As well as an employee-employer tension over 'loyalty', I wonder if it is a bit of an intergenerational thing as well. The board, and to a large extent the fan base are baby boomers and generation x and grew up with different attitudes and expectations. The players are millennials, for whom employment is, speaking broadly, more transactional and there is a need to be more hard nosed economically. That doesn't reflect on them morally, it is just the way the world is for younger people nowadays. So they tell me. Their peer group will understand this and will advise them accordingly.

Speaking as someone from the "good old day's " of winter rugby,flat caps and woodbines. Players would gravitate to their local club following friends and family members.
Only those who reached the heady hights of representatives rugby sort to move for bigger paydays.
Today's players do so to put food on the table so sell their wares to the highest bidder, and so they should.
But I do agree that us aged ones do still put loyalty before requirement were our rugby is involved and maybe allow this to cloud our opions.

I am a baby boomer and proud of, it yes the board has the right to say who is staying and who is not we need both or one of the wingers to stay do we not

As stated before, I can see Sio heading back to the NRL for his young family still in Aus. This was probably going to happen regardless.

Greenwood is likely to go because he is being looked at by Wigan/Saints. Even staying in SL this might have happened.

I hope Josh stays, and Dixon will be a fantastic player in the Championship.

According to HDM, Donaldson will stay. Solid performer but not big enough.

Recruitment and retention this year needs to be a mix of those who can get us out of the championship plus a good sprinkling of players who can kick on in the Super League if we are lucky enough to get promoted.
So some of last year's squad yes, some old heads from the been there and done it bregade yes, then we need young developing players,either from our own ranks, amature rugby or the NRL.
To do this we need to make squad space, so some people will be disappointed with what they are offered. This is were Hudge & J.P. will show if there up to the task, if not, next year's close season will be even more brutal were contracts are involved.
I for one will be waiting till requirement is complete before starting to worry !!

Should say I wait till RECRUITMENT is complete. Bloody prodictive text

Marsh just announced, no real surprise but another body in the building

Will go well in the championship I think people tend to forget that he didn't have a settled half back partner with him last season depending who we sign an old head alongside him should see him come on

marsh salter,etc will have to stay they have no options, as for the others only sio, and Kelly on his day were special the rest of them were bang average blair, lunt just above average hull daily fail keeps quoting about building the team around local lads if we did we would never return to superleague

Firstly I think Blair and Lunt are above average and haven't Wigan just won the grand final with team of local lads

Sorry for chipping in but, I agree with FTF above, Lunt was very good in the game v Salford & I would sign Blair & obvs Sio too any day if funds were no issue & of course they wanted to come to Leigh.

Edit.

Or if our quota wasn't now full .....

Or if I was a director & had any say in the club whatsoever.

stated lunt, blair better than average im talking about us not wigan

I think at some point we have to invest in youth the teams that win things all have great youth set ups

agree with you on the youth but we are not wigan and therefore rely on bringing in players from other clubs youth rugby in hull has slowly eroded and needs a boost if you notice the sharks didn't blood anyone this year partly because of lack of injuries and partly because Radford was frightened to death to lose a game. no good investing money in players who wont make superlegue standard wigan seem to have a production line and supply a lot of players to other teams as well as their own

You obviously don't follow youth rugby in our town, my lads team at east hull won everything in the last 10 years in hull & district league to Yorkshire premier division, Yorkshire & national cup finals, just our team at our age group, kr scouts never watched our games & our home ground is st Richards, FC was there home & away, hence why 11 of our lads was invited down, your club has no youth because it couldn't be bothered to watch youth rugby, now FC have the pick for years to come.

People have always used the excuse that we weren't in SL when you were so took all the best young players but to me that's a poor excuse because if one thing we would have probably been in a better position than you to offer first team rugby and our lack of youth in the 10 years has been poor ( it's got better in recent seasons but much of that was forced upon us) getting relegated may make us look to the academy for more players which can't be a bad thing might unearth a few gems that might have been missed

The teams that win things, mostly have lots of resource generally. Youth development is part of that, but only part - for all the attention it gets, I'm not convinced it is an especially important part. Not to the extent that people assume, anyway. Did you see my post about correlations being weak associations?



Cas have/had a reputation for producing good players - without the money to retain them or surround them with better, it did them little good. Also it reached the point were any player who came through their system was automatically highly regarded, so was kind of self-fulfilling.

We did pretty well relying heavily on imports in our first few years in SL. Then we went for 'Building for the Future', and a focus on youth/potential in 2012. Nice sentiment, and the problem was more that we hadn't had the infrastructure, rather than it being a dreadful concept. That for me though is when we lost momentum. 'Beatings for the Forseeable' was the message it sent out, and recruitment and retention suffered.

As long as we have to focus investment on particular parts of the club, it'll always be tough to regularly compete with the richer teams, who can invest in all aspects. For me the first priority has to be the first team.

its not what they win as kids that counts if they are any good they will come through but it will only be the odd one, wigan get several

I think they've made it clear who they want to keep.

Shame for those who have missed out. Obviously not in the 5 year plan.

I hope there is a clear out in management as well. Otherwise nothing will change.

I understand what your saying and I'm not someone who bangs on about local lads in the team I've stated before I'm not bothered were the players come from take Marsh for example if Campese and Kelly had been fit Marsh wouldn't have played a game and probably have been released I think if we'd of had a u23s last season it may of made a difference we could of hung on to some of the youngsters we released Guzdek for me is a better full back than Cockayne are Mulhern and Clarkson any better than Ollett and Esselmont all I'm saying is if your going to release the kids don't replace them with average players on more money

I hate to say this, but if you take the Dullers as a barometer of youth delevopment,
They have a very good foothold in the local schools and clubs, and have ran an under 23 team this year with some success.
But at the sharp end of the season, CC final and play off semi, only Danny Houghton found a place in the first 17. Next year they have already brought 3 players in from other clubs.
This make an under 23 seem an expensive folly of the rich clubs, with most of the players leaving for other opportunities. Can we really afford this?

Shaul yeamo Bowden green washy. To add also.

I went to a meeting at archbishop sentamu because my daughters going there next year and Pete Grayburn who was head of youth at rovers runs there rugby program and he was saying how he turned them into one of best sides in Yorkshire and he's fixed up players with pro clubs all over Yorkshire now surely as we sponsor them and have a close working relationship with them as he did point out surely the best kids should be coming to us

I heard yesterday that there may be some good news forthcoming regarding Greenwood.
If its to believed then we could hear an announcement by Monday.