait for some maturity before deciding which players to sink the dollars into. By then those who didn't cut it in League land will be back again to have another go or getting 5 shades of shit punched out of them in the local A grade comp. Will it stop GPS getting 99 selections to 1 from CCC, probably not, but it might end the reality that if you haven't made one of the sides selected tomorrow then your pathway just went over a cliff and that rugby up to the age of 18 is owned and administerd by and for the elite.
With regard to young Clay he might do well to steer clear of Parramatta League as it seems to be a bottomless pit of mediocrity currently.
