Originally Posted by
zed
It's not just about having a good 1st XV in prems, Joondalup will be required to have a reserves side plus a Champ A side as well as an U19 team. This year their reserves went well finishing 4th, but their Champ A and Champ B sides, finished bottom* and 2nd from bottom, respectively. Their prems side will get injuries and they will need to be calling on guys that are good enough to play at that level. They don't have those players. As it stands, I'd imagine they would have 3 or 4 prems calibre players, the rest are reserve standard, but the players from Champ A and Champ B are obviously not up to scratch hence their results. So really for Joondalup to be competitive in Prems next year, they need to recruit 35+ players that are 1st/2nd grade standard. I'm not being mean-spirited and saying Joondalup shouldn't be in prems, but you need to look at the big picture. They run the risk of being thrown in at the deep end, with perhaps a competitive prems side, but weak reserves & Champ A sides. What eventuates is - injuries, players get moved up, teams start getting thumped, players leave etc etc etc As Rockingham and Wanneroo have demonstrated over the past few years, you cannot get by simply relying on 15 good players. Look at Nedlands, if all their reserves were killed in a plane crash on a rugby tour (god forbid), prems they can pull up ex state players still in good shape from their champ A or champ B teams. The only realistic option for Joondalup to succeed in prems next year is if RWA, allow them to forgo having a reserves side.
*Not including teams that defaulted mid-season