@Aegon, I think it's still too early to tell...some teams seem to have done well, others not so well..sometimes for things within their control, other times not.
I think Rosebuds decision last year to run with a single SAP group, while managing to keep that core has paid off...there 13s might be one of the big losers in the pro/rel...but quite a few of the teams are almost unrecognisable to the teams we played against over the last few years (churn and burn...and I don't think that is a good thing)
Looking back to the way it was
I think in the previous system, those zone representative teams would almost move in entirety to a club, meaning some clubs were perennial under achievers, and the tier 1 clubs benefited imensly from personal relationship management (that those clubs weren't necessarily great at developing those kids further though...I didn't pay slot of attention at the time, but believe there were large gaps in the table them as well (without the threat of kid's Pro/Rel)
With those 10-15 fringe players, I think Northern should offer a development team opportunity for them, run it the way the Jets academy did previously. I.e. take those boys, play them locally an age group up to challenge them and drive them...that would also help to spread the talent out in each age group as well IMO. Also provideing the Jets a ready source to fill any shortfall they have through the season (underperformance, injury, etc...and a place for released Jets kids to continue their development before they may be invited back)
That provides an outlet primarily for development of those kids, rather than results based drive of the tier 1s (being careful not to mistake winning for development)
