Clark Wells. Now got his fourth

said we should be looking at RU
This one could pay off

He certainly knows were the try line is in both codes .

Pearson went to watch him

I happened across an article about improvements to Hull FC’s academy today. Here are a few excerpts.

[iThe academy set-up has dramatically improved, the introduction of the half-back school and bringing in the junior players to train with the first team will all contribute to a brighter future.

It’s an ambitious plan which Pearson appears to be putting in place, and a brave one, but one which could recapture the imagination of a fan base who have become, to some extent, disenfranchised with the club after a lean few years.

There is a real hope Hull can emulate the likes of Wigan and boast a team of almost all local players in the years to come. For that to happen, change is needed, and that change is on the way.[/i

If you haven’t guessed yet, it isn’t a recent article - it’s from September 2013. I’m not having a pop specifically at Hull FC. Rovers have been singing that same song for more than 10 years with even more meagre returns. Maybe the investment didn’t go in to the degrees implied or the facilities at Bishop Burton weren’t all they were cracked up to be. However, it feels a bit groundhog decade and I think there’d be value in pondering whether there’s something about the circumstances of our clubs vs Leeds-Saints-Wigan that might mean another approach might be more optimal.

Excellent win for the reserves and great to hear Savelio played a big part that.

Hopefully he’s turned a corner and will now knuckle down to reclaim his first team spot.

Good signs from the trialist as well. Be interesting to see how he goes in the next match.

Indeed and showing the foundations the club have chosen to build on are starting to show their worth.

As for Savelio maybe this is what he needed to refocus.

Highlights on FC's Official F/B page , Some cracking tries in that game .

Savelio looks like Jason Taumalolo in the highlights. Hopefully he’s righted whatever the problem with TS is/was.

Lazy defense.

Its amazing how none of the hull fans ever noticed it.

Leigh reserve game cancelled, the 6th game Leigh have cancelled this season, as well as they are doing with the first team, this is really poor.

Full things a farce.

Staggering that a SL side cant run a second string team which will only get put together every other week. Has to be sited when it comes to IMG grading

Teams like Salford and Leigh are really playing things on a knife edge. Doing great in the league, but Leigh cancelling Reserves games, and Salford getting battered by our Reserves at the weekend just shows that they have no depth. An injury crisis, and both of them are really struggling. They have been very lucky with injuries so far

the game is going backwards with these clowns in charge,i remember in the 60s and 70s the a team has they were called played nearly every week,very occasionally if a team cancelled a match with no good reason,they were heavily fined.you only have to look at the nrl reserve structure and how good it is to know that our game is years behind.the attitude seems to be who cares about youth and the reserve structure.just fill the team full of aussies and other overseas players.i would limit the quota system to 2 per team.

Said it before and I stand by my opinion that if you can't operate an academy and reserves team you shouldn't be in Super League.

The old A team system produced players for a semi-pro game. The Australians have much more money. Neither reflect the current situation for top flight RL in this country.

It’s not a case of not caring, it is a case of there being no money to fund it properly. There is an argument for cutting the quota to provide more opportunities and free up a bit more budget. But consequences may include inflationary pressure on non-quota player wages, lower quality games and (even) less competitive balance.

World cup cancelled
European championships cancelled
About 2000 fans at the magic bash at York at the weekend (which I had no idea was on until I saw it on twitter at the weekend)
Teams not playing reserve teams
I imagine magic crowds will be poor this weekend too with an uninspiring fixture list and train strikes

The game is in big trouble, IMG have got their work cut out!

and they expected an A grade licence!





(after all isnt that why they took over the Leigh womens team?)

IMG is a waste of time and money for Rugby League..Its just a think tank
The game needs private equity and a lot more terrestrial TV with well thought out kick off times.
Whilst RU is in a financial turmoil the time is right for Rugby league to start to push back and regain some of the old power over Union

Problem is, no terrestrial channel will pay the same amount sky are paying, our TV deal runs out in October and there's been no news on any potential bidders, which means sky will likely come in at the last minute with a further reduced deal and we'll have to take it.

Also IMG can't be successful if whatever they suggest, clubs reject, IMG suggested scrapping magic weekend as it detracts from the cup final, clubs said no...probably the same clubs that will moan in a few years that the game is dying

I think all Super league teams should have a reserve side, academy, women's team IMO.

With the ever decreasing UK player pool , You'd think it should be a automatic SL requirement to run both an academy & reserves teams .

With some clubs investing and taking the reserves set up seriously while some others seem to prefer pretending they are running a reserves team & system then maybe a deduction of SL point should be the penalty for clubs that are continuously failing to fulfil fixtures. There should be no real excuse for not being able to fulfil the reserve fixtures at all.
Whats the point spending money on consultation etc with IMG if clubs are going to shoot the game itself in the foot by their own actions?

If part time Newcastle can run a reserve team and an academy there is absolutely no excuse for any super league teams not to run one, teams like Leigh and Huddersfield should be given a warning and if nothing changes, heavy fines should be given out.