I accept that and as someone pointed out we’ve had all conquering teams in the past who have produced zero players. I suppose as a fan you just like to see results.



Must admit in the last ten years or so none of our ‘teams’ have been great but some of the individuals have so no argument from me. However I do stand my ground that swing wins next to Trinity teams is more fun than not

That’s a bit unfair, preferring to see wins is hardly a criticism!



You’re right we ordinary fans don’t know what goes on but I am aware that U19’s is fairly volatile and that being great at that age is no guarantee.



I can’t do the games and I’ve tried watching them on Trinity TV but they are poor, no commentary and some seem to be shot on a mobile phone. Not really got an issue as I don’t expect the club to spend money on it. However for someone like me who watches occasionally I find it hard to know who’s who.



That’s why I like this thread as it gives me some idea and all I meant was that as a team they might be doing better. As individuals I just don’t know.



My apologies if I offended not my intention at all.

Score lines are nothing more than an indication of where, as a cohort, our young players sit in comparison with those of other clubs.

At present those performances are miles away from the other clubs and that’s disappointing!



No doubt we’ll produce a diamond here and there as we’ve always done, it’s the ones in the rough that we don’t cut & polish who were letting down.

Its incredibly hard to 'make it' in rugby league. There's a handful of players who break through across the SL teams and stay at elite level each year. Probably doesn't even come out to one per club per year. I pay in to Club1873 to support the production of home grown SL standard players and currently we are producing those. They can't all make it and some years we'll perform poorly in the league table, that doesn't unduly concern me. If we were letting players go who regularly came back to haunt us I might worry but i'm not seeing that happen.

Its ridiculous that Wakefiled Cas and Fev all run academies. Just look at the Math. Each club needs say 30 players registered at each age group. Each club is scouting from the same area, plus other clubs outside of our area also scout in our area. I remember a couple of years ago Leeds marketing the fact that 8 of one of their age group teams had been selected for England, 5 of those 8 players were from Wakefield based amateur clubs. So let us presume that Leeds, Wigan, Warrington etc sign say 5 players from our area amateur clubs that means that those amateur clubs have to produce 95 players to fulfill the academy requirements of Wakey , Cas and Fev. Now if you list those 95 players you can bet that the notional 5 that sign for Wigan Leeds etc are in the top 10 ability wise. No one can honestly tell me that they think its a good system, players who you would rank from say 40 to 95 ability wise are basically shirt fillers, there may be the odd exception that proves the point. Also once these lads reach the 17 age group ie play for under 19`s then their amateur club losses them so it makes life really tough for amateur clubs to run age group teams passed under 17. The next thing that happens is that loads of players do not get a contract after under 19`s and many of these lads are lost to the game as their dream is shattered. Far better to have one academy for the three clubs with the best 30 players from our region in it. Means players are not been taken away from their amateur club just to fill required spaces. It seems to work in Hull why not in the Calder area.

Yet all 3 of those clubs continue to unearth a good quality of young player, many that make a professional career out of playing rugby league.

There's a thread on the Hull forum about the Combined Hull Academy reverting back to having separate ones again. How successful has their academy really been since it's been created, how many players have come through? From what I hear & read from fans over there, they'd both prefer their own Academies.

It doesn't work all that well in Hull, both from what I hear and what I see. As Shifty states it looks like being knocked on the head. Its all great in theory then human nature kicks in and tapping up etc starts to take place.

Minor point but it's Maths with an s.

Math is American which is not proper English

Exactly.

No apologies needed FC, I didn’t intend it to sound like a rant, just that I’m involved in the scouting at 13s, 14s, so I know how hard and frustrating it is to get these young lads to Wakey when Wigan, Warrington scouts are offering them the earth at a young age.