ninearches:
It all comes across as being reminiscent of the 60s film "This Sporting Life" where the clubs were all about the chairmen/owners of clubs & their cronies while the players & spectators were seen as the plebs. But it isn't unique to Rugby League.
"A" teams in the Championship sounds a great idea where youngsters can be brought through alongside fringe first teamers or older more experienced players coming back from injury. It would be so much better than the present system of relying on under developed youngsters to slot straight in to fill first team gaps.
One of the biggest problems though is the lack of works & colliery etc teams these days , teams made up of lads who got plenty of bulking up doing physical work & enjoyed the rough & tumble playing for the works team at the weekend. Many of these teams provided ideal recruits to bolster "A" teams & many made it to first team rugby.
And ,one of the worst days for RL was when Union turned professional ,especially where the Welsh lads were concerned.
I've always liked the A team idea. You could easily get around the worries on size, by allowing teams to sign x amount of players who can train with the 1st team, but can only play in A team/championship fixtures.
The Champ is full of either ex SL stars who don't want to retire, or young lads (like Hirst) who clubs would love to get a look at. Harrison Hansen is too old now, but 5 years ago he'd have been a perfect example. Done at the SL level, but didn't want to retire. An A team contract, playing is the champ would have benefited everyone.
