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UNDER 20'S AT WARRINGTON ON SATURDAY
Bradford Bulls Under 20's team, coached this year by Player Performance Manager, Stuart Barrow, are in action this weekend when they take on Warrington Wolves at Wilderspool on Saturday at 13.30.
The Under 20's lost their opening fixture against last season's Champions, Wigan Warriors 34-10 at the Grattan Stadium last Saturday.
The Under 20's competition is part of the RFL's new Youth strategy for the sport, which will see teams at Under 15, Under 16,s Under 18's and Under 20's
Head of Youth Development at the Bulls is Paul Medley and he explains the changes and how they have come about.
"The restructuring of the game has come about after an in depth analysis over the past four or five years. We are a late maturation sport and so it has been decided that the Under 15's and 16's will play games under the clubs' umbrella but that Scholarships will no longer start below that age group. We are looking to sign kids, for the Scholarship, that are older and not just stronger, which was what tended to happen previously, when we took them earlier. The Scholarship players will also play games in a professional environment and the thinking behind that is to give them an experience of what it is like in a professional set up. It is felt this structure will also help to develop the juniors further as they obtain more game sense, more game experiences and hopefully that will push them further down the road towards becoming better players when they are enter the professional game.
The Under 18's Academy will become more of a development competition. Initially they will play eight games. That will then put them into a position of just where they are as a team and they will be split into two groups and play another round of eight games, which will be more about the development of players rather than a competition.
The Under 20s is the competition that everyone is looking to play their best side in. All the better players will play at that level depending on their physical development and maturation. So it's not just about the best players playing in that comp because if a sixteen year old is talented but not physically developed then he will play in the Under 18's competition until he has developed his body and his skills to enable him to then play at Under 20's level."
Although the changes are sweeping it something the Bradford Bulls really embrace as Paul explains.
"It ties in with all the physiological development and Sports Science. They have looked at all areas of stats and information and it aligns us with the Australian model for developing junior talent and when people have looked at how it will all work, the idea of getting this one competition of strong teams, rather than one club keeping its best young players in the Under 18' and another playing theirs in the Under 21's, as tended to happen, it's going to mean that everyone has a strong Under 20's side and that's going to be the competition that everyone strives to perform in. Hopefully that will mean that we don't have one sided games and that all clubs have a better platform and preparation for the step up to Super League."