After NSWRL announced in late October that it would implement the new Player Points Index System statewide next season, Canberra Region Rugby League general manager, Mark Vergano, recently confirmed that it would also be adopted in the ACT.
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The PPIS was designed, according to a statement from NSWRL, to "encourage former NRL stars to give back to the communities that kickstarted their careers".
It has been developed over the last year, and works by allocating each team a set points limit. Individual players are then categorised based on their playing history over the last five years to give them a points-based valuation.
The categories in which athletes will be ranked are based on the highest level at which each person has played in the last five years (with a minimum of five matches required to qualify).
These categories include developing, graded, representative, major competition, and elite competition players.
Meanwhile, the points cap for each team will change year by year, depending on where sides finish on the ladder.
The details of the new system, Vergano said, have been sent to all of the clubs expected to compete in the CRRL next season.
"At this point in time, it's been distributed to the clubs and we expect it will be rolled out," he said.
"In all likelihood, 2022 will be based on 100 points, so everyone starts together. And then the 'positional discounts', for want of a better term, will probably start in 2023.
"So 2022 will be our baseline year. It hasn't been confirmed yet, but I envisage that will be the position that we will take."
Along with encouraging NRL players to return to their roots, the PPIS is also intended to ensure balance across competitions, encourage players to stay loyal to their clubs, promote alignment between junior and senior associations, and reward junior development.
Players registering for their fourth consecutive season with a club will be valued at zero points, while club juniors will also be valued at zero.
The onus, NSWRL said, is on the clubs to attribute points to their players, and exceeding the points cap in any match will result in a deduction of the competition points earned in said game.
The system, said Goulburn City Bulldogs co-coach Tyson Greenwood, would no doubt benefit the CRRL competitions.
"I definitely think it's a good idea," Greenwood said.
"It encourages a bit of loyalty between the clubs and stops that shopping, taking all the good players from every club and putting them in one team.
"Hopefully it encourages a bit more of an even playing field through the whole competition."
Considering Goulburn's strong focus on progressing its juniors through the ranks and into the senior teams, Greenwood thinks the club will be advantaged by the PPIS.
"It'll probably benefit us even more, because we have a team full of locals already," he said.
"We haven't been shopping the comp like some other teams, so I don't think it'll be a massive shock to us because we depend on our own and build from the juniors."
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