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However, the main reason Seibold wanted to send his players fresh into the new season and reap the benefits of their extra energy is the short coffee break between the end of a long, gruelling season with its added representative games and the beginning of a new one.
“The amount of football our representative players had with World Cups and Origin meant that some did not return to training until January 4,” he said. “It’s such a long season. We play 24 matches in 27 weeks. The amount of football they play means they need a long break.”
A freshened-up Sea Eagles side, playing at home, had too much energy for the Cowboys, who fielded their top team in their final trial match in Melbourne and embarrassed the Storm.
While Storm coach Craig Bellamy continued his record of winning every round one match, he also set a club record for the most number of players to take the field without a trial game under their belt.
The four players who missed the trials (Jahrome Hughes, Will Warbrick, Xavier Coates and Papenhuyzen) scored six of Melbourne’s ten tries against the Eels. However, Bellamy said injury concerns had been a factor in standing them down from pre-season duty, with Warbrick concussed during training, Coates spraining his ankle, and Papenhuyzen and Hughes troubled by foot and neck injuries respectively.
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But the Storm have a bye in round two, and Bellamy concedes: “I needed them to play a bit of time because I didn’t have a choice with the draw. I usually go on the opinion of the top blokes who know what is best for them.”
The average points differential in round one was 50 per cent higher than the average margin across the last ten seasons, raising questions over whether the game has the necessary depth of talent needed to sustain an expanded 20-team league.
However, as this column has written many times over the past five years, the problem is not so much declining numbers in the pathways but a lack of expert coaching in the junior ranks.
The ARLC point to record sums spent on development, but there is a disconnect between the philosophies on the one hand of encouraging broad-based participation, where juniors play for no points, and promoting elite development on the other.
Most of the elite junior coaching is left to the NRL clubs, with some doing it extremely well, such as the Panthers, while other clubs rely on the salary cap to import talent shed by the top clubs.
The trend-setting Panthers, having won four successive premierships and the Las Vegas game without a trial, may well herald an era where the pre-season NRL games disappear and are replaced by the All Stars and World Club Challenge matches.
NRL is Live and Free on Channel 9 & 9Now
Michael Chammas and Andrew “Joey” Johns dissect the upcoming NRL round, plus the latest footy news, results and analysis. Sign up for the Sin Bin newsletter.
However, the main reason Seibold wanted to send his players fresh into the new season and reap the benefits of their extra energy is the short coffee break between the end of a long, gruelling season with its added representative games and the beginning of a new one.
“The amount of football our representative players had with World Cups and Origin meant that some did not return to training until January 4,” he said. “It’s such a long season. We play 24 matches in 27 weeks. The amount of football they play means they need a long break.”
A freshened-up Sea Eagles side, playing at home, had too much energy for the Cowboys, who fielded their top team in their final trial match in Melbourne and embarrassed the Storm.
While Storm coach Craig Bellamy continued his record of winning every round one match, he also set a club record for the most number of players to take the field without a trial game under their belt.
The four players who missed the trials (Jahrome Hughes, Will Warbrick, Xavier Coates and Papenhuyzen) scored six of Melbourne’s ten tries against the Eels. However, Bellamy said injury concerns had been a factor in standing them down from pre-season duty, with Warbrick concussed during training, Coates spraining his ankle, and Papenhuyzen and Hughes troubled by foot and neck injuries respectively.
Loading
But the Storm have a bye in round two, and Bellamy concedes: “I needed them to play a bit of time because I didn’t have a choice with the draw. I usually go on the opinion of the top blokes who know what is best for them.”
The average points differential in round one was 50 per cent higher than the average margin across the last ten seasons, raising questions over whether the game has the necessary depth of talent needed to sustain an expanded 20-team league.
However, as this column has written many times over the past five years, the problem is not so much declining numbers in the pathways but a lack of expert coaching in the junior ranks.
The ARLC point to record sums spent on development, but there is a disconnect between the philosophies on the one hand of encouraging broad-based participation, where juniors play for no points, and promoting elite development on the other.
Most of the elite junior coaching is left to the NRL clubs, with some doing it extremely well, such as the Panthers, while other clubs rely on the salary cap to import talent shed by the top clubs.
The trend-setting Panthers, having won four successive premierships and the Las Vegas game without a trial, may well herald an era where the pre-season NRL games disappear and are replaced by the All Stars and World Club Challenge matches.
NRL is Live and Free on Channel 9 & 9Now
Michael Chammas and Andrew “Joey” Johns dissect the upcoming NRL round, plus the latest footy news, results and analysis. Sign up for the Sin Bin newsletter.
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