I heard Blocker on Grandstand earlier, and he touched on something that has been on my mind for some time. He spoke about the Tigers and their young blokes. He says they also have another young crop ready to go with their younger sides doing well this year.
What struck me was this, he spoke a little about young blokes coming up into the NRL, and the completely different game they find themselves in. He used the description that, the list of things you shouldn't be doing in the NRL is longer than the list of things you can do.
What he means is that the things that catch your eye, the coaches eye or team selectors eyes in the lower grades, like the toughness, the speed, the skill or the way they play the game in general is what gets them selected to play top level.
Then, the coaches try to change and mould them to fit into the structures they have in place for the top side, and they begin to change their style of play, and it takes away their natural, Heaven may care attitude, that got them selected in the first place. It stifles some young blokes.
I think a bit looser reign on some of the young guys, and let them do what they do, or have been doing in lower grades may pay dividends in the NRL.
A good case in point is Dave Taylor. At St Brendans, playing high school footy, Dave was 115kgs. He was a monster that could do anything on the field. He would chip and regather, kick goals, field goals, had a big side step and enough energy to keep his defence strong for 80mins. He was a freak. Not just because of his size (there are many "boys" that are 100kgs or more playing school footy. He was a freak because he loved playing the game and he had a huge arsenal of skills. We have never seen the best of Dave at NRL level. I don't think he even knew he was a monster. Anyway...what happened? He went to the Bronco's and Bennett decided he needed to forget all that he could do at the drop of a hat, and concentrate on becoming a no nonsense front rower. He quickly stagnated.
I know the step up is huge! But if a kid has got something special enough to get them selected, let them run with it in the NRL. That's what Taylor is doing at the Tigers. Bear in mind, he could just be a crap coach with no idea, and just letting his team enjoy their footy with no real direction. LOL!