Junior rugby based on weight classes

[One eyed pirate]

Yes, I agree. So, rugby administrators should be doing everything they can to make the collisions equal or close to equal, by introducing grading by weight.


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[RugbyReg]

It's happening..???

https://www.rugby.com.au/news/2018/02/15/rugby-australia-weight-age-changes

 

[RugbyReg]

Not sure if this will work but the Australian's article

https://readnow.isentia.com/Temp/108043/913094553.pdf

 

[neilc]

Interesting to see how the BJRU will apply this. We come across some very large individuals when my kids play other teams - I always tell the kids that the real problem players for them are the skinny fast ones who can move well but the really big kids are intimidating for the small players. Unfortunately too often that size tends to develop bad habits because they are just used to steamrolling kids and not developing other skills so when they get to the stage that their size doesn't intimidate they are left wanting.

 

[I like to watch]

Great decision!
Well done to all involved in solving this issue.

 

[Dan54]

A very good step in the right direction I believe.

 

[TOCC]

Yeah great decision, the multi-faceted approach of maturity and skill level is a key component as well

 

[BAR]

I think this is a good development for junior rugby. From what I have read so far the ARU has been smart enough to look beyond a simple concept of size.

My problem is that there has been ZERO communication to players on this policy even though it's registration time. Players and their parents are, right now, making decisions about registration and all we have been told is the motherhood statements in newspaper articles - which have the appearance of a PR campaign. Not a single detail on the many questions arising (how will this policy be applied, who will be affected (what exactly are the size parameters?), when it will kick in, whether it affects rep rugby or just club rugby, how will they deal with circumstances where a player should be regraded but there's no team for them to move to etc).

My son is likely to fall under this policy based on what I have read. The result of learning about this policy is that his registration is now on hold until we know more because he has already said that he is unlikely to want to play club rugby if he can't play in his current team.

 

[southsider]

So what I got out of reading that is

1) if a player is too small they can go an age group (which is already a thing)

2) if a kid is massive, so long as they’re not particularly fit and not particularly skilful (which is a very decent chunk of these “big” kids) then they’re not getting moved.

 

[neilc]

So what I got out of reading that is

1) if a player is too small they can go an age group (which is already a thing)

2) if a kid is massive, so long as they’re not particularly fit and not particularly skilful (which is a very decent chunk of these “big” kids) then they’re not getting moved.

Outside of Sydney kids have not been allowed to go down an age group - they could play up but not down. The problem with the massive kids who are not particularly skilful staying put is that those massive units can throw smaller kids off and just power forward, especially close to the line, and teams use them that way. Smaller kids are very intimidated by them, as are the parents when they see the team, so if nothing is going to change with them then it seems pointless.

 

[southsider]

Outside of Sydney kids have not been allowed to go down an age group - they could play up but not down. The problem with the massive kids who are not particularly skilful staying put is that those massive units can throw smaller kids off and just power forward, especially close to the line, and teams use them that way. Smaller kids are very intimidated by them, as are the parents when they see the team, so if nothing is going to change with them then it seems pointless.

Oh really? That’s seems so silly, if they’re small enough and not particularly skilful let them go down

 

[neilc]

Oh really? That’s seems so silly, if they’re small enough and not particularly skilful let them go down

It appears that with these new rules the smaller kids might be able to go down, which apparently has been allowed previously in Sydney but certainly not in Qld before this. I think these changes are a good idea but I am a interested in how they will be implemented. I have certainly come across some very big kids who weren't necessarily 'skilful' but were very hard to tackle and were successfully used by their teams as a way of softening up the opposition. A coach who is keen simply to win games will want to keep that kid and will argue that they are not fit and skilful so should be retained not moved up.

 

[Bessa]

I have zero confidence that the ARU will have the balls do really make it work. The worrying line is about the ability to challenge a decision the ARU make. I can just picture a kid thats 20kg heavier than all the other kids gets moved up a age group, his mum and dad say that he wants to play with his mate and if he is forced to play up he will go play league. The ARU will just let him stay in the original grade because the ARU are too spineless to actually do anything....

 

[southsider]

I have zero confidence that the ARU will have the balls do really make it work. The worrying line is about the ability to challenge a decision the ARU make. I can just picture a kid thats 20kg heavier than all the other kids gets moved up a age group, his mum and dad say that he wants to play with his mate and if he is forced to play up he will go play league. The ARU will just let him stay in the original grade because the ARU are too spineless to actually do anything..

It’s a pretty tough go on the 20kg heavier kid, “hey Sione, sorry your DNA makes you a little bit bigger than everyone else, we are going to make you play up an age, leave all your friends behind, oh what’s that - your club doesn’t have a team in the age group above, damn that sucks you’ll have to change clubs then and there’s absolutly no way for you to appeal this decision because we don’t really care what you have to say on the matter”

How goods not being able to appeal something

 

[Bessa]

It’s a pretty tough go on the 20kg heavier kid, “hey Sione, sorry your DNA makes you a little bit bigger than everyone else, we are going to make you play up an age, leave all your friends behind, oh what’s that - your club doesn’t have a team in the age group above, damn that sucks you’ll have to change clubs then and there’s absolutly no way for you to appeal this decision because we don’t really care what you have to say on the matter”

How goods not being able to appeal something

For this to work, it must be very clear on the rules, no grey areas. You have to take emotion out of it if they are truly doing this in the jnterest of keeping the game safe for our children. The ARU are all talk and always have been. It will take about 2 rounds until parents see that there are still kids twice the size as everyone else running around before all faith in the this empty promise of making the game safer is out the window. As a parent of two boys in U8 and U10, I sincerely hope I am wrong, but I severly doubt it....

 

[southsider]

For this to work, it must be very clear on the rules, no grey areas. You have to take emotion out of it if they are truly doing this in the jnterest of keeping the game safe for our children. The ARU are all talk and always have been. It will take about 2 rounds until parents see that there are still kids twice the size as everyone else running around before all faith in the this empty promise of making the game safer is out the window. As a parent of two boys in U8 and U10, I sincerely hope I am wrong, but I severly doubt it..

Easy fix solution, put the emphasis on smaller kids moving down rather than bigger kids moving up.

 

[Bessa]

We will have to agree to disagree....

NZ run a weight classed system and have done for years. Seems to works ok for them.....

 

[TOCC]

Easy fix solution, put the emphasis on smaller kids moving down rather than bigger kids moving up.

Nah don’t agree that’s the easy fix.. plenty of talented kids out there who are quite small, maybe they’re smaller then the other players and injury risk dictates they should play down a grade, but now they’re a talented kid playing down a grade and potentially better then the other players.

I think they have proposed the right option of the outliers, both big and small being considered for shifting up and down a grade. My brothers kids played another team with one of these young giants we refer of, first time they played one kid broke his arm tackling the bloke, next game two kids went to hospital after one tried tackling him and the other being tackled by him. An extreme example but not entirely uncommon these days.

 

[Strewthcobber]

I sincerely hope the ARU have nothing to do with this once the policy is set. There's about 4 unions between the poor kids and Rugby Australia - if they don't sort this stuff out what's the point of them?

 

[Bessa]

Nah don’t agree that’s the easy fix.. plenty of talented kids out there who are quite small, maybe they’re smaller then the other players and injury risk dictates they should play down a grade, but now they’re a talented kid playing down a grade and potentially better then the other players.

I think they have proposed the right option of the outliers, both big and small being considered for shifting up and down a grade. My brothers kids played another team with one of these young giants we refer of, first time they played one kid broke his arm tackling the bloke, next game two kids went to hospital after one tried tackling him and the other being tackled by him. An extreme example but not entirely uncommon these days.

Spot on, 100% agree. This policy should be about protecting the kids, not about making the playing feild a fair contest. The keyword is safety.