Originally Posted by
NTT
Sadly that is the state of affairs in WA premier grade rugby G, clubs like kala and baysie spend all their money on recruitment and development of our juniors only for the richer western suburbs to swoop in and try and buy them out from under us. Its how Nedlands in particular have made finals 30 years straight and now UWA are following suit in the 18 - 20 yr old age group. I mean how else does a club with almost 0 juniors all of a sudden have 40 plus u/19s running around for them? People on here and around the grounds will swear black and blue that it doesnt happen and they are not involved in this practice but they will be straight up telling porkies. The competition rules allow for it to happen which is why it does happen. I know the ideal situation would be that the clubs would be assigned a catchment area they can recruit from and be free to recruit from interstate and overseas all they want but all that would happen is the clubs with the money will hire their lawyers to throw at RWA to protect their own interests. Anyone on here whos beEn involved in club footy more than 5 mins would know that that is the lay of the land here. Cannibalize each other so we can feel good about winning, no matter how grubby the tactics used to achieve our self gratification. Back in the 90s, ARKS and Southern Lions had nearly 700 juniors between them. ARKS were a premier grade clubat the time but always struggled because Nedlands would come calling with a cash offer to their best players year after year. This lead to ARKS being relegated from premier grade leaving those juniors with no pathway to the higher levels in their own area. Similarly with Southern Lions or Fremantle/Leeming as they were known back then. Palmyra would come calling with money and promises to any decent player they had which also stopped any ambition that club had of being promoted to premier grade rugby. Now Southern Lions to their credit moved to Success from Bullcreek such was the decimation of their playing stocks by big brother up the road and look to be rebuilding very impressively. ARKS on the other hand have taken a little while longer to recover but are on the way back. Fast forward to present day, Wanneroo and Rockigham, 2 clubs with massive junior numbers. Struggling due to player poaching by the rich clubs. Rockingham relegated from premier grade 2 years ago because of players being bought not by other premier grade clubs but by their co tenants the league club the Sharks.