Link agrees with you. See
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/link-fine-with-the-longer-comp-20100918-15h32.html
''There needs to be a great importance on the academy and having blokes nearby who are ready to go, not just kids out of of school without runs on the board out against guys who are internationals,'' McKenzie said. ''Because when you're out there, the Bulls don't take it any easier on an 18-year-old school kid than they do James Horwill.
Thanks for posting that.
Link is almost always sensible in what he says and what he does, yet it was he that started KB (Kurtley Beale) on the high veld in his first game as a senior player not long after he turned 18 - and against large professional players.
His comments on the CBA were interesting as it's the first time I have seen anything from any official from the ARU or a Super team on the matter. The agreement with RUPA seemingly expired in 2008 yet Rupert Guinness and other journalists were mentioning in 2010 that the limit for contracted players in 2011 was to be limited to 30.
What Link is saying, in effect, is that although the CBA expired, the terms of it are still be adhered to. This means that 33 limit has not changed, nor has the requirement to have a minimum of 3 rookies as part of the 33, and a maximum of 5. So much for journos.
Last I looked some time ago the Tahs did not have 3 rookies but I am not interested enough at the minute to check their roster - not that the roster would be gospel.
There is still no official information on Rothchild's mail which indicates that there will be constraints on the employment of school leavers from now on. It may be bunk as some of my mail has been over the years.
If there is some way to force Oz Super coaches to use professional academy players
who are ready to go, to use Link's words, the use of school leavers problem could be fixed
ipso facto.
Perhaps it will be as simple as requiring contracts of professional academy players to be approved by the ARU's HPU General Manager, David Nucifora. For example he could approve a school leaver as a fullback but not as a prop.
Alternatively, Super teams could have as many pro academy contracts as they wanted to but only certain approved players would be allowed to play during the year. This would enable Super teams to bring on a young bloke gradually, yet give him some grocery money.
As part of this academy watchdog role Nucifora should ensure that every position is covered by a senior player in the contracted squad or pro academy. If there is an injury or two he should make sure that a Super team is recruiting a senior player as a back stop.
I don't think this is as hard as it may sound. Some senior players in club footie, who would likely be first cabs off the rank for such an emergency, may not be able to drop everything and move cities, but there would be others who would jump at the chance to be first back up.
Certainly, the Brumbies would have had no trouble getting a good senior 7 from the Sydney comp when Smith was hurt, in such a scenario, though there should have been a senior 7 in the group to start with. The senior newcomer may not have been as good a player as Michael Hooper or Colby Fainga'a, but he would have been more suitable for use against seasoned professionals.
There are other ifs and buts as I think as I type but this post is long enough already.
