Interesting Info. I'd guess the decline is relative to the decline in participants playing rugby league in general from grassroots up. The player pool is reducing fast. I'm generalising, kids would rather play games online than wake up early on a Sunday morning and get soaking wet. There is absolutely no coincidence since the inception of the www the world has changed and competition for all activities and business has increased. The effects have been huge. That's my global answer.

That's the right question

That's the right question

There are not many present day that if they are not snapped up by the age of 15 and useually of a lower age that turn pro or semi- pro that is no longer an option, long gone are the days local amatuer open age players would turn pro, or ecen the lads who were truly amatuer in the under 17's colts or under 19's 'B' team. The game has far less player's coming through the ranks.
All those who beileve that a number of teams should emerge in virgin territories like North America were these new clubs would be fishing for players in an ever decreasing pool are deluding themselves it will be good for the game, standards will drop alarmingly.

Some good points raised, particularly with top SL teams snapping up promising youngsters and increased demand in the future from North American teams. Having said that I get the sense that some teams outside of Super League still manage to recruit their own local players (Bradford primarily comes to mind). This is in contrast to Leigh whose last local player debuted 6 years ago. What prompted the initial post was the current poor performance of the team. I realise there are probably multiple reasons (coach, culture, lack of confidence, etc.) but I can't help thinking that if there was a decent proportion of local players present we wouldn't be faced with the current run of results. Easy to state I know, but not easy to fix!

I am sure you both watch youth rugby locally and would agree there has been a decline in quality from both east and miners