Now this I disagree with.
I am one of the strongest supporters of having a strong academy, but the rules as they are currently written do not mandate that you have an academy.

Any and every club has the right to choose how they run their own club. As previously mentioned, why would Salford bother when they can pick up Wigan, St Helens and Warrington youths or fringe players because those clubs cannot afford to keep them.

It might not be a strategy you like, just like I don't, but it is their right to do what they wish within the rules.

You can hardly blame Salford for starting all this, all clubs were complicit in the destruction of the youth grades. Thats when the ball started rolling, this is merely a symptom of the leadership of the sport not supporting youth, and restricting the top clubs ability to hang onto what they produce.

Genuinely, credit should be given to Bulls for their academy structures & success.

This bit is a tad unfair & overly simplistic .....

Derek Beaumont hasn't ruled out any future Academy set up at Leigh, he simply favours establishing the Club at SL level/retaining SL status firstly, to revisit Academy status at a later time.

Leigh are not the only SL Club without an Academy but its 2 amateur town clubs Miners & East have supplied a good number of SL players over the decades.

Tin pot ? Or [iSilverware Club ?[/i the facts speak for themselves.

I would love a bigger SL (up to 16 Clubs) & hope that your academy can help bring you back to SL, with better overall Club financing & management, as I hope KR can do likewise.

No need for petty name calling.

Bradford fans calling other clubs "tinpot". You couldn't make it up

Regards

King James

I wasn't referring to Leigh who haven't had the luxury of years of superleague funding and crowds.

Salford on the other hand have no excuse.

Btw if you want a cock measuring contest comparing trophies I'd pick someone other than Bradford. We might be in the division below Leigh for the first time in living memory but the facts speak for themselves.

Yeah all those trophies, superleague beating crowds, successful academy. Even most of the points in England women's game with France were scored by Bradford players today. Versus a few sound bites from Ming the merciless, an empty trophy cabinet and a car load of pitch invading chavs rattling round a sewage works under Barton bridge.

I assume you are running a Scholarship ? , if so your current crop of 20 yr olds have been with you since 2007/8 , at that time you were still at the top just a couple of years from dominating SL

' Kids choose the Bulls because they have a genuine pathway ' ? , well yes I suppose they could see that given the numbers of high quality you have managed to develop in the recent past , but then again , those players would have been attracted to the Bulls 15/16 years ago , again on the back of your success

So there we have it , the 4 winners of SL produce the most players , or because those clubs produce the players they win SL ? , a chicken and egg scenario

But let's look at your squad back in your heyday , a lot of Kiwi's as I remember it , so buying and bringing in Star quality gave you success and profile , that has resulted in you getting the best juniors and producing quality SL players

Will it continue ? Who knows , only time will tell

bless

You are more bitter than a Lemon, enjoy another year in oblivion.

You sign with a scholarship at u15s, which would have been 5 years ago for the oldest of Bradford's u19s. In 2009, 2010 and 2011, Bradford finished 9th, 10th and 10th. The youngest of those u19s will have signed for a scholarship 2/3 years ago, when Bradford were already struggling massively.

If that's the case then things have changed , it used to be U 12 s

one of the reasons we can't have a 16 team league is clubs making the decision to ignore youth development in favour of short term success. This is clearly exacerbated by this system.

If you want to see the damage it does, none of the club which was relegated, the club which was promoted, or the one which survived the million pound nonsense will be running their own academy next year.

Of the three only one was running one this season , and in 2018 the promoted club this season intend on running one

So essentially one seasons loss

Again I'd suggest reading the similar thread on Total RL to see some of the issues with the academies and the amateur clubs they draw from

That is the case. I coached at a scholarship set up last year, our first year intake was u15s/year 10.

Exactly my point. Thanks. Not sure Gubrats gets it though.

' Get what ? ' , that the Scholarships have changed ?

I hope your current crop are as good as your recent productions , if they are though the issue will be keeping them

All the best

What about Jamie Peacock, Leon Pryce, Stuart Reardon, Karl Pryce, Stuart Fielden, etc etc etc?

The issue was always keeping them. If we'd kept the best of our academy products we'd have been consistently one of the best.

Although he went for less than his value you could argue there wouldn't be a club at all if it weren't for the money Wigan paid for John Bateman.

Certainly one of the reasons I've kept going is becaus of the Homegrown lads.

What is clear & certain (to my mind anyway) is that there isn't a long term future for any Club or British/European RL as an entity without Academy/Scolarship structures in place. The same can be seen in economies, where a country is over reliant on importation while not producing or exporting, often those economies struggle or fail.

The incessant & self perpetuatung importation of RL [i'talent'/fodder[/i is both stifling & dare I say crippling to the advancement of RL at all levels, SL included. We will never have a product to match that of the Aussies under the kind of duress the game forces upon itself.

To compete at International level & as a product the British/Euro game must steal from not only the likes of Sheens & Bennet, but also from the NRL administrators & power broker's. Only by harvesting the vital skill sets, attitudes & methods of the very best & imparting the knowledge of leaders to nurture the future of our home grown will we ever see a comparable competition.

As a Wakefield fan I used to admit that we don't particularly offer much to Super League in comparison to other clubs and that we were probably the least deserving of a place out of the 12 sides. But it's nice for me to now be able to say that we definitely bring more to the table than either Salford or Leigh if they can't even be bothered running acadamies depsite having wealthy owners. Especially seeing as we can't even spend up to the salary cap yet still run one.

Wakefield's academy is currently producing some amazing young talent who are proud to represent the club. The likes of Johnstone and Jowitt will be looking towards a place in the England squad in years to come if they continue their development

They haven't changed in last 15 years, first year intakes at schooship level has been U15's as long as I've been involved (since 2001)

Mmmm , very interesting , maybe some clubs have been operating how shall we say ' differently '

Well done. I hope you feel great