Whilst still in Sydney played Jnr Rep footy for Manly,Johnnie Gibbs was our coach once at Brookie, got a tour to various places inc Canberra, where we were thumped in every Grade,they played a wide game- we were traditional up the middle must've been 12 or 13yo. Lock or second row, normal breaks sprains, gouges, pinches,punches, stomps etc but only once i got properly hurt that i remember, when the scrum collapsed.(mustve been second row) Future prospects gone when moved to Vic, Union was a weak poor substitute for a while, then AFL(There was no League).My son has played League here for the last 3 yrs and under 10's this year with scrums and proper positions i believe.He is for a provincial Anglo saxon Kid huge 5ft 1 and 60kg at early 9 yo, however in his footy team the sizes are bigger and every opp team has 1-3 players big or bigger than him and predominant players in comp are Polynesian/Islander boys.No serious injuries noted yet, kids go very hard(but in good spirits generally) but are well protected. I look over at the 14's and 16's however and there are some big size differences/disparities and am glad my boy is big if he chooses to continue. Two players from his club have 3-5 yr Storm Contracts, there is a pathway here now to the NRL the facilities are second to none and NRLs Sydney teams u16 and u18's i guess play against Storm JNRs on his teams ground. I would think it would be the 14's/16's up where the real injuries may occur.