Super League should bring back reserve teams, says Phil Clarke
Wednesday 2 March 2016 14:25, UK
In this week's column, Sky Sports' Phil Clarke says Super League needs to bring reserve teams back if they are to compete with NRL sides...
As I've grown older I've come to realise that sometimes it's best to 'sleep on it' before you make a comment or decision. We're all guilty of over reacting at times when we make irrational or emotional statements which don't really make sense.
The 3-0 whitewash in the World Club Series was a sobering experience for those who thought that the Super League sides could match their NRL rivals. Much was written and said about this last week. One week on, the dust has settled and I've had time to gather my thoughts.
The results didn't really surprise me. The NRL teams should win - we are naive if we think that we have club teams that are better than theirs. Internationally we have 25 players who are competitive with their best, but several of these are playing in the NRL.
At junior level they have more players to choose from, many of which have physiological advantages over our players, more money, greater media and public interest, and a stronger competition which raises the standard across the league.
"For the last three years the Super League clubs haven't had a second or reserve team, and it has had a detrimental effect on the development of the sport. The gap with the NRL has been made wider."
Additionally, and perhaps more importantly in my eyes, they have more patience with players between 19 and 23 years old, and a better setup that provides these players with some games in which to improve.
Fortunately for some of our young players, some clubs over here have elected to reinstate a second-team competition, so at least this is one step towards fixing that gap.
We had developed a production line that put time and money into young players aged 15-19 and then had a hole for a few years if the player wasn't already good enough to play in a Super League first team when he reached his 19th birthday.
For the last three years the Super League clubs haven't had a second or reserve team, and it has had a detrimental effect on the development of the sport. The gap with the NRL has been made wider.
It was a huge mistake in my opinion and hopefully the sport is learning its lesson. I realise that there are extra costs associated with this but feel as though it's a necessity.
There's almost no point in entering three teams into Club Challenges if we don't have second teams at Super League level. More effort needs to be put into making these games as good as they can be.
Colin Sanctuary is a friend of mine who is the head of physical development at the Newcastle Knights. Prior to that he was responsible for the strength and conditioning at Wakefield Wildcats and so has a great position from which to help assess the players from both competitions.
I've chatted with him about this for a long while and he raised a great point about the rate of improvement in both competitions.
Rugby League is a big sport in Australia and they invest heavily to improve it on and off the field every year. With a smaller budget and fewer players to choose from over here it's virtually impossible to narrow the gap on every front.
Colin is an intelligent man and said that with limited resources we need to be very clever in identifying what areas of the sport we wish to see the biggest improvements.
As the salary cap in the NRL increases, and Rugby Union in this country seems to get richer, we need to have a clear idea of what the sport sees as its most important goals over the next 10 years.
Some of the issues that determine the strength of the NRL over the Super League are out of our control. Running a reserves team at every Super League club isn't.
The World Club Series proved to be a popular event and the crowds enjoyed the matches, although they didn't enjoy the results. They also gave the players a goal to aim for during the season, a chance to play against the best in the world, but we have to be realistic with our expectations.
The optimist in me is looking forward to WCS III in February 2017, not because I expect us to win, but because I like to cheer for the underdog, and it's the greatest feeling when they win.
I love the concept and hope the games are closer in 12 months' time but in the meantime I am going to watch a few reserve team matches.
