A Cunning Plan

First of all let us say that it is good to see the NTC (National Training Centre) playing in the All Flags State Premier League, and we applaud all those who made this happen. It is an essential part of the development of local players. What we do not applaud however was the condition that was placed on their entry by the club Presidents, that there are no points up for grabs in the games that they play.

How totally ridiculous and protectionist, maybe this reflects on what they really think of the teams that they have assembled. As has been shown so far the NTC will give a good account of themselves but the State League Premier league sides should and so far have overrun them. To have them play for no points shows that the Presidents did not honestly believe that their teams could beat this bunch of teenagers. If that is the belief then maybe you might start saving money and stop paying players inflated match fees.

We must again commend the powers that be at Football West who devised this year’s fixtures. With the NTC playing for no points there were many coaches who said that they would rest their first team players for these games. Football West have been clever in arranging the team who has the bye plays the NTC the following week, so to rest your first team players will mean that they will go two weeks without a game.

The only downside to this is the League table is going to start looking a little strange as you are going to have teams two games adrift on the ladder, as we saw this year with the Hyundai A League. This was a real turn off for fans of the A League and is likely to be the same at a local level.

Let us hope that next season commonsense prevails and we see the NTC playing for points.