If you look at the expansion of the competition and compare that to some of the results we're getting, and also Redcliffes lack of big recruits that they've got into the club at the moment, there are some alarm bells for the future.
The game has to look at the development of players, what are we doing in Rugby League to bring more players in? We are going to need more and we haven't really expanded our talent pool for years.
We may need to start recruiting high-profile Rugby and AFL players or look at some of the elite athletes from other sports in the world.
A signing worth a million dollars at one club like the Roosters or Storm is definitely costing you 1.4-1.5m at the Wests Tigers at the moment. Will Redcliffe fall into that same space? They're either going to deplete us at the top end or deplete us at the bottom end.
The competition already is the haves and the have nots. The top teams are getting big wins and the smaller teams are falling away. You just think if another team comes in how are we going to make it all even.
On Sunday we saw two 40-point wins and this week could be the exact same this Sunday with the Sharks against the Tigers and the Panthers and Bulldogs for example. I think this round is going to be an indication of what's going to happen in the future.
Waqa Blake crossed for a double as the Eels pumped the Dragons 48-14 on Sunday. Source: AAP
Recruitment roulette
So in saying that, recruitment is the key, and I think with the recruitment that we've seen over the last few years is you're only getting top-line players go to weaker clubs when they're at the end of their career when their best football is behind them, and many struggle to make an impact.
Also, struggling clubs rush to sign some of the best young players coming through, before they've fully developed before they have won competitions and learned the lessons of what it takes to taste premiership success and many have struggled to deal with the pressures of trying to turn their new club's fortunes around.
I think a comparison is probably Kalyn Ponga - how early he went to the Knights compared to a player like Nicho Hynes and how he developed his game under Craig Bellamy and the Melbourne system before he went to Cronulla.
It's good for Kalyn to get that money, players are always looking for it, but has his huge price at the Knights prevented the club from buying the other key players or retaining the good players that they will need to win a premiership?
Also what about the fans of the Knights? They want their team to be successful. And the people who work there at the club, they're going to find it hard to win a competition because of the fact they're paying a fullback the amount of money they are.
Recruitment is such a balancing act of who you get in, at what time, and how successful they make your club. A lot of the lesser clubs are playing a lottery, it's a gamble for them. The top clubs don't seem to have to gamble as much they keep building up talent and getting talent in at the right price and at the right times.
Kalyn Ponga and the Knights couldn't stop a Sharks onslaught on Friday night Source: AAP
What would I do?
I think Penrith has got a model for everyone to follow. It was only probably 10 years ago that even with the good juniors they were struggling to have yearly success and be title contenders. So they went into Western New South Wales and really worked hard on developing the players in that area and helping the competitions.
They beefed up their own Junior League and built the club up and won the premiership off the back of that, and now they've got a great production line.
On the other hand, the Roosters have a different model - they recruit. They aim at the best junior players year in year out and get the best 16 to 18-year-olds from Australia and New Zealand into the club. They pay a lot of money for them then but I have no doubt they save that later down the track in the first five years when these players make first grade.
Redcliffe needs to decide what model they want to be.
For teams like the Bulldogs and Wests Tigers they need to get out and broaden their footprint in country areas, they can't just rely on their junior pathways in the city.
It's going to be hard. They have to come up with answers to the problems that they're presented in modern-day footy.
The depth of the competition isn't that strong. There are teams that are struggling already. Are we just making a bigger pool of clubs for less talented players?
Catch Dean and Beau Champion on NITV's Rugby League panel show Over The Black Dot, Tuesdays 8.30pm.
