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THREE weeks ago Manly beat us 40-6. Melbourne beat Canberra 68-4 that same weekend.
The Roosters beat Penrith 42-6 and the Titans beat Wests Tigers 36-6. The Bulldogs beat St George Illawarra 39-20.
There was a time when we used to ridicule rugby union for putting up scores like that.
Yet this is first grade football today.
You'll notice I called it first grade football, and not NRL, which is sort of my point.
It's time we brought reserve grade back to our clubs and got back to educating our young players how to play rugby league, the way it should be played.
We need reserve grade more than we have ever needed it in the past.
The under-20s is a very, very good idea and its competition is one of the best promotions of rugby league we have.
But it's not a stepping stone to NRL football. The experiment of NYC, under-20s, as our primary feeder to NRL football has not worked.
There are numerous reasons.
One area often overlooked is the welfare of players. I'm sure I'm no different from other coaches, having kids no older than 20 coming to me stressed and concerned about what they're going to do with their futures, and often feeling like their entire futures depend on what is happening now.
It's a delicate age for these boys.
Unfortunately, it's an age where they're on the cusp of maturing from boys to men, and when the pressure of what their future holds is thrown on them as well it's fair to say they are not all quite mature enough to handle it.
Another reason NYC has to go as the primary feeder for the NRL teams is that, as we see time and again, they're yet to be seasoned as footballers.
Except for the rare few, most young men haven't yet matured enough to maintain the intensity of first grade football against grown men week to week.
We have seen that this year at Parramatta.
Injuries have forced us to blood a lot of young players this season and it has been tough for a lot of them to maintain the intensity necessary.
They're not used to playing against men, and the physical toll it takes.
If they were only a little older - 22 or 23 instead of 19 and 20 - they would be far more seasoned to play against older men.
We would also be better placed to judge them as footballers, which is another bonus. Some players develop a little later than others, particularly forwards.
Too many bad habits have crept into NRL football because players have been forced to graduate from NYC to NRL too quickly, often driven by injury at the top, without proper grounding.
NYC just doesn't have the maturity to be an adequate second tier feeder for NRL. That's why we have to bring back reserve grade.
One problem hard to combat is that many NYC coaches are coaching strategies and techniques primarily to win the game - and there's nothing wrong with that, they're ambitious too - but sometimes it comes at the cost of the overall development of the player.
And an attitude to defence is the usually the first casualty.
You only need to look at the scores in most NYC games to see there is not a big influence on defence yet at that level.
And it's understandable because many of them are still learning the game as it is played at a professional level, the way it needs to be played in the NRL.
But it is damaging us at NRL level.
By introducing reserve grade it would give another level of development that would provide another level of polish to players, highlighted by the fact their football would be against men, before they come into NRL sides.
It will make for a better product.
The NRL needs to address its salary cap structures so we can properly stock our NSW Cup teams as the second tier feeder to the NRL, with NYC to drop back a level and become the third tier feeder.
I'm so certain this is the way to go that next season Parramatta will be using our NSW Cup team as our first grade feeder.
In most cases players from NYC will have to come through our NSW Cup team, Wentworthville, before they play first grade.
I reckon there is even a case to have the teams branded the same as the NRL team when they play. While I know Wentworthville, for example, has its own proud history, the first thing casual fans look at when they turn on a game on television is the jersey.
It needs to be instantly recognisable.
Whether that can happen is up to the league, but the sooner they decide to introduce a proper second grade competition again the better.
They'll experience playing against older players with an emphasis on the grind that succeeds at NRL level.
Or first grade, as we call it, and the game will benefit as a whole.
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