David Cahill: dad of a Crusader on the debate over the 9-year-old who's too heavy to play rugby in his age-grade

You just never know who's gonna call when you open the lines for talkback.

When D'Arcy Waldegrave was discussing whether young kids should play rugby in their own age group or their own weight group, one of the Crusaders' dads called up to talk about how his son had made his way through age group rugby.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildegrave
from news talk Z.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
David joined us now good evening, Hey do on very
well yourself. What are your opinions on this?

Speaker 3 (00:20):
I've got mixed opinions. I had a leg come up
through the through the grades. I was told he was
too big, he couldn't play with his mates with torn
He was sixty four kilos at age nine, who back
strong point from part part MOLDI descent and playing in

(00:43):
the lower grades. He said he had to play two
years up, which was difficult because he couldn't keep up
with the bigger kids.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Okay, well it couldn't keep up, but he wasn't fast
enough or it just the whole social society couldn't keep
up with them.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
You speed wise, he wasn't fast enough, right could he
tackle them? How if he if he could catch, then
he could tackle them. But in saying that the only
other option was to go play rugby league.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
Weight restrictions are they in rugby league?

Speaker 3 (01:16):
Correct? Right? So what we did is we we've got
him up a couple of years. We put him into
a team that is playing tackle. So we've skipped the
ripper side of things. Because when that turned out later on,
when weight graded, he would have been had two years
of playing at a grade where he couldn't tackle, and

(01:40):
then he comes back and against kids that have been
tackling for two years. So well, it wasn't ideal, but
the result is he's gone out. He's played his heart out,
he's learned how to play rugby and he's had to
learn it technically correct.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
He still.

Speaker 3 (01:59):
Yeah, he's he plays some crusaders.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
I'm sorry, who are you talking about?

Speaker 3 (02:06):
The son?

Speaker 1 (02:06):
Taylor?

Speaker 3 (02:09):
Taylor, Sam Sorry, Taylor Cahle.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
Nice. I like this story. It's a story of resilience
and adjusting to the conditions around you. Right, It's like, well,
this is how do I get through this? And that
maybe too many kids are bolly coddle enough that they
don't face challenge and diversity, and they ain't good for
your long term, right.

Speaker 3 (02:36):
So you got to take them out of their.

Speaker 2 (02:40):
Or their comfort zone. It's it's it's not good, but man,
you're learned so much more when you're in a position
where you are uncomfortable.

Speaker 3 (02:47):
Yeah. Absolutely, thanks David. He's gone through and he's playing
good rugby now and he's enjoying it. About a career
out of it, and he's loving it.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
David, thanks so much for your care.

Speaker 1 (03:02):
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