NRL 2022: Penrith Panthers stars fear for future of talent pipeline
It’s not just out of western Sydney where the Panthers have developed their all-conquering premiers. But their rich pipeline coming out of the bush may just be drying up.
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It’s a rugby league production line the envy of the competition.
But the very stars Penrith have unearthed from the disappearing habitat once known as bush footy have grave fears for league’s traditional pipeline due to falling participation rates.
And the consequences will spread further than the foot of the mountains.
This year one of the most successful clubs on the NSW mid-north coast, Bellingen-Dorrigo Magpies, failed to field a first grade team in Group 2.
The Magpies have won 11 premierships, behind only Nambucca Heads and Coffs Harbour, and are the proud home of Panthers fullback and player-of-the-year Dylan Edwards
“When I was up there, (the numbers were) still good,” Edwards said ahead of Saturday’s preliminary final showdown against South Sydney.
“But you can just tell that the participation numbers are dropping, which is sad. It’s sad to see country footy going like that.”
Teammate Liam Martin, who joins a list of Temora Dragons alumni that includes Trent Barrett and Zac Lomax, often hears that Group 9, based around Wagga Wagga, is flying.
But what he’s hearing and what he’s seeing is entirely different.
“The chat is that it’s still strong. But I don’t know, first hand, I don’t think it is,” Martin said.
“Since I left, Group 9, Cootamundra, Tumbarumba... there’s two towns that have completely folded. And then Junee are stuffed as well. It’s a bit scary.”
George White, vice-president of the Magpies, has a son and another prospect who are both currently in the Sydney Roosters system.
But they’re rare finds in a once burgeoning nursery that now falls off dramatically once kids turn 15 years of age.
“And that’s the same as a lot of places right along the coast. Six or seven clubs took the year off this year (in Group 2),” White said.
Much of the decline for the Magpies is due to a changing demographic, and a growing reluctance from parents to let their sons in a code that attracts plenty of negative headlines.
“They want their kids to play sport,” White said.
“But not rugby league, just a game played by mugs.
“Everyone’s worried it’s dying in the country, and it’s a shame.
“I don’t know how they’re going to fix it.”
Similar to how local products Jarome Luai, Brian To’o and Stephen Crichton are heralded as role models for western Sydney, Martin feels sense of responsibility to those back home.
Instead of postcode wars, it’s partying woes.
“Football is such an important part of my life growing up there. If you don’t have that, there’s not much to do other than going down the wrong tracks,” Martin said.
“If they’re not going to play footy on the weekends, they’re probably off partying and stuff like that. It’s a bit worrying.”
But not all regions are suffering.
St John’s Dubbo Junior Rugby League Football Club has seen its registrations rise to 515 this year due to the growth of the junior girls competition and league tag.
Much of that has to do with the work Penrith is doing in the NSW western corridor just on the other side of the mountains — a strategic pathway set up in 2017 under CEO Matt Cameron and recruitment guru Jim Jones.
“They’re out in Dubbo and Forbes in particular, Penrith, with their satellite programs,” Panthers co-captain and Dubbo junior, Isaah Yeo, said.
“They’ve got an eye on all the players coming through. It helps give them an opportunity, which coming from country areas, you might not have always had when I was younger.”
Yeo was scouted long before the landmark initiative, however it has since delivered the likes of Brent Naden, Matt Burton and Charlie Staines.
More recently, Orange product Jack Cole and Blayney talent Liam Henry made their first grade debuts this year, while the club recently held Western Rams trials just last weekend.
“It’s such a rugby league community growing up out in Dubbo. I know they do a wonderful job out there with juniors, but it feels like it might be dipping a bit numbers-wise,” Yeo said.
“The competition’s getting smaller with the number of teams, the surrounding areas.
“Any time you can have country players playing in big games — and (Saturday) is certainly one of them — hopefully kids from out there understand there is an opportunity there.
“And that can inspire them to stay with the sport and aspire to bigger levels.”
According to the NSWRL, the 66,666 registered players in regional NSW this year is up from 60,758 in 2017.“The excellent result is in the context of two COVID-19 interrupted seasons in 2021 together with the effects of bushfire and flooding events in regional NSW in the past few years,” a spokesperson said.
Edwards and Martin praised Penrith for the way the club welcomes their country recruits to the foot of the mountains, especially when it comes to boarding in their ‘Panthers House’.
“I remember I was in SG Ball and wasn’t playing well. It was a big change for me, so I don’t know how I would’ve gone without being in that house,” Edwards said.
“Moving in with a bunch of boys that are in similar situations to I am was massive for me.”
It was a similar experience for Martin.
“You look at our squad and the amount of country boys that have come down. we’ve all comes through the pathways and were all at that house,” he said.
“The setup they had was incerdble. If they didn’t have that, I probably wouldn’t be here.”
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