While junior sports are supposed to be about participation and enjoyment, some children have competitive assets such as size and power that others do not.

For many junior rugby league players and their parents this is a growing concern, with the differences in size between players the same age linked to injury.

There is also concern within the NSW Rugby League that the sport’s rise in popularity among Polynesian children, who tend to develop in size earlier than children of European or Asian backgrounds, is scaring smaller kids away from the game.

This has prompted the league to trial weight divisions in a number of Sydney under 12 competitions this year.

Although juniors in the Newcastle competition can differ in weight by as much as 50 kilograms, the Country Rugby League, which administers the Newcastle league, does not plan to introduce weight divisions .

Belmont North Sharks under 13s players Kye Ashton-Webster, 35kg, and Reiley Sullivan, 65kg, both said they would not want the age-group system changed.

Kye’s father Robert agreed and said smaller kids like his son often possessed attributes such as mental toughness that the bigger kids did not.

“I think they get to an age of about 16 or 17 and it all starts to even out,” he said.

Kye, a slightly-built lock forward, said playing with only kids his size would be “boring and not much of a challenge . . . I’d rather be playing with my mates”.

Although Kye’s team mate Reiley said he picked the smaller kids out to run at – most of them were good tacklers.

Reiley’s father Steve said it would be a shame if weight divisions were introduced.

“I understand where they are coming from, you only have to look at Western Suburbs and Central (Charlestown) in this division (to see the size differences),” Mr Sullivan said.

“But they are all evenly-matched (in skill) or they wouldn’t be in division one.”

Country Rugby League CEO Terry Quinn said the differences in weight between juniors had been an issue for a several years.

He said while weight divisions could protect some smaller players from injury, there was just as much concern for injury caused by small kids from older age groups playing young kids of similar weight.

Mr Quinn said the Country Rugby League would wait for the outcome of weight division trials in Sydney before discussing its introduction in regional competitions.