The Penrith Panthers have won 4 consecutive NRL Premierships because they spend more money than any other clubs on creating opportunities for as many people as possible to play Rugby League in the Penrith district.
The Penrith Panthers great strength is their junior development system. It is the biggest single junior Rugby League system in the world. The Panthers fund junior Rugby League at every single level, from the moment a kid in Penrith tucks a footy under their arm and takes their first run of the ball, right the way through to their NRL team. It is one system right the way through, and with so many juniors, the sheer numbers mean that the Panthers produce more elite Rugby League talent than any other club in the world.
This should be the model all NRL clubs are run under.
NRL clubs exist for our entertainment as Rugby League supporters, but their core existence should be about propagating the game, getting as many people to experience Rugby League, and making it easy for as many people as possible to play the game. The more people that play Rugby League, the better.
We want the sport to grow. To be played by as many people as possible in as many different areas as possible. So how do we make that a reality?
We incentivise the most powerful development vehicles in the game, NRL clubs, to spend money on true junior development, from the grass roots level all the way through to the NRL. We change the rules so that a club knows the more money they spend on the grassroots of the game, the better it is for their chances of becoming NRL Premiers.
So, how do we do that?
The NRL club grant is one area we can look at. Each NRL club is given roughly $10 million per year by the league to cover the salary cap. They also then give each club around an extra $5 million a year on top off that which goes into covering various expenses.
I believe that extra $5 million per year should be directly linked to how much a club spends on grassroots development. Not buying elite juniors from elsewhere and bringing them into your elite junior programs, but real grassroots football. Basically, the more you spend on junior Rugby League, the more money you get from the NRL to cover expenses.
The Penrith Panthers spend money more than anyone else in this regard, because they have built the biggest junior base through a lot of hard work over many years. It costs a lot of money to run. They should be rewarded for that work, and should any club that steps up their levels of spending to match what the Panthers are doing.
As a result, any team that fails to spend on grassroots development should get way less from the NRL. If you are an NRL club that doesn’t help the overall game of Rugby League grow, you don’t deserve any extra money. You’re just a parasite that exists because of the hard work of other clubs.
Believe me, if there was more money on offer to NRL clubs who spend money on grassroots football, these NRL clubs will find new areas to fund junior development in. They will invest the money in the sport itself.
On top of that, NRL clubs should get biggest discounts for local juniors they develop through their systems, and who end up coming into first grade and staying at the one club.
The Penrith Panthers incredible run has been powered by local juniors in this way, but many have been forced to leave due to salary cap constraints. This has helped many clubs across the competition as Penrith talent spreads far and wide, and the salary cap is a MUST to have an even competition where no club gets into financial danger by overspending.
However, there should be greater discounts applied to local juniors like Brian To’o, Nathan Cleary, Jarome Luai and the like, one again as an incentive for clubs to WANT to spend MORE money on local junior development so that they can reap the rewards down the line.
These discounts shouldn’t break the salary cap system in place, but they should at least make it a little easier for clubs to have a better shot at holding onto talent they produced.
If NRL clubs felt that the best way to become a champion was to spend money on grassroots football, the new arms race would be amazing for Rugby League. Imagine all 17 NRL clubs spending hundreds of millions of dollars across the league each year on grassroots football. It would be incredible for our sport!
The NRL should seriously think about making a move like this. Seeing the incredible amounts of money the game is generating right now being invested back onto the overall sport itself is what we should be aiming for. There should be no place for any clubs who leave grassroots football as either and afterthought, or a token gesture. It should be the main focus of every NRL clubs, every single season, year and year.
That focus has seen the Penrith Panthers win for straight titles. It should be what the rest of the NRL is focused on too….for the overall health of the game we all love.
