Thursday 15 Jan 2009 07:30
by Anthony Seibold (Press Release)
Source: www.crusadersrfl.com
Celtic Crusaders Assistant Coach and Football Manager Anthony Seiblold writes an editorial about the Welsh Super League franchise and savagely hits back at the criticism leveled at it.
Many supporters and onlookers from in and around the Crusaders and South Wales and also in the wider Rugby League community in the North of England offer many and varied opinions on the Welsh presence within our squad and what the club should and should not be doing with regards to having more Welsh players playing at Super League level and within our squad.
Some are ill-informed and many not so practical in producing a competitive Rugby League team or player capable of playing at the highest level. I am going to be a little controversial and offer some thoughts and opinions and try to spell out our charter for producing more Welsh players who are up to the standard and capable of competing in Super League.
That last statement is the key statement, players of Super League standard. What does it take to produce a Super League player who is capable of competing and succeeding against the best Super League has to offer at clubs like Leeds, St Helen's, Bradford, Wigan, Warrington, Hull FC etc? A player may be able to lift himself for a one off game as seen in some Challenge Cup performances or one-off friendlies as we have seen over time, but what does it take to then for that player to be able to compete and play well against Leeds the next week, then Wigan the week after that then Hull KR the week after that then Huddersfield the week after that and so on and so on for 27 games?
Let me take you back a little and give you a historical lesson on Celtic Crusaders from a recruitment perspective. In three years, the Crusaders have used 57 Welsh born players in the first team in National Leagues One and Two. That is 57 players who would not have had the opportunity to taste professional rugby league unless they migrated to the north of England. Of those players, how many have shown that they could compete at the level required for what is effectively the second and third tiers of the professional game in the UK and be regulars in the starting 17?
We have also had a Colts squad who played in the National Conference last season and with the exception of Philippe Gardent, was full of young Welsh lads playing the game at a level that was sound but well below National League Two and the professional arm of the game. So how many of these players could come on and play Super League?
There were some signs for the future with some individual performances from players such as Lloyd White, Gil Dudson, Geraint Davies and Mark Wool that suggested that in the right environment they may be able to compete at the higher levels. But what a jump for a young man from what is effectively the fifth tier of the game in the UK (although BARLA would argue that their elite level amateur competition is far stronger then the Conference National and from my observations when living in Hull is that would be the correct assumption). That is in no way to disregard what the young guys did last year as they were playing men in what is a very competitive League and they did a tremendous job under coach Dan Clements. So when people suggest it is simply a matter of adding a player from the Colts team to the Super League squad it is not that simple as the players welfare and development must must be taken into account.
The idea behind putting our Colts in the Conference National last year was to give them some experience of playing rugby league week in week out in a environment we knew that was not beyond them (we look like we got that decision correct as we had great tussles all year with Bramley Buffaloes and our first victory against them game in the Grand Final) over a season and to get some playing history behind them. For many it was year one in their Rugby League education. How do we create young players who are capable of playing Super League?
In 2006 in taking on the role of Head Coach at the Celtic Crusaders, John decided that he needed to recruit some players and staff that he had worked with previously in Australia in order to assist him in developing the Welsh players and in making the side more competitive at National League Two level initially and to see what he had at his disposal here in Wales.
History shows that Jace Van Dijk, Damien Quinn and Tony Duggan have been here from the start and no one could argue against their contribution to the Crusaders and Rugby League in Wales in general. Jace Van Dijk won the National League Two Player of the Year in 2006, Tony Duggan won the same award in 2007 and Damien Quinn won the National League One award in 2008. Along the way the Crusaders have achieved promotion from National league Two, made the Grand Final of National League One and received a Super League licence. Is this luck or did John get his recruitment correct in developing a competitive outfit initially before concentrating on development?
In 2009 their faith, perseverance, determination and hard work pays off with them getting an opportunity to play at the highest level of the game here in the UK. Before coming to the UK they had a combined total of one NRL game between them (Tony debuted for the Brisbane Broncos in 2004 v Canterbury) and there was some criticism within the Rugby League fraternity in the North of bringing in players who had not played at the highest level in the NRL and putting them in front of British players. The success of Jace, Damien and Tony has been something you could write a book about.
https://www.crusadersrfl.com/
by Anthony Seibold (Press Release)
Source: www.crusadersrfl.com
Celtic Crusaders Assistant Coach and Football Manager Anthony Seiblold writes an editorial about the Welsh Super League franchise and savagely hits back at the criticism leveled at it.
Many supporters and onlookers from in and around the Crusaders and South Wales and also in the wider Rugby League community in the North of England offer many and varied opinions on the Welsh presence within our squad and what the club should and should not be doing with regards to having more Welsh players playing at Super League level and within our squad.
Some are ill-informed and many not so practical in producing a competitive Rugby League team or player capable of playing at the highest level. I am going to be a little controversial and offer some thoughts and opinions and try to spell out our charter for producing more Welsh players who are up to the standard and capable of competing in Super League.
That last statement is the key statement, players of Super League standard. What does it take to produce a Super League player who is capable of competing and succeeding against the best Super League has to offer at clubs like Leeds, St Helen's, Bradford, Wigan, Warrington, Hull FC etc? A player may be able to lift himself for a one off game as seen in some Challenge Cup performances or one-off friendlies as we have seen over time, but what does it take to then for that player to be able to compete and play well against Leeds the next week, then Wigan the week after that then Hull KR the week after that then Huddersfield the week after that and so on and so on for 27 games?
Let me take you back a little and give you a historical lesson on Celtic Crusaders from a recruitment perspective. In three years, the Crusaders have used 57 Welsh born players in the first team in National Leagues One and Two. That is 57 players who would not have had the opportunity to taste professional rugby league unless they migrated to the north of England. Of those players, how many have shown that they could compete at the level required for what is effectively the second and third tiers of the professional game in the UK and be regulars in the starting 17?
We have also had a Colts squad who played in the National Conference last season and with the exception of Philippe Gardent, was full of young Welsh lads playing the game at a level that was sound but well below National League Two and the professional arm of the game. So how many of these players could come on and play Super League?
There were some signs for the future with some individual performances from players such as Lloyd White, Gil Dudson, Geraint Davies and Mark Wool that suggested that in the right environment they may be able to compete at the higher levels. But what a jump for a young man from what is effectively the fifth tier of the game in the UK (although BARLA would argue that their elite level amateur competition is far stronger then the Conference National and from my observations when living in Hull is that would be the correct assumption). That is in no way to disregard what the young guys did last year as they were playing men in what is a very competitive League and they did a tremendous job under coach Dan Clements. So when people suggest it is simply a matter of adding a player from the Colts team to the Super League squad it is not that simple as the players welfare and development must must be taken into account.
The idea behind putting our Colts in the Conference National last year was to give them some experience of playing rugby league week in week out in a environment we knew that was not beyond them (we look like we got that decision correct as we had great tussles all year with Bramley Buffaloes and our first victory against them game in the Grand Final) over a season and to get some playing history behind them. For many it was year one in their Rugby League education. How do we create young players who are capable of playing Super League?
In 2006 in taking on the role of Head Coach at the Celtic Crusaders, John decided that he needed to recruit some players and staff that he had worked with previously in Australia in order to assist him in developing the Welsh players and in making the side more competitive at National League Two level initially and to see what he had at his disposal here in Wales.
History shows that Jace Van Dijk, Damien Quinn and Tony Duggan have been here from the start and no one could argue against their contribution to the Crusaders and Rugby League in Wales in general. Jace Van Dijk won the National League Two Player of the Year in 2006, Tony Duggan won the same award in 2007 and Damien Quinn won the National League One award in 2008. Along the way the Crusaders have achieved promotion from National league Two, made the Grand Final of National League One and received a Super League licence. Is this luck or did John get his recruitment correct in developing a competitive outfit initially before concentrating on development?
In 2009 their faith, perseverance, determination and hard work pays off with them getting an opportunity to play at the highest level of the game here in the UK. Before coming to the UK they had a combined total of one NRL game between them (Tony debuted for the Brisbane Broncos in 2004 v Canterbury) and there was some criticism within the Rugby League fraternity in the North of bringing in players who had not played at the highest level in the NRL and putting them in front of British players. The success of Jace, Damien and Tony has been something you could write a book about.
https://www.crusadersrfl.com/
