The NRL’s long-awaited National Pathways Competition for under-21s has been delayed, with plans for a nationwide youth league officially put on hold until at least 2028.
The proposed competition was intended to revive the defunct National Youth Competition (NYC), which ran from 2008 to 2017 and produced guns such as Kalyn Ponga, Shaun Johnson, Jarome Luai, Jason Taumalolo, Patrick Carrigan, and Tom Trbojevic, with many current stars having featured in the 2017 NYC Team of the Year.
Jarome Luai in action between the Round 14 clash between the Wests Tigers and Penrith Panthers. (Photo: Joshua Davis)
However, budget concerns and structural hurdles have forced the NRL to shelve the idea, instead opting to maintain two separate state-based competitions, the Jersey Flegg Cup (NSW) and NRLQ (Queensland).
“It won’t happen for at least two years,” one NRL club official told Code Sports.
“There’s talk reserve grade and a youth league is dead, but from 2028 onwards it might happen with the new TV rights deal.”
While the ARL Commission remains committed to improving the development system, officials are prioritising cost efficiency and player pathways integration across existing structures.
In Queensland, the NRLQ under-21s will expand to as many as 15 rounds next season, acting as a key feeder league for the Brisbane Broncos, Gold Coast Titans, North Queensland Cowboys, and the Dolphins.
Emerging clubs like the Perth Bears, who will join the NRL in 2027, have expressed interest in fielding a side in the NRLQ to strengthen their development base.
Bears recruitment boss Dane Campbell said the club hopes to join once financially viable.
“Our ambition would be to have a team in the NRLQ,” Campbell said.
“We’d love to be involved, but there’s some reality around what it could cost to service as well.”
The Bears have already formed ties with the Brisbane Tigers and North Sydney Bears, with an aligned development structure across NSW and Queensland.
Meanwhile, Cowboys football boss Michael Luck praised the NRLQ’s success as a development pathway.
“It’s been amazing for us to play our emerging kids together in a Cowboys jersey against good quality opposition every week,” Luck said.
“It’s given our young players a huge opportunity.”
The NRL’s decision aligns with expectations that any national youth revival will not occur until the next broadcast cycle in 2028, when the game’s financial landscape and collective bargaining structure stabilise.