FA to look at introduction of B teams : Tue May 06, 2014 1:03 pm  

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27289819 Interesting seeing as RL no longer has B teams. Takes me back to what AMc said at a resent fans forum as i know he is keen to get the B teams back. I think the England national team would benefit from this look at Spain and Germany who have been doing this for years. Something RL to think about? Also whats the setup in Aus with reserve teams?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27289819 Interesting seeing as RL no longer has B teams. Takes me back to what AMc said at a resent fans forum as i know he is keen to get the B teams back. I think the England national team would benefit from this look at Spain and Germany who have been doing this for years. Something RL to think about? Also whats the setup in Aus with reserve teams?

Re: FA to look at introduction of B teams : Tue May 06, 2014 2:05 pm  

theblondebomber wrote:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27289819

Interesting seeing as RL no longer has B teams. Takes me back to what AMc said at a resent fans forum as i know he is keen to get the B teams back. I think the England national team would benefit from this look at Spain and Germany who have been doing this for years. Something RL to think about? Also whats the setup in Aus with reserve teams?

In Australia they have a reserve grade with regional leagues with semi pro clubs that are official feeder clubs of the NRL teams, but which do not necessarily bear their name. For example Wentworthville Magpies are the feeder club of Parramatta Eeels.

In Australia it's there as there is sufficient talent to fill it and have it as an aspirational setup, ie if you play well at amateur level you are signed to NSW/Queensland Cup level. Play well there and you are playing NRL. Over here, can you imagine the standard of the reserve grades? It would make no sense for an aspiring young player to play there, so it would be full of truly second rate players. It would also destroy the Championship teams we have already, although that may not be a bad thing. They could of course become feeder teams. It works in Aus as they have such strength in depth, they have strong junior grades and the best juniors go to the NRL. The 'potentials' go into the reserve grade and some flourish there, others stay there permanently. Over here, if you aren't good enough for SL, is there much point?

Re: FA to look at introduction of B teams : Tue May 06, 2014 3:23 pm  

It would give some of the younger players a better place to prepare than the u19 and dual reg. duel registration is good but SL teams are still limited to 4 a game and do not have full control over the coaching setup. I would rather have a Saints B rather than cannibalise a poor championship club like Rochdale.

It would also shut up a lot of "we belong in Super League" championship fans when a Saints/Wigan/Leeds B teams beats them

Re: FA to look at introduction of B teams : Tue May 06, 2014 3:28 pm  

Saddened! wrote:

In Australia they have a reserve grade with regional leagues with semi pro clubs that are official feeder clubs of the NRL teams, but which do not necessarily bear their name. For example Wentworthville Magpies are the feeder club of Parramatta Eeels.

The difference is that in Austrailia Wentworthwille accept there place in the scheme of things and are happy to get a Chris Sandow thrown at them now and then.

Here they all have delusions of grandeur and think they can play at the highest level. Which is why dual registration is struggling under the current system.

Re: FA to look at introduction of B teams : Tue May 06, 2014 3:50 pm  

Would be interesting to see how reserve teams would go. They would have to be limited to championship 2 and below though, as the new structure would risk saints vs saints b (for example) otherwise. So I question how much benefit could be gained from it.

The best thing we can do for the sport is stop ever convoluting solutions to basic problems. Bring back a reserve league, and we'd all be better for it.

Re: FA to look at introduction of B teams : Tue May 06, 2014 4:24 pm  

if it aint broke..............

Re: FA to look at introduction of B teams : Tue May 06, 2014 4:52 pm  

theblondebomber wrote:

if it aint broke..............

The problem is that it is broken.

The U19's has been a disaster, and some of us said it would be from day 1.

All it needs is an u18's with no overage players allowed and an U23's with up to a maximum of three overage players allowed.

Re: FA to look at introduction of B teams : Tue May 06, 2014 5:35 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

The problem is that it is broken.

The U19's has been a disaster, and some of us said it would be from day 1.

All it needs is an u18's with no overage players allowed and an U23's with up to a maximum of three overage players allowed.

I'd agree with that.

Re: FA to look at introduction of B teams : Tue May 06, 2014 6:19 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

The problem is that it is broken.

The U19's has been a disaster, and some of us said it would be from day 1.

All it needs is an u18's with no overage players allowed and an U23's with up to a maximum of three overage players allowed.

Yup.

Re: FA to look at introduction of B teams : Tue May 06, 2014 6:38 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

The problem is that it is broken.

The U19's has been a disaster, and some of us said it would be from day 1.

All it needs is an u18's with no overage players allowed and an U23's with up to a maximum of three overage players allowed.

The current system is broken, I agree but I would have these teams in the championship.

The issue previously with an under 20/21's comp was that the quality was poor and there were a lot of players that were just making up the numbers and would have been better off establishing themselves in the lower leagues. An u23 team added to the championship would be much better than having an u23 league.