In his latest colum in the Sydney Morning Herald, Adam Freier offers some ideas on how to close the gap between the club game and the professional game in Australia.
"The tug of war of rugby's nurseries is a fine and delicate matter. On one side we have the dusty grass floors of park rugby. The other side is a Project Runway-style process of identifying talent early and churning them through the high-performance structure of the 'academies'.
"My path was a little skewed: I was able to work from the ranks of Randwick Colts through to third grade and eventually into first and so on. But if that were the same path I chose this year, would I have the same results and a framed Wallabies cap hanging in my study?
"Times are definitely changing: the importance of Sevens and the under-20s is considered a lot more critical, while coaches are now using a similar system to that of the Socceroos, using the world stage to develop their young talent, with players such as James Slipper showing promise in the Wallabies this year.
"So how can we reward those who battle on through the turf of our local clubs, whom many would say are as good, if not better, then those in front of them? It's a hot debate - many of our Sydney practices have the view that the gap between professional rugby teams and club sides are growing further and further apart.”
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