The Service Area Player Development Centre operates within the community game playing season (March through to November) and each region will agree the specific window for the delivery.

Players are selected through an Assessment Day; players who are nominated by their community club attend the day which provides coaches with an opportunity to observe their potential through small sided games and challenges.

The Under 14 age group the Assessment Day must take place after the Regional Player Development Centre Assessment Day to allow players to transit and new players to join the talent pathway, all players who attend the Regional Assessment Day but are not selected will be automatically invited to the Service Area Player Development Centre.

Each community club can nominate all players that they believe have the potential to develop and progress within the Service Area Programme.

• Players should be nominated on their coachability, movement and coordination, technical skills and game understanding; not their playing position.
• Potential and not current performance should always be considered, if a community club are unsure the simple rule is to nominate the player for the Service Area Assessment Day.
• Coaches are encouraged to consider RAE and Training age when nominating players to ensure that experience and maturation do not become the key determinants for selection.

Each age group (Under 13 and Under 14) has 45 players in the centre. The Centre may have both boys and girls within the programme but they must be coached separately; for example a Service Area may have 25 boys and 20 girls which makes up the player development centre but they must be coached as two separate groups of players.

The Service Area Player Development Centre delivers a minimum of 10 high quality coaching sessions which last 90 minutes. Service Areas may increase the number of sessions within the player development centre but these must be funded by grants and sponsorship.

There is an induction process for every player and where applicable their parent/carer. The induction process clearly states the expectations for the player; in what they can expect from the player development centre, coaches and what is expected of them. All players are made aware of where they are on the Player Development Pathway and what they need to achieve to progress to the next stage. The programme delivery, duration and commitment are clearly communicated to all players, their parents/carers.

The programme consists of 10 sessions of 90 minutes; each session combines Movement Skills, Technical Skills and Tactical Understanding.

Lifestyle, nutrition and mental skills is delivered informally through coach and player interactions, dealing with issues as they occur and creating ‘learning conversations for the group’ rather than formal workshops. There are lots of useful tips and ideas within the guide to help you in these areas.’

The Regional Player Development Centre operates during the community game playing season (March through to August).

Players are selected through an Assessment Day; players are nominated by their Service Area Player Development Centre (from U13s) attend the day which provides coaches with an opportunity to observe their potential through small sided games and challenges.

Each Service Area Player Development Centre nominates all players that they believe have the potential to develop and progress within the Regional Programme.

• Players are nominated on their coachability, movement and coordination, technical skills and game understanding across the game; not their playing position. Coachability includes commitment, listening to coaches and taking responsibility for their own development and improvement.
• Potential and not current performance should always be considered, if a Service Area Player Development Centre are unsure the simple rule is to nominate the player for the Regional Assessment Day.
• Coaches must consider Relative Age Effect (RAE) and training age when nominating players to ensure that exposure to rugby league and maturation do not become the key determinants for selection.

There are 40 players in the Regional Player Development Centre which will operate from two hub venues. The centre has experienced rugby league coaches and athletic development coaches at every session to emphasise the importance of movement skills and physical development.

The Regional Player Development Centre delivers 3 phases of 6 weeks with a playing opportunity taking place at the end of each phase. In each phase the hubs join in a central venue to focus on tactical understanding and the players engage in a player development workshop.

There is an induction process for every player and where applicable their parent/carer. The induction process clearly states the expectations for the player; in what they can expect from the player development centre, coaches and what is expected of them. All players are made aware of where they are on the Player Development Pathway and what they need to achieve to progress to the next stage. The programme delivery, duration and commitment are clearly communicated to all players, their parents/carers.

The programme phases consists of 6 sessions of 120 minutes; each session combines an athletic development component with technical Skills.

Warm Up’s follow the R.A.M.P principle and each session will focus on two attributes within the Technical quality; while other attributes may be a sub-focus the two main focus areas must be explicitly explained. The Technical attributes are; Decision Making, Evasion, Handling, Kicking and Tackling. The use of ‘GBP’ or Games Based Practice is encouraged throughout the programme, when combined with a whole-part-whole approach to coaching players quickly develop the technical skills whilst developing decision making and keeping their focus on rugby league. Lifestyle, nutrition and mental skills are delivered through informal coach and player conversations and supported by Player Development workshops on anti-doping, Team you and Nutrition. In addition the players parent and community coach are invited to a workshop for them providing greater detail on the programme and advice for parents. This guide also provides further information and useful tip sheets to support you as you move along your journey.

The Player Profile provides each player with priority areas for them to develop and assists the coaches in identifying areas to focus on with the squad. To assist the players and develop their goal setting skills and sense of achievement each player will receive a ‘goals card’ to record and monitor their progress.

‘The Difference’ is the RFL’s key attributes to developing and delivering excellence. They are skills and tools that players need to develop to assist them as they progress through the talent pathway.

• Commitment
• Effective & Controllable Imagery
• Focus & Distraction Control
• Goal Setting & Self-reinforcement
• Planning & Organisation
• Quality Practice
• Realistic Performance Evaluation & Attribution
• Role Clarity