I was chatting with a father of a current Oz schoolboy back who has signed with a S15 team and he tells it that while it is totally against his ethos for the school kiddies to be recruited/play super rugby before age 20 and he agrees with what Qld have done what do you do?
Now for the good news on that front. I am reliably informed that this years crackdown by the ARU on Academy signings is only the start. Next year if the well oiled plan comes to fruition we should see no individual S15 signings of school leavers.
The ARU apparently are planning a draft type system where they will determine what players are recruited, when the players get recruited and where the players go.
If the clubs and/or the player want ARU endorsement (read money) they must abide by that decision. They will have a right of refusal however they will lose whatever money the ARU would have paid and must finance their endeavour alone.
Yep I know who the lad is - and the father. I wouldn't attach any blame to family at all in the position he plays in. Barring injuries he'll play for the Wallabies one day as sure as God made little green apples.
I also know another father who encouraged his son, not a player in the back 3, to cool his current ambitions in the interests of preparing himself properly. I reckon the lad will end up in the same Wallaby team as the first bloke.
No names; no pack drill. No guesses.
I wasn't aware of an official crackdown on academy signings by the ARU; so would appreciate your listing any links on the matter.
I've been campaigning on rugby forums against the use 17 y.o. and 18 y.o. young players in Super rugby even whilst KB (Kurtley Beale) was still at school knowing how desperate the Tahs were for a permanent flyhalf. Sure enough, a few weeks after his 18th birthday he got prodded out on the park from the bench on the high veld and the following week he started the game. A little tear went down my eye because I had watched him play from age 13 and knew he was a special player, but my heart was in my mouth for his safety.
As I have mentioned before: there are some obvious exceptions to the careful approach. Nobody who saw TPN and Pocock play rugby as schoolboys would doubt their physical ability to handle Super rugby the following year; but how do you formalise rules for such exceptions?
Where was I? Yep I should be doing cartwheels about the reported crackdown which may outlaw the egregious Hooper example and force coaches to recruit senior players to back up a current starting player for when he is injured - and when the original guy is injured, to make sure another becomes available in case the backup is hurt also. This should persuade coaches to have the 2nd senior guy in the squad to start with, and the 3rd senior guy at least in the pro academy. Of itself, this idea should serve to keep youngsters off the park in Super rugby when they should be playing Colts, or at least Colts, then Grade.
But the details you listed seem a bit draconian. I don't like the idea that a boy has to go to another part of the country - from Brisbane to Perth, say, or vice versa. It's a bit over the top in my eyes and doubt if it would past muster legally.
