I'm not sure what your involvement in coaching is, but my experience is the opposite. Coaching and training is much more about mini games to teach players to play what's in front of them, rather than the historical approach of drills that run to set patterns.

Very much so. It's something I applaud him for and it's something most of his predecessors weren't really that bothered about.

I have to say the apathy isn't quite wholesale but unfortunately it does seem to be the same people turning up.
They usually seem to get 40 or so amateur coaches turning which is great. But when you think of how many clubs and age groups there are out there it's not all that many.

The bit that annoys me most is this though - a couple of times a year the Leeds Foundation take their Coach Education sessions "on the road" to an amateur club. They have the u19's training and Chris Plume and the other academy coaches/conditioners etc are all available to explain things and answer as many questions as people are willing to ask. It's great stuff as far as I'm concerned. However that is rarely backed up by the "host" amateur club. There's usually a token coach or 2 from the host club in attendance. There were even coaches taking training sessions whilst this was happening. Now if I had the opportunity of watching Leeds Rhinos academy train and to question their coaches at my club I'd have every single coach possible there, every single player over the age of about 10/11 there and anyone who had training that night would either have training cancelled to watch the u19's or at least break off for half an hour. I've just been gobsmacked by the lack of enthusiasm from some clubs.

I'd also make it into a big event that would pack out my club's bar and get a load of cash in.

But then my niece does keep telling me I'm weird so maybe it's just me.

we should be funnelling players through super clubs. Not necessarily super teams but super clubs. We should harness and invest in those clubs who can and do do the necessary things to get players through.

There good amateur sides out there doing great things, lets reward them and see if we can get others to follow.

There's a big difference between super-teams, whereby all the best/biggest young players are induced by hook or by crook to sign for a particular team, so they win everything that year - and a super club, which I assume means a well-run, professionally organised club, with teams of all age groups, that caters for mixed abilities and encourages players and parents to be respectful etc etc.

Your solution is one way - but it reduces the number of community clubs and probably reduces participation as a result; I think I'd rather see *all* clubs have their capacity to be super maximised, by giving them proper resources, support and oversight from the governing body; take some central funding off SL clubs so that community clubs don't have to beg, borrow or steal and attempt to nurture the future of the sport on goodwill, overstretched volunteers, unsuitable morons, or the largesse of a few Dads who own businesses and end up sponsoring the team their son plays for so they can buy a kit for the coming season.

It's a big job - but the top tier of the game will always struggle when the lowest tier is in such a mess.

Wasn't that the whole idea of Service Areas, that the best kids would be playing against and training with the best?

Yep. But it was struck by the curse of amateur rugby league. Ego. The Service Area coaches were picked from amateur clubs. Those coaches then had a habit of picking players from their club. (Not all obviously, but too many times). Also it unfortunately seemed to just further the problem of "playing to win" and "picking the big kid" rather than developing skills.

From what I've seen of the Embed the Pathway scheme I'm very much encouraged by that, though I've already heard reports of clubs and coaches trying to abuse the new system of Development Days already.