I submitted the following article twice the other day on Friday or Saturday (once at about 2am and the second that afternoon) but they never appeared on the website as a news item.
[quote author=http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2009/jul/20/arl-slap-face-coast-nrl-rugby-league/]
ARL slap in the face for Coast
12:00a.m. 20th July 2009
| By Steve Zemek
ARL slap in the face for Coast
Just as Manly star Adam Cuthbertson finished wowing the Stockland Park faithful yesterday, Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles chairman Peter Boyce said the region’s league fans should feel personally affronted by the ARL decision which will deprive them of the chance to see such star NRL talent in the flesh.
After being sent back to Queensland Cup by Manly coach Des Hasler, Cuthbertson played a starring roll in the Sea Eagles’ nail-biting 22-16 win over Tweed Heads.
However the feeder relationship between the two clubs, which made the ball-playing front rower’s appearance possible, is in danger of being kyboshed barely four months after it got off the ground.
Reacting to pressure from the NSWRL, the ARL late last week ruled that from 2011 players from NSW-based NRL clubs won’t be able to turn out in the Queensland Cup.
Boyce described it as a slap in the face to the Sunshine Coast and Manly clubs who had both invested heavily in their partnership.
He said Sunshine Coast rugby league would be poorer for the decision but remained hopeful of working around it.
“It’s a great competition, the Queensland Cup,†he said.
“At least three times this year our boys have said ‘if that wasn’t as good as an NRL game, it was very close’.
“For the young blokes coming along, it’s a great opportunity. We don’t want 12 Manly blokes, we want to have a sprinkling of them... We need the experience, we need the NRL talent.â€Â
Boyce said he would now approach the ARL, QRL and Manly with the hope of devising a way around the law.
He said his highest priority was to maintaining the working partnership with the Manly club.
Under one model, the Sunshine Coast would sign four or five second-string or fringe NRL players from the Manly club for the season, therefore ensuring the club’s stocks and preserving their place as a rugby league breeding ground.
The Sea Eagles board will meet tomorrow night to discuss whether to seek out a new feeder club relationship or go about signing new talent to plug the gaps in the roster the decision will create.
The feeder club system has worked wonders for the likes of reigning premiers Souths Logan who have gone from cellar dwellers to competition heavyweights in a matter of seasons.
At has also proved successful for the Sea Eagles – who yesterday moved to fourth spot on the Queensland Cup ladder – in their maiden year in the competition.
Manly-contracted players such as halfback Trent Hodkinson, props George Rose and Phil Morwood have been consistent and standout performers for the club.
The Sea Eagles also stand to take a significant financial hit if their feeder relationship is rubbed out.
The Manly-contracted Sea Eagles players do not fall under the Sunshine Coast salary cap and their wages are paid by the NRL premiers. While disturbed by the possible ramifications of the decision, Boyce said he was confident of finding a solution before the end of 2010.
“I think we should be able to go to the QRL and get them to put some pressure on the NRL and say ‘hold on, we have got the best competition’, and I think the QRL should get out and do some fighting on the basis that their comp has been built as the best comp. They shouldn’t just roll over.â€Â