I think the non-contract scenario for Super teams has gone back to the future.
At the Tahs they use to have the academy and some blokes were paid (pro academy I used to call them though they became known as the Super Rugby Training Group) and others weren't (amateur academy). The Reds must have had something similar.
Now we have the EPS which is the equivalent of the old pro academy except there are only five players in it. Before the EPS came into being the numbers fluctuated: at the Tahs in 2011 it was 8 pros and 14 amateurs and in 2010 it was 11/12.
The pro academy guys then were paid for by the ARU as the EPS guys are now. Since there are fewer of them it's a bit more worthwhile. Somebody mentioned on the forum that young Salesi Manu turned down a pro academy spot at the Tahs because he couldn't afford to do so and backed himself to be recognised through club rugby. Yet he accepted an EPS spot at the Force later, in 2012.
Even if that account was not correct for that particular player it rings true as a generality that must have occurred.
I think that limiting the paid uncontracted players to an EPS of five was the right way to go for 2012. Not only would they have been paid about double what the old pro academy guys would have been paid, but also if they were one of only five they were more likely to be called up if there was an injury. So they took a punt for a year, and some for a second year in 2013.
The trick for a Super team was, and is, to find the right five for the EPS.
The Reds College will be the equivalent of the old amateur academy, or whatever the Reds used to call it. Young players are better off in that than they would be in the National Academy with a cast of thousands - OK dozens.
The National Academy for the others is still a good idea but Super Teams should have their own academy players if for nothing else but to assess them better for later EPS or contract spots, day by day.
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