‘Super teams’ hurting chances
ho“The arding of talent is not helping the district at all Steve Lansley
One of North Queensland’s most decorated junior rugby league coaches has sounded the alarm on the region’s misfiring talent development system, warning the problem could soon infect the Cowboys NRL team.
The emergence of junior ‘super teams’ and the erosion of opportunities to play rugby league outside of the North Queensland regional bubble has led veteran Ignatius Park College coach Steve Lansley to issue a “wake-up call” to local coaches and administrators charged with maintaining the Cowboys’ precious junior talent catchment.
Lansley was appointed to snap Northern’s six-year title drought at the under-18 state championship this week, having coached Iggy Park to a breakthrough Queensland state final appearance last season.
The region failed to qualify for the six-team finals series.
It was a result Lansley warned would become more common as ‘super teams’ at both club and school level failed to deliver proper competition to North Queensland’s most promising juniors.
According to Lansley, the issue is being exacerbated by the elimination of club representative teams between the ages of 12 and 15.
That loss of development is felt most keenly at statewide tournaments, where North Queensland juniors exposed to challenging opposition, some for the first time, found their skill levels lagging behind city rivals.
Lansley predicted future success would become even harder to achieve as those failures in the junior system crept into the pathways above, with fears the malaise would eventually infect NQ’S flagship NRL team.
“Watching the carnival, we’re pretty y good against the regional teams but I get the feeling ng Brisbane is growing a lot t and it feels s very competi- tive down n there. I’m not ot sure if we’re as competitive as they are,” Lansley ansley said.
“The population ulation down there makes it much more competitive to make rep teams whereas here, kids are good, but I feel there’s not as much competition for spots.
“Sometimes those good kids don’t have to work as hard because no one is coming from behind to push them so they get a bit comfortable.
“In our club competitions, and I feel too that the school competition where Iggy and Kirwan are the best two schools by a mile, we have too many ‘super teams.’
“There are too many teams in the under-13s winning 70 or 80 to nil, and then Iggy and Kirwan are super teams, so they don’t get enough hard opposition.
“The hoarding of talent is not helping the district at all and it’s not helping the development of rugby league.”
Through 40 games of under-13s boys rugby league
o tory points.
Just six games in the division have been decided by single digit scorelines while 18 games – 45 per cent – have been victories of 40 points or greater.
A quarter of matches in the age group have been decided by 60 points or more.
Those one-sided scorelines are being echoed up the development chain.
Lansley’s 2022 Ignatius Park team did not contain a Queensland Schoolboys representative but ran up record scorelines in the Aaron Payne Cup, including a 100-0 thrashing of Mareeba SHS.
When faced with sterner opposition in the Queensland state final Iggy Park fell to Ipswich State High 30-10.
Rugby League Townsville chairman Roger Whyte said transfer rules had been introduced to mitigate talent ‘stack
ing’ but conceded that the appeal of playing with friends would sometimes mean an abundance of talent at one club.
And while junior teams run riot locally, the absence of representative programs catering to those between the under-12 and under-15 age groups has extended the waiting period between challenging fixtures for top juniors.
While RLTD operate the under-15s Michael Morgan Cup and send female players to compete at North Queensland under-17 events, fewer opportunities to play representative rugby league outside of the NQ bubble has created what Lansley described as a fishbowl effect.
Queensland Rugby League cut statewide programs for those age groups out of concern that starting the representative pathway too early risked burning players out while failing to capture and develop other late bloomers.
The ensuing RISE (Routine, Identify, Socialise and Evolve) program, open to 13-15 years
olds, was designed to foster passion for the game while developing skills.
Lansley said the RISE model had merit in southeast Queensland but applying the same broadbrush approach across the whole state was not meeting needs in the north.
“I think that has really slowed the growth of football in North Queensland,” he said.
“You don’t go down to play Brisbane and Gold Coast anymore. You play under-12s schoolboys and the next rep team is under-15 schoolboys, then under-16s and under-18s Blackhawks, who only play city teams in the under-18 finals. But there is nothing in between 12 and 15.
“Players develop an attitude where they believe they are outstanding – and I’m not saying they’re not – but what they are is in a fishbowl.
“If they played against a Brisbane team maybe they’d realise they have to do some work on their game. But because they’re winning (locally) they don’t think they need to.”