The NSWRL will introduce a state-wide Player Points Index System (PPIS) next season to help equalise the playing field and encourage former NRL stars to give back to the communities that kickstarted their careers.
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The PPIS, which has been a work in progress for 12 months, will also reward junior development and player loyalty.
NSWRL Head of Football Robert Lowrie said the system, which will apply to Group 16, would have a positive impact on the game.
"The PPIS is a grassroots system that ensures the sustainability of clubs in competitions across the state while encouraging the promotion of their players along pathways at all levels," he said.
"It's important to have a system across NSW that encourages all players to stay loyal to their community, and to reward clubs which are building a strong nucleus within their roster based on junior and local development."
The PPIS includes a Notional Principal Contracts Allowance for former NRL stars to have their points recalculated to a notional value as their return has a positive impact on the club, competition and community.
"A prominent example of a local junior incentive would be former Parramatta Eels five-eighth Daniel Mortimer, who played almost 150 NRL games including the 2009 Grand Final and is now captain-coach of Orange CYMS," Lowrie said.
"As Daniel came through the junior ranks at CYMS club, he would be considered a zero-point player in recognition of his development."
Players would also be 'zero-point players' if they have spent more than four seasons at the same club.
Other aspects of the PPIS framework of rules and principles include:
- a player will have their playing history for their past five seasons (2017-21) considered for categorisation purposes;
- a player will be categorised at the highest level they have played in the past five seasons;
- a player must not play any less than five competition matches (in any one season) to be correspondingly categorised at that level;
- categories for developing, graded, representative, Major Competition and Elite Competition players;- participating clubs shall attribute a point value to each player
- a sliding scale points system based on ladder position, with teams finishing higher having reduced points and teams in the bottom half having full points.
Individual clubs will be expected to attribute points to each player and keep track of the total points on each of their team lists.
If a team is found to have played with a list that exceeds the maximum allocation, that team will lose any competition points from that game and individual players will also lose best-and-fairest points.
Group competitions will have a 'point cap' of 100 for each week, and will work on a sliding scale based on the team's finish the season prior.
In a 10-team competition like Group 16, the team that won last year's competition will be allowed 75% of the points, 2nd will be allowed 80% and so on until 6-10 which will be able to use 100% of the allocation.
Teams may also be eligible for extra points based on the size of the town's population and the quality of their junior set up.
In all, there are five categories and 32 criteria that a player may fit into for their points total.
Category A is 'developing player' which applies to players with no first grade experience OR local juniors. They will be worth between 0-4 points based on their junior experience in rugby league.
Category B is 'graded player' which applies to players deemed to be of a first-grade or A grade standard in either rugby league or rugby union. These players will be worth five points.
Category C is 'representative player' which applies to players who have played representative football at either junior or country level. These players will be worth between 5-10 points based on their playing experience.
Category D is 'major competitions player' which applies to players who have experience in the Ron Massey Cup, NSW Cup, QRL or NZRL competitions, or elite junior competitions such as Jersey Flegg. These players will be worth between 10-20 points based on the number of games they've played in said competitions.
Category E is 'elite competitions player' which applies to players with either NRL or Super League in the past five years. These players will be worth 25-35 points based on their relevant experience.
The highest criteria on the list is reserved for players who have represented NSW, QLD, Australia, England, Great Britain, or New Zealand in the past five years.
Other interesting criteria include paying eight points for a rugby union player who has played at Super Rugby level, paying 12 points for a player who has represented an 'emerging nation' or world-cup team more than three times, and paying 20 points for any player with more than 25 combined games in the NSW Cup or Queensland Cup.
Each points total will be reduced based on the amount of seasons a player has spent at a club.
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