Investment off field needs to match recruitment (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Investment off field needs to match recruitment

7:30pm Wednesday 2nd December 2009 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(3)

The sight of England players shuffling off the pitch following this year’s Four Nations final was all the evidence needed.

Shoulders slumped, pained expressions on their faces, their body language told the story of yet another failure at the highest level.

For all the optimism that followed victory over reigning world champions New Zealand and the encouragement provided by a terrific 60 minutes in the final, England just could not compare to Australia.

It has been a recurring theme for 38 years – the amount of time since England beat their fierce rivals in a major final.

In that time, disappointment has been heaped upon disappointment, with a fair amount of finger-pointing and soul searching thrown in for good measure.

But to simply chuck this year’s chapter alongside all the others in the bin marked ‘disaster’ would be particularly harsh.

A young national team provided a solid test for a particularly impressive Aussie side and, with it, hope for the future.

That should not gloss over the deficiencies though. England were found wanting in several departments, the most glaring difference being in the physical condition and fitness of the players.

There was no shortage of skills in Tony Smith’s side but some of the match-ups, particularly in the backs, looked like men against boys.

Greg Inglis looked about as stoppable as Superman as he powered through the defensive line at will and Australia were loaded with similarly imposing athletes, the likes of Justin Hodges, Jarryd Hayne and Brett Morris.

Frustratingly it is a problem that can be addressed. It isn’t down to natural talent but preparation, an area where our players have been badly let down in the past.

But it seems Super League are taking notice and the issue was high on the agenda at the recent league meeting in Harrogate, attended by Bulls chairman Peter Hood.

He said: “While we believe our product is the best, our athletes are not. Our players are developed to be strong and muscle-bound in some areas but in other areas we are weak.”

Smith, who stepped down as England coach after the tournament, has long complained about the lack of investment in youth development.

The prevalence of a ‘win first’ mentality at the highest level means resources have been focused solely on recruitment rather than structure and support systems, something Steve McNamara has been trying to address at Bradford.

“If we are spending £1.65million on the salary cap, you need to ensure you back that up with good opportunities for the players,” said the Bulls chief.

“In the past we have probably not invested that much in that area and have just focused on recruitment.

“We will continue to recruit the best players we can but you also need to invest off the field. It’s the biggest investment you can make.

“You’ve got to make sure they get put into the right sort of playing environment and training systems and it will be interesting to see the ratio some clubs put in as compared to the salary cap.”

Unfortunately, it is an area where Australia lead the way. The combination of central funding and investment from individual clubs mean both the Australian Football League (AFL) and the National Rugby League (NRL) are head and shoulders above the rest in the use of sports science.

Supported by the Australian Institute of Sport, the AFL offer scholarships to a selection of outstanding young athletes each year and there is a similar system in place for rugby league starlets, introducing key principles in training performance and nutrition at an early stage.

McNamara said: “I’m massively a fan of sports science in our industry. I went to Melbourne a couple of years back to look at how they do things in the AFL and NRL and it’s a huge area for improvement in our country.

“It’s been targeted by a lot of people as an area for improvement now. We have been a little bit behind in this area and the word ‘athlete’ has often been used very loosely.

“We can’t change the environment or the climate but there are some things we can change. Potentially, we have the people in this country and the available systems but the financial aspect is the big question mark.”

The introduction of new obligations on athlete development in the Super League licence system would be a start. Then it is up to our clubs, with the support of the RFL, to do the right thing for the future of the game.