It is a very good initiative by the 9s organizers to come big in 2010 with more than 96 teams taking part in the southern region 9s. The reward: a tour to NZ in 2011 to play a side there. From a rural villager's point of view this is great news. A chance to show my best in the hope of getting selected to go overseas and see the world.
However, a player's chances of going on this tour is 1/1440 i.e, if the teams are restricted to 96 teams of 15-men squads.
However, I assume a sportsperson's ultimate dream is to wear his national colors in the game he or she loves best. For the Rugby League player, is the Kumul jersey. I assume this will be on the minds of the 1,440 plus youngsters who will be strutting their stuff out in the next 5-days. How can they wear this prestigious jumper if there is ongoing in-fighting among the PNGRFL heavies and if selection into this elite squad is limited to overseas-based players and inter-city Cup players?
One first thought will be to put one or two franchise teams in the inter-city competition using the 9s concept as a player-base. However, more questions will continue to arise from this:
1. Do we have the calibre of players in the southern region to play in the inter-city Cup week-in, week-out;
2. Do we have players who can absorb the pressures of countering the aggressiveness of the highlanders in this competition week-in, week-out without chickening out? The fact of the matter is that all the teams in the inter-city cup are dominated by players from the highlands region so there is no way out of it.
3. Or because of point (2), the selectors and franchise owners will be forced to buy players from the highlands region to counter this aggresiveness, and in doing so, defeat the whole purpose of developing League in the southern region area?
This brings us back to the question: So what then is the purpose of the Southern region League 9s?
It is true that for the two months leading up to the 9s in December the youths of the villages in Central Province and NCD limit their un-social activities to attend training sessions, etc. So whats going to happen to them now after the 12th of this month when the tournament is over? Revert back to their anti-social behaviours when they dont hear their names called out for the NZ tour? Obviously, no one is taking 1,400 players on a tour to NZ.
Having 7-10 teams from the same village in this competition defeats the competitiveness of this tournament. One would have thought that this 7 teams would have played themselves out to pick their best for this tournament, and in doing so, lift the standard up abit unless the whole point of the tournament is to give EVERYONE an opportunity to play League, albeit in whatever level and form. If this is the case then the team that is picked for the NZ tour will also be weak simply because they were picked from a tournament that had below-average to average players. So for player X selected to go on the NZ tour, who was used to making numerous breaks during the tournament against below-average defenders, he will truly find the going tough when he comes up against a Kiwi bloke who wont budge an inch.
Further, between now and the next tournament in December 2011, what do the organizers expect the players to do? Stay off the streets by asking them to go fishing or gardening until they hear the call for the next tournament? The chances of a couple of them making their way into the established Rugby League teams in the tough Port Moresby League competition is very minimal. And if they did, their chances of actually taking the field will be like counting sands simply because the PRL only has an "A" Grade competition and a Under-19s competition. These limits clubs to not more than 50-players per year. So what then?
My simple solutions will be as follows:
1. Organizers must have a year-long program for all villages to abide by until the next tournament. Now the funding issue will surface...but again, one needs funds to run programs. So the onus is on the organizers to look for the funds to run their programs.
2. Get the village councilors and local MPs to be involved in these programs; and
3. Provide the opportunity for PNG Rugby Union to promote Rugby in these villages too. with the limited opportunities available in League, I am sure that village boys will jump at the chance of passing the oval-shape ball in the other code.
If you look at the Rugby Union option, it is not a far-fetched one but a very valid one. One should therefore consider these options thoroughly and consider the Rugby option seriously, if he wants to excel right up to the top!
My email is: lahui.ako@gmail.com Please dont hesitate to email me to discuss options.