Sharp: Talent will be lost

AS DEBATE rages over the longevity of the Queensland Cup, Burleigh rookie Jayden Sharp has declared that without the concept, a plethora of young talent could be lost to rugby league.

With the NRL reportedly considering regenerating the reserve grade competition, the Queensland Rugby League has fought back against such proposals out of fear the state competition will be torn apart.

Since then, further suggestions have included Sunshine State’s first-grade clubs fielding teams to rival outfits such as the Bears – a notion met by further concerns that the NRL affiliations with those second tier set-ups would be tarnished.

In an era for the code when teenagers are plucked fresh out of high school and thrown among the upper echelon of athletes, injuries and limited contract spots already pose challenges for youngsters to make an impression.

Sharp was one of them, having endured a horrid injury run throughout his formative adult years – a broken leg, torn ACL and busted Lisfranc sidelining him for the best part of two years.

However the young forward has managed to defy his own 2022 expectations, debuting for Burleigh’s top side and going on to feature a further three times as he awaits to see whether he will take the field in the semi-final clash with the Capras on Saturday.

While Sharp said his primary focus was on cementing himself among the Bears elite, any hope he had of reaching the NRL rested on his performances in the QCup.

He said the likes of Canberra halfback Jamal Fogarty, and Burleigh fullback Taine Tuaupiki, had proved there was an obvious need for the state league to remain intact.

“I love the idea of the QCup. It’s all well and good to say we can get rid of it and have a reserve grade, but you look at Taine killing it in local A-grade and then QCup,” Sharp said.

“He will probably go down as the best player this year, to now to get a deal with the Warriors. If that whole system was gone this wouldn’t ever happen for him, he’d still be doing his apprenticeship.

“You will lose a lot of young talent that never got their chance for that kind of stuff and have been injured, which would be disappointing to see but I guess at the end of the day it’s the higher ups calling the shots.

“It’s a tough one, you can see the positives and negatives both ways. The positives are they come into full time training and it’s a full time job for them, but you lose a lot of young talent.”

Whether Sharp takes on the Capras or Tugun Seahawks in the Rugby League Gold Coast preliminary finals, he is simply grateful to be on the field.

Throughout his two years in the casualty ward, there were months where he was unable to even work as a plumber, with the extent of injuries and need for rehab taking over.

Now, even if he does not play a further role in the Queensland Cup finals, he can reflect on a transformative campaign in his career.

“I was living off a couple of hundred a week, I wasn’t getting too much more than that. But by the end of it I lost a fair bit of coin in all the rehab and stuff I had to buy and do and the physio appointments,” Sharp said.

“For my first injury, after the surgery they said this is normally career ending. That was a shock to hear at first

“I wouldn’t say it was a blessing, but I put on a lot of strength in that two-year period and I got a lot bigger. I grew up a little bit. Now I really am just focused on playing a full year of QCup and then see what happens from there. I’m only taking little steps at a time, just trying to play.”