The lack of Leigh born players in the team got me wondering whether this is a recent phenomenon or if it has been declining for many years. Always one for the long view and with half an hour to spare a quick run through the heritage booklet came up with the following results for players that debuted for the club from Leigh (amateur) teams as an overall % of all players that made their debut. From the 1920s to 2000, the figure is steady at around 25% reducing to 11% from 2000-09, and now at 5% for 2010-18. My question is, as a hotbed of Rugby League, why do more local players no longer debut for Leigh? Is the talent no longer there? Does it matter?

1900-09 [i47%[/i 1960-69 [i19%[/i
1910-19 [i53%[/i 1970-79 [i27%[/i
1920-29 [i26%[/i 1980-89 [i26%[/i
1930-39 [i33%[/i 1990-99 [i26%[/i
1940-49 [i25%[/i 2000-09 [i11%[/i
1950-59 [i21% [/i 2010-08 [i5%[/i

It matters enough to you to put this down in writing why is that? Also interesting the use of the word hero Are you an ex player?

Sorry, don't see the connection between your questions and mine.

Calling players Hero's is strange

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.

Introduction of Super League probably responsible for the drop, as more players go into academies at Wigan, Warrington, Saints etc...

How many Leigh lads playing in SL these days?

No idea. Just pointing out a major event in the sport, which has correlated with a drop in local players playing for the club's first team.

How many players have been chewed up and spat out of SL academies, and lost to the game?

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