RFL and clubs agree to new player pathway to improve quality To improve the development of quality players in Rugby League, the RFL and clubs have agreed to a new Player Development Pathway that will make clubs the focal point of developing new and improved talent.

Based upon current best practice from various sports and evidence from research in talent development, the new Pathway which will be introduced in 2010 has been produced following a series of meetings between the RFL, including National Coach Tony Smith, and clubs.

Jon Roberts, the RFL's Director Performance and Coaching, said: "Our aim is to build a world leading player development system so that in future years the international coach has a greater pool of elite performers to choose from.

"The new Pathway which we started developing before the World Cup will see professional clubs central to developing service area performance plans and players benefit from defined pathways from the school playground to the Championship, Super League and international success.

"This is a long-term project, one which we may not see the benefits from for another 6 to 8 years. The focus will be on talent identification and development rather then the short term aim of winning at the weekend. In addition we will aim to address the fact that a number of players are currently lost to the game because they are late developers."

The key changes to the system are as follows:
* Talent Development Groups to replace scholarships at 12-15 years
* Scholarships to commence at 15 years not 13 years
* An enhanced focus upon player development at younger ages as research indicates too much competition results in a drop off in skills levels
* Players to sign professional one year later at under 17 in order to tie in with education
* Academy to focus on 17 to 20 years
* Introduction of Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence to Academy or alternative education provision

One of the main changes is that Reserves will be replaced by an intense U20's Academy competition that will mirror engage Super League. Improvements will also be made to the loan system with the RFL looking into the possibility of allowing players to be dual registered with their own club and with a Co-operative Championship Club to support the transition of players from Academy to the first team.

Jon Roberts added: "The new pathway brings together a number of programmes. Super League licensing has put a greater focus on clubs developing young players and the Whole Sport Plan puts a lot of emphasis on growing and retaining the number of players involved in the sport, especially those over the age of 16 years.

"Critical to the success of this new Pathway will be coaching. Better coaches will produce better players and with the Whole Sport Plan there will be greater attention paid to the education and development of coaches, especially those will with a responsibility for talent."

The plans, which were ratified at this week's Super League club meeting at Rudding Park has already won praise from a number of clubs.

Tony Colquitt, St Helens Chief Executive, said: "If we are to win the World Cup in future years there needs to be a greater focus on the quality of players rather then quantity.

"This new pathway will hopefully provide this as it gives young players a more defined route to the top level - a route that provides quality coaching and more structured competition to aid development."

Ian Lenagan, Chairman of Wigan Warriors, added: "The RFL has worked with clubs every step of the way to develop this new Pathway and the result will hopefully be a better standard of players across all levels from the international elite to the community game."

Gary Hetherington, Leeds Rhinos Chief Executive said: "This is a very thorough piece of work by the RFL and one which I can see benefiting the game as a whole greatly in future years."

The RFL's Head of Player Development, a role the Governing Body is currently recruiting for, will be responsible for delivering the new Pathway in conjunction with clubs.

Could maybe Mr Chairman cut through the fluff and explain how it actually works.

Thanks.

This sounds dangerously close the the LTAD model that the RFL has adopted, with Sport England and UKCC, from athletics and swimming, and which in turn is developed from the Eastern Bloc Olympic programme. Trouble is, RL is not n olympic sport, nor is it a purely athletic one, and the model is deeply flawed for our game.

Better coaching - great.
Specilisiation young - mmm. RL is a complex sport, and a late specialisation sport. I'm deeply concerned about creating player pathways at a young age if your elite group at 12 stays your elite group until 20.

Emphasis on skills and technique over winning - fair enough, to a point. But can't we have both, at elite level? this also involves recognition that player pathways for elite rugby are not the same as increasing the player base in a mass-participation sport, or indeed that the talented wastrel at 17 might become the dedicated pro by 22, so there needs to be a place, a level and an intensity (or lack thereof) for the individual needs and characters of all players.

In all seriousness, the RFL would develop more an better talent by creating a split age-group, so birthdays September-January were competing independently from Birthdays February onward. Go read Malcolm Gladwell's 'Outliers' ... even the best pro sports with the best player pathways take 70%+ of their pro players from those born in the first 4 months of the age-cut-off. The elite groups at 12 are the oldest, biggest, best developed kids. They get elite coaching right through to adulthood, and become the elite adult players. The kids born in August have less than 10% of the chance of making pro than the kids born in September. That is the biggest single waste of talent in pro sport, including league.

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BTW Great post, Mr Chairman... arrived while I was composing this response!!

It sounds good on paper and I really hope it works but the RFL are notoriously bad at implementing anything that will benefit the development of players.

It's also about 20 years too late and we've got an awful lot of catching up to do but good luck with it. Better late than never!