Delphy
Ward Prentice (10)
while the JGC is about opportunity as much as competition I think a more competitive U17s will do a lot more for their development than keeping all the current centres going. If we ever a u19s/20s age group they should take it further to effectively mimic the NRC. A pyramid with a wider base will ensure ever increasing levels of competition.
U20's is going to be mimicking Super Rugby rather than NRC in 2016. Each franchise will field a team over 4 matches in February/March, before the Australian U20 squad selection in April.
Maybe we can have an U19's JGC as a lead into U20's (in a distant and more prosperous future).
On JGC, I don't necessarily disagree with idea of reducing the number of centres to ensure both opportunity and development. It's obviously difficult to develop when you aren't at least competitive.
I do wonder whether the changes achieve that though. They have combined Hunter and Central Coast, who were both reasonably successful, but have left Central NSW (whose only wins came over Illawarra) unchanged in terms of catchment.
Sydney at 2.5 teams per age group just seems too "light on" for mine.