A couple of the U19s are breaking through in to the first team now which bodes well for the future of the club. There’s also the likes of L Briscoe and Foster who have been in the first team for a year or so now and it looks like Minns, Baldwinson and Sutcliffe will all be moving up too next year.

I am really disappointed however, of our forgotten U20s generation from last year. These were Grand Final runners up in a competition where 5 over age first team players could play in the team too. I remember Wigan once fielding Pat Richards, Charnley, Steffan Marsh and a couple of big props who I can’t remember their names now – but Brad Singleton smashed one of them at Stanningly?

Of all these players only Singleton, Keinhorst, Watson, Hood and Chisolm were remaining.

Watson – has had a raw deal in my opinion and should have played a number of games, but Mcdoughnut chose to move his 20 players around rather than accommodate him. The kidney shot was playing Vickery instead and the final nail in the coffin was choosing Minns ahead of him for the Cas game Friday when Watson is in form and ripping it up at Hunslet. I expect him to leave at season end.

Chisolm – raw deal maybe even more so than Watson, never had a look in and was shipped out to the other code for ‘experience’. Twice fastest man in Super League!! Is he no better than Vickery? Expect him to leave at season end if not already.

Hood – I think he scored in his first 3 games for Leeds, and then told you need experience. A great player and people are saying maybe he has not developed as we hoped – rubbish. He could have been a class act by now – again had a raw deal and expect to see him leave when the right offer comes.

Singleton – Tough deal up to now, a couple of off the bench games in 2 years, but maybe getting a few more games in now. Not sure BM likes him and should we get some new forwards next season I expect he will be shipped out again somewhere.

Keinhorst – Still developing and BM’s little ‘project’. I think he could develop as a good player but doubt he will stop at Leeds for a long period.

I know it’s all a conveyor belt and maybe the timing was wrong for some, but to be in the academy for 5 years, holding a spot down in your position each season, and never getting a look in is shameful of the Manager. IMO.

Sweet Jesus.

indeed he is

Oh.

I suggest, before you criticize the club's handling of young players and make rash decisions over who has had a 'raw deal', you do some proper research by talking to the club and understand their reasons for not handing out debut's/consistent places to these lads.

Believe it or not, there are many factors to be considered before a player puts on the first team jersey (or retains one in the case of Hood, Singo and Keinhorst) and amazingly, a lot of these aren't just simply discussed in the open for fans to see.

But never mind, I'm sure you know best.

I was slightly worried when we failed to sign Lunt, who now looks to be an even better player this year. I also promise I will not mention Lunt again otherwise I will be accused of a fixation.
Having not seen any academy games and I really should, I am not in a position to check out these players but this situation does not bode well if W55ARE is correct . So my slight worries have now increased, also I am reluctant to have a go at Vickery as it obviously is not working for him. He seems a decent lad pehraps if he got a decent pass every now and then we may see the real Vickery . But surely some of these lads coming through the system should be given a chance. Unless we try them we will never know, as several other scribes on this site have remarked we should have blooded them in some relatively easy matches.

If has rumour has it and I hope it is just a rumour we are signing Briscoe from Hull it would be next season for he came. What's the position with our Briscoe , after all the song and dance from Hulll when we signed him because they thought he was good prospect. He must be ready for a run out next season.

Ever thought we may be seeing the 'real Vickery'? He's hardly a pedigree and looks very much like an inexperienced squad player. Plenty of heart but lacking some skill set.

I'm not bashing lad. But he is what he is.

None of us know best - none of us are SL coaches or CEO's of SL teams - we're just fans with our own opinions. That's the point of this forum, to express our opinions on weather the coach/club is doing it right or wrong.

Are you suggesting that we just simply sit back and agree with everything that the club, coach, players do? This would be a pretty dull forum if we did.

The whole point of fans forums is to express your own opinion (and take the p[size=100i[/sizess out of Hull fans). Disagree with the OP, by all means but don't just dismiss his opinion because "the club knows best".

Quite fed up of reading about mishandling of the academy lads. Way too many 'experts' on here that seem to know it all and be able to do a better job than 'McDonut'. Why do many people struggle to accept that McDermott does know his squad way better than what they do? Since the golden era begun how many academy prospects have come back to bite us on the backside? Until one of these 'outstanding' youngsters, the ones that have not got a look in as yet, leave the club and then comeback to be a world class international I will be fully behind the coaching staff.

We didn't fail to sign Lunt, he was never available to us. He was under contract to the Giants, he was part of the new coach's plans.

Contrary to the impression you could occasionally get, we are giving young players a chance. We're just not flooding our team with them or doing it at ad-hoc times to unsettel the team. There are debates to be had about whether that would be such a bad thing, but it's a coherent and consistent approach (one in keeping with the way young players have come into the first team for as long as I can remember) not the ramblings of a mad man as you might come to believe if you got all your information from this board. Usually youngsters come in when there are injuries. Sutcliffe will now be getting some game time. McShane (who lots of people on here were telling me was finished at Leeds because the coach would never, ever give him a look in) has had to be patient (I remind you once again that Kevin Sinfield played 5 times in the 2 years following his debut) but is pretty well established in the match-day 17 now. Stevie Ward had come in and established himself prior to his injury. Our back division is hardly elderly. Singleton has also had to be patient, but is getting his chance. Keinhorst had a run last year and injuries may well now give him another go.

I also dispute that there is "no way" to know whether somebody is ready other than chucking them in the team. The first team coaches are privy to all sorts of information that we're not, including not only match form for academy and Hunslet, but also their performance in training. Eventually, yes, you need to get the ones you think will make it into the squad, but there really is no need to rush.

I think you are correct , what puzzles me is why do they keep picking him, joking aside he must be doing some spectacular things in training . Which brings me back to my remarks as to why some of the academy lads have not had a run out.

You have got it spot on for me and if what I have heard is true then atleast 2 of the players you mention are seeking a release from their current deals due to lack of progression and their development being stagnated so senior players can try and earn a call up for the world cup

have also heard that Daryl Clarke will be going to either Warrington or the NRL and that Hood maybe his replacement at Cas and to be honest if I was him I would take the deal atleast he would be playing even if it was for the hill-billies

As for Lunt the reason we didnt sign him is because GH offered him £45k a year and he is on double that at the Giants fact

I think SpongeBob SquarePants would make a great hooker for Leeds. He's more or less the right shape, after all.

This is an absurd statement made without any reference to reality. But I'm entitled to make it and - let's face it - you can't prove me wrong.

That's fair enough. But the reasoning behind those opinions has to be open to questioning as well.

I think the point being made (that the decision about moving players into the first team is based on more information than we see) is a fair one.

The only part of the endless, circular debate about blooding young players that is bothersome is the prevalent attitude among some posters that their suggestion is so obviously the right one that anyone not agreeing is either stupid or insane. This includes using the term "McDonut" to describe a coach who has won the last 2 SL titles. Which I'm not suggesting they're not entitled to do (although it's a bit rude - I'm sure the guy doesn't lose a lot of sleep over it), but which I really struggle to understand.

Nathan McAvoy was always the first at training. That bodes well.

Tell you what, when the two in question leave and become amazing world-beaters and consistently out-perform whoever we have in their positions then I'll agree that we've missed a trick. But I've heard all this before and almost all the players in question have gone on to mediocre careers at mediocre clubs. Young players leaving because they can't get in the first team isn't necessarily a disaster.

Your "fact" about Lunt's salary offer doesn't sound like a fact to me. More like a rumour. As far as I know Leeds were never given permission to negotiate a salary with Lunt because he was under contract with Huddersfield.

The lads at Hunslet dont really train with the 1st team anymore which in it self is a little worrying

A thread about Academy lads no getting enough of a chance coupled with talk of how poor Vickery is.......haven't seen one of these on here for a while.

Regarding Lunt I know for a fact he wanted to stay,so the ball was in our court to pay the transfer fee,this we failed to do. Pehraps the fee was too high, it may turn out to be a wrong decision . Bearing in mind we still have an ongoing saga with the hooking position . The ideal scenario would be Lunt and Mc Shane as the hookers ,which would free up burrow to do what what he is best at playing scrum half.

I don't entirely follow this oft used when he comes back to bite us line.

Had Sinfield been overlooked and left Headingley, it's also possible he'd never have come back to bite Leeds again either. That doesn't equate with the tremendous service he's given to Leeds after biding his time and being dedicated to the cause.

Not particularly quick for a back even as a junior, not particularly big for a forward, not even a naturally gifted ball-handler but he is someone who has worked incredibly hard to be the best that he can be and applied himself to the point where he became a Leeds legend.

Had he gone elsewhere he may have followed a similar path to his brother, Ian.

True. That is a limitation in my approach.

But, on the other hand, without some means of assessing their progress based on what you can actually observe, how else can anyone really judge whether it was the right or wrong decision to allow them to leave.

To complicate it further, it works the other way too. If a player leaves and goes on to become a superstar somewhere else there's no guarantee he'd have done the same at Leeds. He may have found an environment elsewhere that suits him better.

[i"The decision was his to make so for Shaun to now return is excellent news," Huddersfield managing director Richard Thewlis said.[/i


[urlhttp://www1.skysports.com/rugby-league/news/12214/8167281/Hooker-Shaun-Lunt-to-return-to-Huddersfield-Giants-after-helping-Leeds-Rhinos-retain-Super-League-title[/url