Dark Shark - i understand what you are trying to say here, and dont necessarily disagree, but i dont think your line on age groups will solve the issue of what is approaching - you get the same disparity of weight and development across age groups as you do across class cohorts. The only real solution to your proposition is to revert back to the old weight based divisions - which dont work from a player maturity perspective. My point was that when the current group whose year cutoff is 30 june ( who i think are in Grade 5 or 6 now ) come through into GPS, the kids will be on a similar age basis as NSW, and , as you say , what Southport are doing already. Is the age group split maintained at 1 jan, or is it changed to 30 jun ? Do you have a class year cut-off , with a similar couple of months leeway as they do now ? As I said - mad woman's breakfast !
Remember - this is schoolboy rugby - having kids spend the week together at school, in the playground and class with their mates, disecting the game the week before, and steeling themselves for the upcoming game, will surely produce a more enjoyable experience than playing with kids in a higher grade they only see at training or at the game.
There are significant changes moving through the system with the changing class age cohort, and the move from CIC to GPS of the younger age groups - the timing is opportune to re-aligning the participation at this level now to start year / class based competition. Its been done before, and guess what - it worked !
I have seen participation rates decrease simply because lower grade kids dont want to play up with kids from a higher grade - some may say that doesnt matter and it wont affect the talented kids or the "As" - maybe not, but remember this is schoolboy rugby that should be for fun - who gives a rats arse who wins if the kids have enjoyed the experience ( yes, yes - winning can be a big part of that experience ) - and some of the best players for our country over the years have emerged from lower grades at school. Participation needs to be a key KPI, and maybe if we get this right, there wont need to be such a focus on the current nonsense of "gap filling" ( read importing , or spending heaps of money on cattle that dont give a rats about the farm they feed off !) .
If nothing is done, and the current age based system maintained, there will be even more disparity when these kids start rolling through the system.
I have spoken to a number of GPS sportsmasters on this, and they support the proposition wholeheartedly - over to the heads to make a decision - and while they are at it, please get Rugby back to Term 2 !
