Yeah but it doesn't change the fact that the average age of a professional sports person on debut is getting younger. For every Boland and Nesar there is a Richardson, Pucovski and Green. I'm not saying they can't debut older and have a good career. My point was in relation to the original comment saying that we should be holding players back so they don't debut until and older age.
I think you’ve misinterpreted my post, which originated from a the discussion about Tom Lynagh’s development.
I agree that there is an increasing trend towards players playing professional rugby earlier, for a number of reasons. However if you look at other countries and other comps - NZ Rugby, Uk Rugby, French rugby, NRL, AFL, NBL, NFL etc I don’t see that we are seeing the anywhere near the prevalence of 18-21 year olds being part of regular match day squads the way we have seen in Australian rugby in the last 3 yrs. Off the top of my head guys like Petaia, Wilson, McReight, Bell, Tizzano, Nawaqanitwase, Harrison, Grealy, Thomas, Lolesio, Swain, Walton, Blyth, Hockings, Rodda, Salakai-Loto, Nonggorr, Nasser, Wright, Scott-Young, Hosea, Leota and a number of others all debuted and been regular parts of match day squads on or before they turned 21. There are hosts of others who have played as well, but not as often - guys like Pasotoa and Will Harris. Some people actually talk about how Hosea has been ‘held back. I don’t agee this is aligned with a wider trend across sport.
Of course some of these guys are precocious talents, but a lot of them are getting regular game time because of legacy issues with the previous 10 yrs of rugby (good and bad). I believe if you listen to comments from guys like Thorn, McKellar, Penney and others they recognise there was a need to go that way due to cost and some ‘clearing of the decks, but it would definitely by preferable for these guys to have a more solid footing in club rugby/pathways before they become regular super rugby players.
reds.rugby
