Victorians Playing for the Melbourne Storm - Are there ANY?

[MarkZZZ]

Some people arn't doing there homework again. Jack Webster & Jermy Smith who both have played with the Storm and both Victorian born. There have been a few others, not many but there have been others.

OK, lets have a look...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_leag ... le_players

Among the Victorian-born players to play in the NRL have included:

Jake Webster: (Melbourne Storm, Gold Coast Titans & Hull KR)

To date, he is the only Melbourne-born player to play with the Melbourne Storm.

Where is he now. In Melbourne???

Yeah right

Timana Tahu: (Newcastle Knights, Parramatta Eels & NSW Waratahs).

Personal life

He grew up in St Kilda before moving with his mother to Bourke in western New South Wales at the age of 12.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timana_Tahu

Craig Polla-Mounter: (Canterbury)

Stop making stuff up. Yes born in Melbourne but move as quck as possible.

I don't blame him. lol

Polla-Mounter attended Ipswich Grammar School in Queensland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Polla-Mounter

Peter Wallace (Penrith Panthers & Brisbane Broncos)

OMG
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Wallace

Early life

Wallace was born in Melbourne and moved to Blaxland, New South Wales as a baby.

There are others but I couldn't be bothered digging deeper. So the fact is there have been at least 2 Vic Rugbly League juiniors that have progressed to first grade One has actually played with the Storm and a few others that have been born in Victoria and played either with the Storm or other first grade teams.

Really??? Hmmm

Is there any playing for the Storm this season? No but there has been in the past and there will be in the futureAnother AFL fan myth BUSTED

More... really? Who has been born and raised in Victoria and gone on to play for the Mlebourne Storm. More in the future even though there has been none in the past???

Please read the article again and read what I have written again.

I clearly wrote and as you clearly quoted that there are no Victorian born players playing for the Storm this year. I acknowledge that. I also wanted to point out that;

Jake Webster was Victorian born and has played with the Storm.

I posted the article to show that Victorian born footballers have gone on to play in the NRL. The article shows that Victorian born does not mean that you can't grow up to be a NRL player.

The article also shows that the Victorian Rugby League is capable of producing NRL standard. It is only a matter of time when the Victorian Rugby League will be producing more players that are Victorian born and raised and go on to play for the Storm and other first grade sides as they have done in the past.

I guess my question to you is do you think it's never going to happen again?

[MarkZZZ]

AFFP obviously you didn't read the article either. Just a word of advise when reading TLPG posts. They are rarely 100% correct.

Fist the VRL has produced 2 players that have reached 1st grade level. One in the NRL and one that has gone on to play in the English SuperLeague. The other players listed in the article that I quoted pointed out Victorian born players that have gone on to play NRL. Admittedly most left the Garden State (do the still call it the Garden State?) when quite young.

Back to the number of teams in the VRL. The VRL has 1st Grade competition and a Second Division competition. There are seven teams in the 1st Grade and ten teams in the Second Division with a number of 1st Grade teams running a second team in the Second Division. These 1st Grade and Second Division teams have junior teams. That's how they have produced two players of 1st Grade level. There will be more teams in the future with more junior teams with the natural subsequence that more players of 1st Grade level being produced. Some without doubt will go on to play for the Storm.

BTW there are also two other competitions in Victoria not big but growing,

The Goulburn Murray Rugby League competition is played in Victoria in the Goulburn Murray region.

The competition continues to grow and consists of teams from Wodonga, Wangaratta and Corowa.

and

The Sunraysia Rugby League competition is played in the far North West of Victoria, in the Sunraysia region.

The competition continues to grow and consists of teams from Dareton, Chaffey, Mildura and Robinvale.




Yes I also acknowledge there are more AFL clubs in NSW. We in NSW will give anything a go.

[TLPG]

Excuse me, Mark, but you just agreed with me. 18 clubs in the whole of Victoria, Corowa, Chaffey and Dareton don't count. The NSWAFL is much bigger than the VRL, and that unlike the VRL is growing. Junior AFL in Sydney is far bigger than junior RL in Melbourne.

Don't accuse me of rarely being correct. That is out of KE's book and you're better than that surely?

[Raiderdave]

Excuse me, Mark, but you just agreed with me. 18 clubs in the whole of Victoria, Corowa, Chaffey and Dareton don't count. The NSWAFL is much bigger than the VRL, and that unlike the VRL is growing. Junior AFL in Sydney is far bigger than junior RL in Melbourne.

Don't accuse me of rarely being correct. That is out of KE's book and you're better than that surely?

he accuses of rarely being right
because thats what you are

post links to information about numbers of kids playing AFL in Sydney
( it had better be " much" bigger then the number of kids playing RL in Melbourne )
& your claim AFL junior numbers are on the increase in NSW

otherwise
its hogwash .. pretty much as per everything you post in here

[TLPG]

I'll do exactly that when I have time, and it will be club numbers when I do.

[Beaussie]

I posted the article to show that Victorian born footballers have gone on to play in the NRL. The article shows that Victorian born does not mean that you can't grow up to be a NRL player.

Victorian born but not raised was my point. No one said being Victorian born means one can't grow up to be an NRL player. Again the point being made was that no one with the exception of Jake Webster (playing in England now we must note) in the NRL or with the Melbourne Storm is Victorian born and raised. This despite the Strom featuring almost yearly in the finals and grand finals of the NRL. What the hell is going on with grassroots development of Rugby League in Victoria? Not much it seems.

[TLPG]

he accuses of rarely being right
because thats what you are

post links to information about numbers of kids playing AFL in Sydney
( it had better be " much" bigger then the number of kids playing RL in Melbourne )
& your claim AFL junior numbers are on the increase in NSW

otherwise
its hogwash .. pretty much as per everything you post in here

Here are the club numbers of junior AFL in Sydney and surrounding areas;

Harbour Juniors - Inner Suburbs: 8 clubs
http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page ... onID=54916
Harbour Juniors - North: 15 clubs
http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page ... onID=54916
South Sydney: 7 clubs
http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page ... onID=54916
West Sydney: 15 clubs
http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page ... onID=54916
Total Junior Clubs - 45

Curiosity note - at least two junior clubs pre-date the Swans arrival in Sydney, and the way one article was written there are several more.

[MarkZZZ]

Excuse me, Mark, but you just agreed with me. 18 clubs in the whole of Victoria, Corowa, Chaffey and Dareton don't count. The NSWAFL is much bigger than the VRL, and that unlike the VRL is growing. Junior AFL in Sydney is far bigger than junior RL in Melbourne.

Don't accuse me of rarely being correct. That is out of KE's book and you're better than that surely?

These three teams are not in Victoria but do play in VFL Affiliated Competitions.

It's like not including Auckland Warriors in the NRL count because they are not in Australia.


Like I said there are 7 teams in first grade and a total of 10 in the second division. The seven in the first grade run teams in the second division. So my math makes that a total of 10 different teams add to that the 7 in the affiliated leagues makes it 17. Not 18. If you can give me the name of the one that I am missing I would be grateful.

I never said that the number of teams was impressive. I was pointing out quite the reverse. With a small number of teams they have managed to produce, that's right produce 2 players of first grade standard. Given time they will produce more, some of which will no doubt go on to play for the Storm.

This thread is about Victorian born players playing for the Storm. My replies have been directed towards that. I am not here to say that mine is bigger than yours. As we all know it's not size that matters. But... if you want me to say it, I will. There are more junior AFL teams in NSW than there are Rugby League teams in Victoria but how does that contribute to this thread about Victorian born players playing for the Storm.

[TLPG]

It's a bit hard for me to provide the missing club when I don't know the 17 you've IDed. Besides, curiously I didn't know about the Sunraysia comp - outside of Melbourne I only knew of Central Highlands and Goulburn Murray.

The issue for the Storm is the pressure they are under to produce. Especially in the wake of the salary cap controversy and that leads to trying out locals. It's a mentality that the AFL used to follow before the draft was introduced. It's how players as young as 16 started in senior football in the VFL - it was pot luck. Sometimes it worked but mostly it didn't. One notable case where it did work was Tim Watson, and he was 15. Now I'm not saying that the Storm should take that sort of risk specifically. I'm just giving you an example of pot luck. Hope my point is getting across there.

The other pressure is that the NRL is very impatient about clubs being competitive. Now while the Storm have no issues with that (top of the table I notice and have always been strong) they are far more likely to cast off dead wood without giving it a chance to be fixed up. Look at what happened to South Sydney for instance, and they had to fight to get back in. Look at what happened to the teams in Adelaide and Perth, and the previous Gold Coast franchises and the second Brisbane team.

The Swans have playing stability that comes from both the senior Sydney competition and from the juniors. The Storm don't have that. Will the NRL give them the time to produce? Will they produce? I'm sure you'll say they will, but will the NRL have the patience? History says they won't. What we don't know is how long it will take. I mentioned that junior AFL was present in Sydney before the Swans moved up there. I don't know that the same can be said for junior RL before the Storm opened for business.

[Raiderdave]

It's a bit hard for me to provide the missing club when I don't know the 17 you've IDed. Besides, curiously I didn't know about the Sunraysia comp - outside of Melbourne I only knew of Central Highlands and Goulburn Murray.

The issue for the Storm is the pressure they are under to produce. Especially in the wake of the salary cap controversy and that leads to trying out locals. It's a mentality that the AFL used to follow before the draft was introduced. It's how players as young as 16 started in senior football in the VFL - it was pot luck. Sometimes it worked but mostly it didn't. One notable case where it did work was Tim Watson, and he was 15. Now I'm not saying that the Storm should take that sort of risk specifically. I'm just giving you an example of pot luck. Hope my point is getting across there.

The other pressure is that the NRL is very impatient about clubs being competitive. Now while the Storm have no issues with that (top of the table I notice and have always been strong) they are far more likely to cast off dead wood without giving it a chance to be fixed up. Look at what happened to South Sydney for instance, and they had to fight to get back in. Look at what happened to the teams in Adelaide and Perth, and the previous Gold Coast franchises and the second Brisbane team.

The Swans have playing stability that comes from both the senior Sydney competition and from the juniors. The Storm don't have that. Will the NRL give them the time to produce? Will they produce? I'm sure you'll say they will, but will the NRL have the patience? History says they won't. What we don't know is how long it will take. I mentioned that junior AFL was present in Sydney before the Swans moved up there. I don't know that the same can be said for junior RL before the Storm opened for business.

All as a result of the superleague war " peace deal "
nothing to do with waiting for success or anything like that

the NRL will make sure any new sides ( certainly ones in non traditional areas ) are supported & are succesful

[TLPG]

They don't have the money for that because the crowds - even in Sydney - aren't high enough. Souths had NOTHING to do with super league.

[Raiderdave]

They don't have the money for that because the crowds - even in Sydney - aren't high enough. Souths had NOTHING to do with super league.

they will when they get their next TV deal ...
while our crowds & membership numbers continue to grow they mean little when you're signing billion dollar TV deals
Perth II will be a success from day one .. & will be for 20 years

&
Don't lecture me on League history
do you seriously think I don't know what occured ?

[Onions]

A new TV deal will lead to bigger crowds?? You really are a dunderhead if you think that, Raider Boy!

[Raiderdave]

A new TV deal will lead to bigger crowds?? You really are a dunderhead if you think that, Raider Boy!

no
they're getting bigger on their own .. great product we peddle
they;ve double in the last quarter century


meanwhile
if it wasn't for Melbourne .... AFL crowds would be in serious trouble

Melbourne is the only city in the country where AFL crowds are .. well steady .. maybe rising slightly

other then that
they're down everywhere else & have been sliding that way for some time

oh dear
as that old bloke off Dads Army used to say

Don't Panic !! Don't Panic !!

[TLPG]

They don't have the money for that because the crowds - even in Sydney - aren't high enough. Souths had NOTHING to do with super league.

they will when they get their next TV deal ...
while our crowds & membership numbers continue to grow they mean little when you're signing billion dollar TV deals
Perth II will be a success from day one .. & will be for 20 years

&
Don't lecture me on League history
do you seriously think I don't know what occured ?

I think that you don't understand what occured and why. Your crowds won't go up, because most NRL fans stay at home and watch it on TV.