On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 14:11:55 +0100, "John Turner"
Quote:
>"Alf King" wrote
>> Finally, is anyone watching the NL games on Thursdays, or are you all
>> strictly SL only?
>I watched the Rochdale vs Dewsbury game last Thursday and a cracking match
>it was too after Dewsbury had the game won in the first 30 minutes.
>Rochdale then found some pride and spirit and actually 'won' the second half
>with some adventuous play and excellent defending.
>The sad thing was the number of older players (including Francis Maloney)
>still plying their trade at this level. Really the National Leagues should
>be a breeding ground for the Super League, rather than trying to emulate the
>latter by providing pensions for life-expired professionals.
>John.
Maybe John, but I believe that the SL clubs don't share your opinion.
They seem to be of the view that they need to educate young players
within the SL system or they never develop "good" playing habits. The
number of players who successfully migrate from NL to SL is quite
small, particularly compared to the number who used to migrate from
small clubs to the big ones in the old days.
It's more likely that the SL clubs are looking upon the NRL as their
breeding ground for the future.
The NL is almost as unforgiving as SL in quickly divesting itself of
ageing players when they can no longer perform. The Rochdale game was
actually Francis Maloney's worst game since joining Dewsbury (his home
town club) and this is highly likely to be his last season. The
majority of the players in the team are quite young.
I'm glad someone is watching the games in any case. :-)
Alf King
by