I guess at the end of the day there are a few points that come up -
1. The best players from around u12's will more than likely be looking at private schools with better rugby pathways than Vikings Juniors - thats just a fact of junior sport.
2. Yes they cant "buy" a super rugby standard side but they could if they wanted to i.e they have the money to do so.
3. All the rugby clubs at one point were on a level playing field in some way or another - so why should Vikings be put down for being a successful business? All the other clubs in reality could of done the same.
4. I dont think Vikings should be put down for not having more juniors in there 1st grade team - how many Wests Juniors/QYBN Juniors/Eagles juniors etc etc are in the 1st grade teams? Really once they finish school you will find most of the players are sourced from Eddies, Marist, Grammar - surrounding areas, have been brought in at some point by the Brumbies and just stayed around from syd, qld, melb or have been brought in by the clubs - not just Vikings etc
5. There are hundreds/thousands of clubs around the world that look for players and offer jobs/acom etc - its not un-normal for a rugby club to do this.
I do agree with you that yes maybe Vikings could do more to promote junior players but they do have a fantastic development program and put alot into the junior system - but at the end of the day you need the best players and the players that will win you games.
1. Agreed, QBN juniors have a massive drop off after under 12's because of kids that mainly go to Eddies. But lucky for us a lot of these kids return after school.
2. Look at their squad from last year, a lot of there players were bought here at the expense of a number of local players who either had played or should of been playing first grade.
3. Totally agree, I commend them on the success of their business, they have obviously had some smart people running the place over the years. Well done to them on this.
4. It is no secret that QBN gets the majority of its players from Eddies, but most of these players are QBN people or if not there are a small amount who come to play for QBN from Eddies because they want to play with their mates. I would say this is the case for over 80% of our first grade squad, higher for other grades.
5. We have 3 players in first and second grade that we have looked for jobs and accommodation for as they have come from overseas, but they are paying for their own accommodation. The comp is still amateur, which means players can't be paid, lets remember that!
I have no problem with Vikings recruiting if they believe that is the best thing for their club and they are happy to have a team made up players that are robbing local blokes the opportunity of playing first grade and push for higher honours.
As I have said before on here it is just all the more rewarding when we beat them.
