How many more kids play RL in places like Wigan and other hotbeds of the game compared to Salford? It’s a long tradition for Juniors in these parts to play Junior football and aspire to be the next Ryan Giggs rather than the next Sam Tompkins. Many of the kids in Manchester won’t even know who Sam Tompkins is. I actually saw Tompkins in a packed Trafford Centre a few months back and nobody knew who he was other than me. (A superstar of British Rugby League) It says it all.

If you consider the ratio between kids playing football and kids playing rugby I think it explains why. It's also one of the reasons we are way behind Australia and failing at International level. There are hundreds of junior football teams in these parts compared to only a handful of dedicated amateur rugby league clubs.

There is no quick and easy solution. It’s not just about attracting kids to play rugby league it’s about having the infrastructure in place with many dedicated people with the necessary skills to develop these youngsters. Furthermore how many great young athletes in these parts turn to junior football because they prefer playing in a team with their mates? How many of these juniors fail to make it in Football but would make outstanding rugby league players?

A question, how many experienced and commited junior RL coaches are there in Wigan? Bucket loads of them who live and breath for nothing else but RL. (Just like their parents and grandparents.) It's in the blood! It's a similar situation with coaches of Junior football in the Manchester area.

It easy to point blame but Salford and Manchester has a long tradition spanning decades of juniors and ‘as importantly hundreds of dedicated coaches’ who choose football before rugby.
I am sure that without football being so strong for years in these parts, Salford would probably have a squad of mainly local lads like Wigan.

Salford must have the biggest catchment area in RL with the least interest because football has been traditionally so strong. This is a fact not an excuse.



Maybe Wigan should 'start producing' more local, wigan based fans rather than pinching the few potential RL followers in Salford. Although on second thoughts they are more than welcome to people like you.

An Absolute Classic!

Fooking brilliant.

Tomkins not Tompkins ffs

JC - just a quick question related to your sig. - where is Denis Betts from then? Start worshipping your own!

Whilst the Wigan chap isn't quite right but he has a point. There is currently a world level 2nd rower at Wigan who was educated in Swinton yet Salford scouts didn't pick him up? Maybe it's our scouting policy or the people doing the scouting, rather than goes the predictable places, Wigan, Oldham, they should pop along to the likes of Folly U16, Langworthy U16 etc. Maybe if he's kids were approached they'd love to play for Salford then their mates would see a Salford lad playing it would not only give the feel of local community towards to the team but fans would give them more of a chance as they would be one of their own so to speak.


I appreciate there may be some grammar geeks out their. Feel free to pick the bones

Maybe the wages we can offer compared to Wigan may have something to do with it?

As for the last sentence, OK, for a starter it should be "out there."

Wages? What wages would of HH commanded at such an early age when pick up for scholarship? We can go further back why didn't Denis Betts play for Salford? even Adrian Morley? I know we wouldn't of kept hold of those players but Salford have a history of not picking up these local papers. Apart from Jack Spencer off the job of my head I can't think of the last Salford lad to play for us? Maybe Carlo Napo? I'm sure someone will enlighten me.

Adam Neal - but he came via Warrington's academy.

Maybe he won't have commanded high wages straight away, but if he's promised money, glitz and glamour in the event of him coming good and breaking through then of course it's going to turn his head.

I'm not saying our scouting is perfect and I realise there's other examples, but I'm just trying to look at all possible angles.

Well seeing as I said my cousin played for Wigan and thats why I grew up supporting them it really can't be too difficult to put it together and realise Denis is my cousin.

In that case then, why don't you support Widnes now?



Also that makes you Darren's cousin, who played for Salford, but presumably because he didn't hit the same heights in the professional game as his brother, the team he played for didn't warrant your attention at the time?

You, of all people should know just how difficult it is to attract kids to play RL in Manchester/Salford area and you should read the redshed's eloquent post again just in case you missed the point. Oh and finally, you might also want to ask your cousin(s) what his/their opinion(s) is/are before you come on here pontificating again.

Why would i want to ask their opinion when I have my own? Also I did used to go watch Darren play for the "A" team but I don't really have many clear moments of those games as I was very young at the time (I'm 22 now) so most memories of RL as a kid are the big games at Central Park and what seemed the annual trip down to Wembley. I went to school in Prestwich and your academy(?) is at Phillips High School and at the time your 1st team were training at Sedgley Park RU but despite being so close to them and there being 3 high schools and many primary schools within that area Salford never once came into my school or any others in the area that I know of, infact Sedgley Park RU a semi-pro/amateur team did more around the schools and community. Maybe if you'd come into those schools where I know there was alot of people interested in the game but didn't have a real understanding of it you'd be in a better position with support. And why have you only now gone back to the red devil surely that is your biggest marketable claim?? That the most famous Football team in the world took its nickname from you.

Not reading all that.

Just to clarify then, when you were at school you knew there were a lot of people interested in the game but didn't have a real understanding of it and you think that had Salford come into those schools our support would have been better? Two things here, firstly you didn't mention our fan base until now, you were on about developing players and secondly, how do you know that the 'interest' never manifested itself into a trip to see a live match?

When you were very young and Wigan were winning everything there was no SL and the community development aspect of SL clubs didn't exist, Salford relied almost exclusively on Folly Lane and cast-offs from Wigan, Saints, Warrington etc. as any players that were any good normally got snapped up first by those clubs including your cousin - in fact when we brought that reign crashing down (literally) in 1996 our team that day included the likes of Steve Blakeley, Steve Hampson and Scott Naylor, all ex-Wigan, deemed not good enough for them anymore. So, times have changed almost unrecognisably since then.

As mentioned before - just look at how well our U20's are doing at the moment and tell me that we don't develop our own - it's keeping them that's the problem, do the names Jordan Turner and Stefan Ratchford ring a bell? If Wigan had the same set of circumstances that Salford have instead of dozens and dozens of amateur clubs with kids playing at every age level sitting within 10 minutes drive of the DW then they'd struggle too. In fact, I think Alan Hunte performs near miracles given the constraints.

I was 6 when Superleague was introduced therefore was in school for 10 more years after its introduction plenty of time for Salford to of had an involvement in schools whilst I was there, or are you admitting an amateur RU club is better ran than a Professional RL club when it comes to involvement in the community??

Wigan didn't come into your school yet you still chose to support them.

How many Sedgeley Park games did you go to?

I didn't go and watch Sedgley I played for there through school and before asking stupid questions about why I support Wigan read my other posts.

You're being v.selective about which points you choose to address.Are you now claiming that the club missed out a potential superstar by not visiting your school? Just what is your point about Salford not developing its own? Did your school even play RL?

None of the schools in area played RL despite your academy actually being at one of those schools. And no I'm saying you missed out on a superstar but surely its your responsibility to get the game played/watched by youngsters in the area and you do nothing to help. I've never seen any advertisements by Salford in local newspapers for up coming games and because I went to the last game The Willows I keep getting free tickets for the majority of games this season, why are these going to someone who has paid before?? I do actually go to Salford games when you don't play same day as Wigan or can't make it to away games because of work and would pay for these games but when I can go free why would I pay?? Surely after I've been to 1 game free it should stop or perhaps go to half price then full price.

Sorry, I missed this:



My apologies.

Well, getting back to the original question... The only way you'll get a superleague not dominated by the bigger clubs is to ensure everybody operates on a financially level playing field. This is obviously far from the case at present, with clubs like the pies and wire being able to spend the full cap, and still have funds a plenty for other activities (scouting etc) and clubs like ours, who aren't able to spend the full cap.

What franchising should have done was to encourage longer term planing by existing clubs, and for clubs pushing for promotion to have long term, sustainable plans for entry, for one reason or another, it hasn't worked.

So we should all be made to spend the same on the cap so we should be forced to lose quality player like Sam Tomkins, Josh Charnley and Gaz Hock to NRL or RU just because other teams can't operate at our level?? Instead of complaining about how all teams should be made to operate at same level clubs like Salford should aspire to get to our level not pull us down to yours!! The cap should be increased not decreased, its never been increased since its introduction.

As you can see I also live in Prestwich.
My son played RL at his school and local reps from Salford were present at these games.
The problem was and always has been retaining peoples interest.
It all starts out well but you tend to find numbers dwindle as other sports take these possible future players.
Football is king in this area and Sedgley Park get all the kids who do want to play rugby(the wrong type I might add) as they have a very professional well run youth section.
Bury Broncos have done a sterling job in the area and now have youth teams but it all takes time and a hell of a lot of dedication from those involved.
My family all support Salford and a lot more in Prestwich do the same.
I could have took the easy option and supported Wigan or Saint Helens but chose Salford (well they chose me) and I savour every victory we have.
Enjoy your time watching Wigan why not jump on the bandwagon with City just to complete things.

Yes because you would end up with the scenario where one team dominates for several years and the game is left to wither and die beneath them. Hardly the ideal that the RFL and the people involved want when it is trying to grow the game.

Many teams have aspired to be Wigan and spent money they haven't got, took a gamble and lost their home (remind you of any one?) The salary cap is not only there to incentivize those lower down the league to build from bottom up, whilst exercising prudence with the threat of punishment for breaching the cap, but it is also there to ensure that those teams who can meet the cap such as yourselves don't just sign up all the young talent to stop others

Who have we just gone out and signed?? If we produce them through our academy we should have every right to keep them and pay them whatever we think is right. Rest of SL should thank us most other club have had or have products of our academy playing for them!