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

Why would some clubs be operating differently? They would have to do it in top secret, and they would have nobody to play!

Alternatively, you're thinking of Service Area, which is something very different from scholarship.

The Scholarships didn't play games , it was club organised training

Service areas did play games , my son played in trials for them and his team mates played for them

A gap in your knowledge it would seem

Quote ="GUBRATS"The Scholarships didn't play games , it was club organised training Service areas did play games , my son played in trials for them and his team mates played for them A gap in your knowledge it would seem'" I think you'll find the scholarships do play games, look here for example: www.wiganwarriors.com/news/2010- ... -at-saints More reecently the Midlands scholarship lads this year played the North East Regional Academy, the Cumbrian Regional Academy and Salford's u16s. Bit strange given scholarships apparently don't play games! I know how the service areas work, you can only go to trials if you play for an amateur team, go to school or live in that area. As I said, a bit different to scholarships.

Quote ="GUBRATS"The Scholarships didn't play games , it was club organised training Service areas did play games , my son played in trials for them and his team mates played for them A gap in your knowledge it would seem'" I think you'll find the scholarships do play games, look here for example: www.wiganwarriors.com/news/2010- ... -at-saints More reecently the Midlands scholarship lads this year played the North East Regional Academy, the Cumbrian Regional Academy and Salford's u16s. Bit strange given scholarships apparently don't play games! I know how the service areas work, you can only go to trials if you play for an amateur team, go to school or live in that area. As I said, a bit different to scholarships.

I doubt that "Great" is the correct term but it is "Nice" to know that the Sky money earmarked for Academy + the club's contributions + fans contributions to the Club Lottery are bearing some fruit.
It's keeping hold of them that will be "Great"

Yes they have - anyone who tells you that clubs don't approach coaches and/or parents before the deadline is either naïve, or a liar.

Feels tonnes better than scrapping the academy to no doubt sign an expensive overseas pensioner.

I wouldn't disagree with that, but that's not what Gubrats was saying, he was saying academy's were signing up players at 11/12 years of age.
There has been an element of professional club training for players of these ages for a few years, it's so they can have a closer look at these lads a bit earlier and it is a system I am totally apposed to, one team in particular that I was involved with won everything at U12 & U13's in 2011-2013, however 7 of them were in (and this is the term used by the pro club) and "elite training squad" which not Only made the lads a bit cock sure of themselves, it made the parents believe that these lads were future internationals and totally ruined the team and match day atmosphere. All 7 left he club as soon as they started to lose games, blaming the "non elite" players/parents and coaches left.

Nowhere have I mentioned academies , I specifically stated Scholarships , now as you suggest the clubs might have been using the term ' elite training squad ' officially , but they were using the term ' Scholarship ' to the players and parents

OIC, my bad, my (and probably others) interpretation of what a "scholarship" is, is that it is the financial support of a learning criteria (given by a school/college/university or even an academy)
Sorry for the misinterpretation


So what you were actually saying is that "some" clubs were totall missleading kids in to thinking they were getting a financially supported learning environment

In RL terms ( specifically the Pro clubs ) the term Scholarship was just an initial agreement between club and player prior to entry into academy ( were financial support , ie payment was made ) , but you know this

All of little relevance

Maybe in your world, but scholarship means scholarship

So is Starbug still trying to convince everyone that it isnt the clubs who don't run academies fault that they dont run academies, its because of the clubs who do? Has he tried to blame the RFL for Leigh not running an academy yet?

Again

Yes if we ignore the two who have stopped running an academy and pretend the one who hasnt for years, is running one, its not a problem at all.

Im sure we can expect the same excuses from you for Leigh as we saw from you for Hull KR about the time it takes to set up an academy, the time it takes to bring players through, that they need to prioritise the first team for now, and why a decade later they still havent brought through anyone of note.

Hey perhaps in that time Leigh will be relegated again and Hull KR promoted and the whole cycle of excuses can start again

Two haven't stopped , one has , and as I just pointed out the one who hasn't for the last couple of years ' intends to do so in 2018

And yes they might be , or they might not , or an asteroid might destroy the planet , or a huge Volcanic eruption

Who knows eh ?

Apparently Leigh and Salford are looking at running a joint academy similar to the one in Hull

Ultimately what is the optimum number of academies required within the sport that provides the players we need without impacting upon the amateur game ?

Count them with me: Hull KR. Salford.

But yes, talking about volcanic eruptions and asteroids is a great distraction from your nonsense.