Youth is key for chance in NRL

Hello everyone, welcome to the 19th ‘Churchie’s Comment’ for the year in your favourite rugby league newspaper — The National.
The SP Hunters had the opportunity to play before the Gold Coast Titans-Manly Sea Eagles National Rugby League clash at Cbus Stadium on Sunday, in what was a great opportunity for our players to play in a stadium where many of their heroes had graced the same grass.
We faced Burleigh Bears in a clash where the difference in collective experience was on show. Burleigh are one of the most experienced Queensland Intrust Super Cup teams and the Hunters sit as the most inexperienced team in the competition.
As mentioned in previous columns, I have chosen talent young enough to transition to the National Rugby League. NRL clubs just simply don’t recruit talent over the age of 25 that require more time to develop, they want them young so that they have long careers ahead of them.
Inexperience means fluctuations in performance as they learn to minimise the gap between their good and bad performances. The upside of going young, is that we are in a learning environment. If we show a little patience for the performance gaps, work on closing the gap, then we can develop as a group.
In terms of development for athletes who are new to a programme, improvement can certainly be seen in the first 12 months. There is, however, far more development in the 12-24 month period, as players have a greater understanding of what is required and feel more confident in the direction they are heading and how they fit into the system.
I understand the expectation of the greater public back home of how we are to perform. We also need to take into account that our last full season saw us perform below expectations. That year saw a number of 50 and 60 scores against the Hunters. There is a fair shift to be performed to go from 50-60 point losses to winning consistently.
These players are working hard and have been improving each week. Our performance on the weekend was probably my most disappointing performance of the year. The reason for that and probably why I was so disappointed, was my game plan and coaching through the week was not on the mark. I was not disappointed in the players’ effort.
We had a lot going on in the programme the past week and while I think the players and staff have done a tremendous job under the circumstances, It is a week I’d like to have back as a coach. Unfortunately, I don’t get a do-over week. I will always be honest, look to improve things in myself before I look towards the group. After all, how can you ask your people to improve if you don’t ask that of yourself first.
There has been lots of messages of support for Jokadi Bire. We ask that you continue to send your messages of encouragement to him in his recovery. Additionally, there has been a lot of interest in his condition. While we understand the curiosity into your fellow countryman, Jokadi has asked for privacy for himself and his family.
As I think you can appreciate, it’s a delicate situation, given he is away from family and receiving treatment. We, at the Hunters, want to respect Jokadi’s wishes and have been keeping the family informed of his progress. Until such time that Jokadi wishes to disclose the full information, the Hunters will continue to update you all on his progress in line with his requests.
The Hunters have the weekend off for the representative round this week. Over the past week, the Hunters playing group and some staff have undertaken their level one NRL coaching course as well as their sports trainer level one course. The ability to return the majority of the travelling groups as level one coaches and trainers is something I’m really proud of.
Until next week, stay safe, play safe and let’s all respect and be kind to each other.

Cheers,
Matt