Loui McConnell, Liam Whitton, Harvey Spence, Daniel Waite-Pullan, Tyler Dupree and Jarrod O’Connor playing for Featherstone Rovers on DR this weekend and Wellington Albert on loan for the season.

Expect the news on who’s joining Bradford Bulls on loan, but fully expecting Corey Johnson, Muizz Mustapha, Tom Holroyd and Sam Walters.

Where have they gone?

This is great, playing Championship rugby is certainly the best place to be for our young players, but how are we going to field a reserve and academy side with so many players playing for other clubs?

Pretty easily, as the club have said many times. They are going to use Amateur RL (max 2 per game), University RL players (max 2 per game), Featherstone fringe players (DR works both ways) and Leeds players that aren’t out on loan or DR (max 5 per week at Featherstone).

Complete farce a reserve grade should for the Clubs players too old for u18 & not makkng ge matchday 17.

Why?

Why not?
Its another RL comp that should be used to develop youth help snr players stay fit or get fitter after injury.
Its not an experimemt to throw together anyone & everyone who fancies a game.
Dual reg isnt enough going to keep everyone playing if Fev want reserves pick their own squad.
The Uni & Amateur plan is just a gimmick unless its a genuine trial for a player not some made up quota.

Wonder how other clubs are viewing the reserve competition. Seems a complete and utter waste of time from our point of view to me.

Club ain't interested, that's for sure.
Just hope we're not missing a trick. Seems to take an age for us to develop youngsters these days. I'd hate to fall further behind if it's merely down to sulking cos our preferred methods aren't those of the majority.

And that’s what Leeds will use it for won’t they? It’s just they’ve put loan and DR above the reserves. Which I can entirely see the logic behind as it will be higher quality.

Not sure why that decision is described as farcical?

Using Fev is exactly what we should be doing and exactly why DR was brought in, to essentially try and replicate the feeder club system in the NRL. Just because other clubs couldn’t be bothered to make it work isn’t Leeds fault. Don’t see why we shouldn’t maximise that relationship and use Fev players in the reserves to both help them and provide a stepping stone between Fev’s academy (such as it is) or ours and first team for Fev.

All Leeds have done is put the reserves down a notch in terms of the pathway a player could take, quite rightly too in my opinion.

My guess is the 6 Leeds players in the Fev squad are likely candidates for the hybrid reserve squad and I can't see any of them playing for Fev this year barring a rash of injuries. I don't think it;'s a coincidence that 4 of the 5 players that Fev retained from last year's reserve squad are outside backs given Leeds seem to have much more depth in their forward youngsters than in their backs.

So my guess you'll see...the likes of A Sutcliffe, McLelland, L Briscoe playing for Fev on DR when not selected by Leeds
...the likes of Holroyd & Walters going to Bradford on loan
...the likes of Dupree, Whitton, McConnell, O'Connor, Spence, Waite-Pullan and a few other Leeds youngsters, plus around six Fev reserves, making up the hybrid reserve team.

Jack Broadbent, Jarrod O’Connor, Luke Briscoe, Tom Holroyd and Muizz Mustapha all chosen for Featherstone on Sunday v Hull KR. Wellington Albert also included.

Holroyd is in the Leeds squad for Sunday too

Broadbent, O’Connor, Walters, Dupree played for Featherstone today with Albert also playing on loan.

Mclelland, O’Connor and Briscoe chosen on dual registration for Featherstone. Albert plays.

So under the dual reg system which was Hetheringtons brainchild how many full international players have Leeds produced? How many academy championships have they won?

Leeds choose to send academy players on loan rather than stockpile them.
but then you know that....

Who gives a flying feck who wins academy championships?



As for full internationals, probably only a couple less than Wigan despite Leeds struggling at the bottom of the table

Back on topic, it’s a real shame we didn’t get Tom Davies, he has the kind of pace we are missing and would have let Harry Newman continue his education in the Centres rather than out of position on the wing.

I think he's injured again.

I'd have rather took Miloudi (on loan at Wolfpack) as cover in the backs than Evans. Another erratic player but definitely entertaining

Another dual registration deal agreed with Batley Bulldogs. This is to only let Batley Bulldogs fringe players play in our reserves, nothing more. That’s Leeds fringe players, Featherstone fringe players, Batley fringe players, University players and amateur game.

Ouch

Just found out that dual registration works both ways as of this season which is interesting considering the players that are at Featherstone.

Oooohhh does that mean we can have Brett Ferres back? That would be popular...