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Message: [QUOTE="Big Pete, post: 2810677, member: 1899"] I wouldn't say the names I'm throwing out are among the 'greats' but just comparable to Yow Yeh. As great as Yow Yeh was, would you put him in that category with a Greg Inglis or Israel Folau? I take your point, just clarifying where I'm coming from. I think there was a stage where the Broncos dropped the ball in terms of junior development. I'm not entirely sure what happened, but recent efforts from Paul White to get clubs like Ipswich and Souths Logan on board shows they identified those areas as weaknesses and some of the best talent we've got coming through like Su'A and Fai have both come out of the Magpies system. I also think there's other factors at play. If you follow the Under 16s and Under 18s, North Queensland dominate those competitions and they've really come a long way over the years. Back in the day, you could lure a Justin Hodges to the big smoke because the Cowboys were clearly a step below the rest of the competition. However they've really upped their game and the introduction of all these national junior competitions as well as the emergence of the Pride, Cutters and Blackhawks has allowed them to retain a lot of talent they wouldn't have. Take a look at a player like Ethan Lowe, I don't think he'd be at the Cowboys if they didn't have a quality feeder system. So it's a case of the Broncos not having it all their own way anymore and I'd dare say the other challenge has been the development pathways in general. It seemed like not that long ago the NRL was tripping over themselves and all the emerging rookie talent was coming through. We had the likes of Billy Slater, Benji Marshall, Sonny-Bill Williams, Greg Inglis, Karmichael Hunt, Jarryd Hayne, Israel Folau all emerge year after year and it seemed like the NRL was just producing these marketable superstars. Then we brought in the Under 20s, anybody who looked half-decent was rushed straight into first grade based on their form against teenagers and they haven't been able to handle the turbulence of that. [/QUOTE]

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