Nah..I'd merge the 2 hull clubs that couldn't sell out a play-off game and the decision would have SFA to do with principles

Can't be bothered to read 13 pages of bitterness and arguing, it's all futile anyway - the only thing anyone needs to know about this debate is...
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Well done, tell everyone the ratio of Rovers' foreign to English players why don't you!

if our great fear is not being competitive at Int leve lets just take a leaf out of the Australian notebook and entice more foreigners to play for England!

ps there is a lot less Kiwis playing in the NRL than Englishmen in SL yet they managed to find 17 good enough to win a world cup!

Yeah, was an appaulling crowd without a doubt.

Especially when you compare it to all the other play-off games last weekend, include the most successful team ever (Wigan) vs the most successful team of the last 3 years (Leeds). Oh, that's right, it was nearly double their crowd. Add the Hudds v Crusaders crowd to the Wigan one and it's still less then the derby. Yeah, the RFL must be so ashamed of the city of Hull.



When you even make the play-offs again GF (nevermind get double-figures at The Stoop without the help of Quins RU), then feel free to have a go.





Oh, and if you want some more stats, the two Hull clubs take more away to many clubs then Fulcrubroncquins took to their last CC Semi-Final, and the one before that.



So actually I would say both Hull clubs are here to stay in SL.









P.S. What crowd do you reckon you'd have drawn last week for a play-off 'derby' against Les Cats?

Just scraped into four figures maybe?!

I know

He's been conspicuous by his absence on this thread lately. I'm sure he'll be back if Rovers lose tonight

Not that one win proves anything one way or another but I guess we can expect something along the lines of...

"10 overseas players and only one playoff win, proof that Rovers can't scout, coach or develop young players"



I notice that no congratulations are forthcoming from him on the Liam Watts thread neither has he commented on the signing of that dross Aussie Michael Dobson (dream team again) or Rovers under 18's playing in the top group.

I bet he was really upset we beat Hull FC with their much vaunted production line of young English talent last week.

Thats because the NRL has the systems in place to develop to quality players. If we had these systems in place and made the same investment in time, effort, trust, and money in our young players then we would be in a similar position.

one swallow does not a summer make.

But considering you have proved you CAN do it, it makes the arguments why you are NOT doing quite redundant

:127o7304its just the 10 overseas players thats relevant

:127o7304Under 18s trophies and success are nice, but pointless. Its bringing them to the first team that is important

I dont care whether Hull FC win or lose, but good on them for putting their faith in Brits, we need more clubs like them, and less like you. Off the field they have a lot to be very proud of.

I do in fact hope you win tonight. Wigans record on overseas players isnt a whole heap better, and as one of the biggest clubs in the country they should be doing much better. And considering the words of some wigan fans this week, to not even get to the semis after the arrogance they displayed this year would be hilarious, it couldnt happen to a nicer bunch of people

so you agree it has little to do with the number of English players in SL and more to do with the quality of development?

Glad we sorted that one out.

tThe two things are inextricably linked. The lack of english players is evidence of the poor quality of the development. We get the development improved and the numbers will improve, the fact Hull KR and other clubs have so many overseas players is because they development isnt good enough. The development isnt good enough because when a club needs a player, rather than having good succession planning and having some decent quality youngsters in reserve, and rather than taking an 18 year old with potential and introducing him to first grade and giving him 3 or 4 years to reach that potential, or taking a 21 year old who may have been underrated elsewhere a club can go pick up a player like Blake Green or Kylie Lueluai and dont give the youngster time to reach his potential and dont try and polish a rough diamond and our league, and national team are poorer for it.

Until the clubs are forced to do this, they wont. That is why it is a bad thing to have so many overseas players, it simply highlights the fact your development systems and scouting systems are failling and your CEO isnt improving them.

For all the talk of needing time, the commitment would be visibile immediately.

Its a good job Arsenal arent a RL team , Smokey could have a great moan about them

Which footy team was it you supported again Smokey ?

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viewtopic.php?p=12010738#p12010738

i would indeed, they are a joke.


Leeds, we had a great youth policy, relegation ruined that

If Hull KR today signed all the best 15/16 year old RL prospects in the country it would still be 3 or 4 years (longer for significant numbers) before we saw those prospects filtering through to the first team. This is the problem with your argument Smokey. You insist Rover's youth development isn't good enough, [uyou don't know what they are doing now[/u.

You might have more of a point to say that Rovers' youth development [uhasn't[/u been good enough but that still disregards the problems faced by a newly promoted SL club which you completely fail to acknowledge. I think it's fair to say that Rovers are now on par with Hull FC in terms of youth development and attractiveness of the club to young prospects, evidenced by the relative success at under 18 level. But most of those lads will still require time to get to a standard where they can be blooded in SL.

If you could for one minute remove the bias and consider what Hull KR have done well since being promoted you would surely have to recognise that they have got the majority of things right and while there is plenty of work yet to do the youth development at the club is progressing. How many other clubs can claim to have made the great strides forward in every department that Hull KR has in the last five years?

Are you in some way suggesting that being in a lower division is detrimental to youth development?

Is this the same Hull FC that have just got Berrigan off quota and are looking overseas for a new halfback?

its the one with about half the overseas players you have,

I'll keep an eye out for their results this weekend.

How strange , I once suggested you were a Leeds Utd fan , and you said you follwed the Arsenal

youth development isnt the only option. This is the fundemental point. When you need to choose between your youngsters, or a player from the lower leagues or a fringe player at another club you are going to do one of two things, make sure your youngsters are the best or invest a lot more time and effort trying to polish a rough diamond. That isnt happening when the first option to fill a gap in the squad is Australia. If Hull KR couldnt bring in Blake Green they would still have needed to find a player from somewhere, either putting more effort into getting a top class youngster, or putting more effort into training a player from the lower leagues.

And before you say it, there are good enough players outside SL first teams to do that job for you. Keith Senior, Rob Purdham, Ade Gardner, Shaun Lunt, Danny Kirmond, Ewan Dowes, Gareth Raynor all came from outside the SL development system. There are more out there we need to find them.
you have no way of judging that. Under 18s rugby is really a terrible judge of the quality of youth development. You could have the queensland back line at 17 in an academy but if the forwards are all youngsters still developing then they will be over-run and they arent going to win many games. But if you introduced Inglis, Slater, Boyd Tonga and Folou then you would say your youth development was doing pretty well
there is plenty of work to do in every department. I sometimes think that RL suffers as a sport because of how happy people seem to be with accepting the mediocre or building it up to 'great' when it isnt.

Hull KR fail in many many areas, They can get to the level they should be, and it is doing them a disservice to say they are doing 'great' when they are where they are.

We have had this exact same conversation before when you said i had told you i was an nal fan, i didnt. Im not. I didnt tell you i was.







bookmark this thread, and then next time you can look back and see im a Leeds fan.

simple fact is NZ can win the WC with 100 players in 1st grade, England should be able to win it with 200+. Has very little to do with the number of overseas players at a club and everything to do with the RFL not doing its job in getting more kids playing at ages 5-15.

we have 250'000 registered players, the fact we cant provide 300 to fill SL squads says the problem lays elsewhere.

fyi, 200 would be an improvement from where we are at right now

Did you drop this roofs?