Interesting. I'd heard '6-figure sum' for Rovers, consistent with that.
What i'd be curious about is what would happen if every body started spending half a million. Would the same talent just be spread around the league (ie Leeds and Saints investment is in the acquisition more than the development of players) or would every club have the likes of Jones-Bishop, Foster, Lomax and Gaskell coming through the ranks year after year.




Tbf, and much as it pains me to almost take his side

, I guess he means matchday squad. Or 'team' to you and me

HKR planning on putting out a 25 man matchday squad? Its an interesting approach to covering up for their mediocrity and im not sure they will get away with it.

11 out of 17?

Maths and/or english not your strong point then?

I'm going to stop using The Gregorian calender to mark the passing of the years, a more accurate measure is to wait for SmokeyTA to turn up on an annual basis to comment on our recruitment.

Would you really class two player coming through the HKR system to HKR regular in 5 years on schedule? If so its the least ambitious schedule possible. Hell I would have expected a better return from Crusaders than that. I doubt you would be so relaxed about it if a club like Hull FC for instance had found a loophole in the Salary Cap which allowed them to spend huge amounts of extra money which whilst not explicitly against the rules was totally against the reasons the SC existed or they encouraged their players to challenge the legality of the SC in an effort to allow them to spend more. Which in principle would be the same as what HKR and other clubs are doing in regards to the quota.

You were the one who failed to stipulate matchday or full squad.
Maybe you can give that a shot next time.

Its not my fault you made an assumption in your attempt to be a smart and it turned out to be wrong. You could have considered whether or not 11 would be the majority of a squad before jumping in with both feet.

Maybe you can give that a shot next time.

Out of morbid curiosity, which two are you granting us as 'real' in your munificence? 'HKR regular' means you don't want to give us Frankie Mariano, I assume. So that must mean you count Josh Hodgson, which I wouldn't, but fair enough. Who is the other?




Clubs do exploit loopholes in the salary cap - that is hardly a secret. As long as they aren't flat out cheating, I can accept it easily enough. If it was looser still, I'd direct my disappointment at the RFL, rather than Wigan, Warrington or whoever else decided to spend £3m a year or whatever. If they could afford to spend that kind of money via a loophole, I can't imagine them stinting themselves.

mild rover, assuming my maths are correct (even with 'smokeys' abacus) the amount of money I am aware Rovers have invested in youth development is between £200,000-£250,000pa (well, at least over the past 3 years). These are six-figure sums?

Well, the two who played for the HKR academy then became first team regulars, Taylor and Welham
And what if they couldn’t? what if legal protections meant for something completely different meant the RFL weren’t able to do this? What If one of those clubs encouraged a player of theirs to sue for restraint of trade should any punishment from the RFL be forthcoming? What if HKR finished 9th whilst the club who deliberately did this finished 8th? Would you find said club completely blameless in that scenario? Do you think it is the clubs right to exploit any loopholes they can find in any way they wish?

Yep and quite impressive ones, IMO, given the financial challenges the board face.

We need to produce (and retain!) a homegrown core to take the next step. Watts, Cox and Taylor [ucould[/u provide the foundation of a decent pack. [uIf[/u a few of our backs can follow in Welham's steps - Sheriff, Salter, Scott maybe - we could really climb the ladder.

I'm pretty optimistic.

Not Liam Watts, who we signed as a 16-year old and qualifies as club trained under every possible interpretation of the rules?




It's the law then, innit? Nowt you can do. I think the loss of the cap would be pretty disasterous (a fear you don't share, I know), because the rich clubs [uwould[/u pursue their own self-interest at the expense of the wider sport. Disappointment implies surprise - I would be disappointed if SL scrapped the cap, leaky and imperfect as it is. If Wigan et al then took advantage, it'd be a bit cack, but entirely unsurprising.

mild rover, I am more than optimistic especially if I add other reserve graders who are above average like Green, Ollett, Bell, Beaumont, Round, Lee and Bethersall. These are exciting and unprecedented times for Rovers in this current era. The product of a concerted effort to develop youth through micro-management. It will be interesting to see how Sandercock manages these players bearing in mind his reputation in this field of youth development.

My point is that they attract the better players, however legitimate the reasons, rather than [ujust[/u making an average set better.

But if they do that as well and it feeds back in, then fair play. It is usually more complex than the gross generalisations I chuck about on here.

The thing is, Smokey only sees the players who have come through our system and hit the first team. He isnt seeing the hard work that Rovers are putting into our Scholarship and Academy structures plus the masses of talent that we currently have in there. I am very confident that the next couple of years will see many more come through (although i think you have made a couple of names up in your list

)
The proposed new training complex is going to be a massive plus in Rovers favour aswell when it comes to recruiting top youngsters if it comes to fruition.

At last, something we can agree on. I'm much happier now. I like the highlighted bit below in our latest summary:



You see, they understand the "cart before horse" scenario Mr has tried to explain to you. However, the concept of evolution appears to have bi-passed you.

Is this the Allam thing that our friends across the way are getting all hot under the collar about. Again.

RBA. . .made some names up? I see what you mean Lol! I stand corrected - Johnson (not Round) and Beharrel (not Bethersal).

On the new training complex (or the Allam Sports community centre) it seems as though Mr Allam has withdrawn his financial support. Lets hope Big John (Prescott) can tease him back to the negotiating table eh!

If '"

That’s exactly what was said 1/2/3/4 years ago

There is a ‘proposed’ new training complex, there are youngsters who ‘may’ come through in a few years, though none of this may happen and next year, like last year we will simply be promised jam tomorrow.

There is no excuse for 11 overseas players

Im guessing they also understand about mixed metaphors and spelling, maybe that bypassed you?

Or you are covering your backside due to an error made by your good self.
Given your track record that is hardly a stretch.

If thats what you want to pretend, feel free.

I'd run a straw pool on the usual VT posters but I already can guess the results (YOU wouldn't like it and would get in your usual 'Quotathon' mode) and I can't be bothered.

You would run a poll on the fact you made a mistake? Im not sure what the question would be, but feel free, whatever you need to do to prove to yourself you didnt make a mistake is up to you.