ARU Get Knees Jerking Again!
I am against this happening as I believe there are plenty of potentially great Juniors coming through the system however, if they must then I do support them going after the younger future stars rather than the big name signings that affect the Union wage structure and has proven to be very hit and miss in getting value for money.
Names such as Johnathan Thurston, Karmichael Hunt, Matt Bowen and Greg Inglis all come to mind however it is probably the generation behind this that needs to be looked at for mine:
ARU plans more league raids
Greg Growden in Dublin
Monday, November 20, 2006
The disconcerting lack of international-class attacking players in Australian rugby is set to force the code's administrators to return to the rugby league ranks in search of quality inner backs.
The Wallabies' European tour has exposed the vast difference in the calibre of the first-choice Australian back line and the No.2 attack, which has prompted team officials to start investigating which back-line NRL players are about to come off contract.
The ARU is also mindful that, following next year's World Cup, several members of an ageing Test back line, such as halfback George Gregan and five-eighth Stephen Larkham, are set to retire from the international scene.
ARU chief executive Gary Flowers said on Sunday that while promising backs were coming through the junior ranks, the league world - which in recent years has provided Lote Tuqiri, Wendell Sailor and Mat Rogers - remains a good breeding ground for Wallabies.
"Our Australian under-19s and under-21s have been pretty successful the last few years, so there is talent coming through. And with a national competition now in place, hopefully we have the process in place so they can properly develop," Flowers said.
"But it still doesn't mean that we won't look at rugby league players. There could be opportunities for league players. If it's appropriate, we'll do it. If there are backs in league who we believe can add to the mix, I don't see why we shouldn't look at them."
Flowers is aware that a section of the Australian rugby community is vehemently opposed to the ARU pursuing league players, believing the money would be better used in other areas of the game.
"People have a bit of a misconception about us signing up league players," Flowers said. "The salary comes out of the guaranteed pool of money which is allocated for professional players. If we don't spend it, it gets dispersed across the professional player base anyway. It doesn't come out of the money earmarked for community rugby or development programs.
"I know that some see the league thing as the ARU frittering money away by buying players where it could be better spent on development. But that's not the case."
Also of high priority is the retention of Tuqiri, who is off contract after the World Cup and has intimated that he is interested in returning to league. The ARU has had preliminary discussions with Tuqiri's advisers, but no offer has been made.
However, the ARU - who, together with NSW, is expected to table an offer of more than $1 million a year to keep hold of Tuqiri - is confident that he will stay in rugby, especially as league will be unable to come anywhere near the same amount of money.
Tuqiri has been promoted into being one of the leaders of the side during the European tour and impressed team officials with his eagerness to take a senior role.
Major raid on league coming
By Peter Jenkins in Dublin
November 20, 2006
AUSTRALIAN Rugby Union bosses are likely to launch a massive raid on rugby league to replenish Australia's backline talent after next year's World Cup.
Several top-end Test players - including the highly-paid trio of George Gregan, Stephen Larkham and Mat Rogers - will exit the game after the campaign in France, with their departures to free up reserves for poaching some of the NRL's stars.
Wallabies coach John Connolly has bemoaned on the current tour to Europe how Australia already suffers from an alarming lack of backline depth.
And while youngsters on the rise have been earmarked for the long-term future - Australia Schoolboy sensations Kurtley Beale and Quade Cooper among them - there are leading figures who believe the rugby league pool should again be fished for personnel.
ARU managing director Gary Flowers told The Daily Telegraph in Dublin the union's high performance unit was currently discussing rugby league as a potential recruitment ground post-World Cup.
"It is something that we certainly need to look at because there will be a significant turnover after next year's tournament," Flowers explained before the Wallabies took on Ireland at Lansdowne Road this morning.
But he also revealed the approach could be more varied than when the trio of marquee NRL players Rogers, Wendell Sailor and Lote Tuqiri were cherry-picked during a 12-month period from 2002.
Flowers said part of the in-house talks centred on whether the ARU targeted only high-profile NRL players, the next generation at a more junior level, or "a combination of both".
Aware that rugby league identities will accuse the ARU of failing to develop their own nursery - even though the 13-man game stripped rugby union of its best players for almost 90 years - Flowers said that cross-code shifts should be expected in a professional environment.
"That (lack of youth development) is not true. We can legitimately say we are taking care of that side.
"There is the money we put behind the national talent squad program, where between 50 and 80 of the best young kids from 15 to 18 are earmarked.
"We have the under-19 and under-21 programs and now the new national competition which we're banking on as a way to give people an opportunity to develop and come through."
Flowers said resistance from within the rugby community to signing NRL players - the latest of them Ryan Cross, who has joined Western Force in Perth - was also at times ill-informed.
"The thing people sometimes don't appreciate is that if we recruit a rugby league player, we're not taking any money away from community rugby programs," he added.
"A certain amount of money already has to be set aside for players. In fact, if we don't spend it all, it only gets distributed between that existing pool of professional players."
Gallop slams talk of raids
By Dean Ritchie and Peter Jenkins
November 20, 2006
INFLUENTIAL NRL figures last night attacked rugby union's impending raid on rugby league players with chief executive David Gallop describing the move as a "sad" reflection on a desperate ARU.
ARU bosses are poised to chase league players to replenish the Wallabies' backline talent after next year's World Cup.
Several Test players including George Gregan, Stephen Larkham and Mat Rogers will exit rugby union after the campaign in France - freeing up reserves for poaching NRL stars.
Melbourne's Billy Slater and the Roosters' Craig Wing - both off contract at the end of next year - would be union's premier targets.
But Gallop was frustrated at the looming raids, saying: "It seems to send a really sad message to the current team and any up-and-coming players. How would you feel if you were a young union back?"
Souths CEO Shane Richardson said rugby union continues to ignore junior development.
"We keep producing the young kids," said Richardson.
"They keep upgrading players to $1 million contracts but where is their development?
"We've got all the great young stars. They've got none.
"Until they put money into development, they'll never get it."
Brisbane Broncos chief executive Bruno Cullen said his crop of rookie players could be a union target.
"It is a sad indictment on their system. They're just not bringing the kids through," Cullen said.
"It will be difficult for us to keep all our players."
League manager Alan Gainey said NRL players would only leave for cash.
"They'd only go for the money - nothing else," said Gainey.
"Mat Rogers is coming back, Lote Tuqiri wants to come back. I don't think they're enjoying it very much."
League executives wrong on Rugby's player development
League executives wrong on Rugby's player development
November 20, 2006 - 5:53pm
Story by: ARU
Claims by Rugby League executives that Rugby Union does not develop young talent are uninformed and extremely defensive, according to the Australian Rugby Union's Rugby Manager Pat Wilson.
Hitting back at comments in today's media, Wilson said Rugby Union not only spent significant time and money developing its own talent, they also had the responsibility to look beyond its own playing ranks for talent.
"We have an Elite Player Development scheme that employs talent spotters, coaches and strength and conditioning trainers in every State who identify and develop our best emerging players," Wilson said.
"We have a 100-man National Talent Squad which prepares our best young players for the speed and intensity of Super 14 and Test Rugby.
"These high-quality programs are influencing the decisions of young players like Berrick Barnes, Charlie Fetoa and Quade Cooper to stick with Rugby at a time when Rugby League are throwing dollars around.
"We have national teams at Under 19 and Under 21 level which play in World Cups each year and regularly make the Final.
"Our Under 19s are current World Champions and our Under 21s made the Semi Finals, only to be beaten by France who won the Championship.
"We spend a lot of time and resources identifying and developing our young talent, and anyone who says otherwise is either uninformed or extremely defensive.
"At the same time, we have a responsibility to ensure we have the best possible players in our game by looking outside our code.
"If there are top-quality athletes running around in different sports who we feel could make an impact in Rugby Union, we will definitely look at them.
"It doesn't matter if they are playing NRL, AFL or lacrosse. If they have what it takes to play Super 14 or Test Rugby, we would be irresponsible not to consider them.
"It is both ironic and hypocritical that Rugby League is having a whinge about this.
"For a start, they raided our ranks for the best players for 80 years.
"And they are not the only ones looking at their competitors for new talent. You only have to come along to our National Under 16 Championship to see how many league scouts are on the hunt for our players.
"Some of the comments coming out of Rugby League have been pretty hypocritical, especially in light of the fact that the first players the Gold Coast Titans went after were Mat Rogers and Jonah Lomu.
"We are always looking to the future, but we do not have a bottomless pit of money to sign up every player we look at.
"Our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) ensures there is a fixed pool of money that can only be spent on paying professional players.
"We allocate millions of dollars every year on grassroots Rugby, and not a cent of this is can be diverted to paying players.
Qantas Wallabies who have come through the Australian U19s and/or the Australian U21s in the past three years
- Adam Ashley-Cooper
- Rodney Blake
- Rocky Elsom
- Mark Gerrard
- Nic Henderson
- Greg Holmes
- Lloyd Johannson
- Al Kanaar
- Lachlan Mackay
- Drew Mitchell
- Stephen Moore
- Tatafu Polota-Nau
- Benn Robinson
- Cameron Shepherd
- Guy Shepherdson
- Josh Valentine
