They simply won't exist then. The modern game is so attritional that SL clubs will hardly ever allow season-long loans without a recall clause, it would be madness to do so.

So what you're advocating is that as well as having the top 200 players in the country making up the 17-man squads in SL, players 201-400 (give or take a few) end up waiting for injuries or having the odd game in the reserves, whilst the Championship only has access to players outside the top 400, barring the odd splash Championship signing. Then the gulf in quality between SL and Championship becomes even bigger, and Championship clubs have to raid the already-struggling amateur game to pad out their squads and fulfil games.

FWIW (which may not be a lot!) Mick Gledhill said he was at the Shay for the Fax shirt launch and saw Oliver Roberts and Matty English there.

I stand by my statement yes , the example I give of amir bourouh is why , he was taken back by lam at Wigan to play 30 mins of rugby from the august the 20 th to the end of the season , 6 games in total or 480 minutes which benefits no one , you just have a player sat in limbo , ironically amir bourouh was sat in the stands watching Halifax play and was in neither squad because of these ridiculous agreements. Season long loans puts the player 1st in my opinion, at least they know we’re they stand .

I think Simon Grix based on the same podcast you listened to regarding matty English and Oliver roberts isn’t keen on the system either .

It seems to be the two players that we are all expecting although I would love to have seen Sam Hewitt back. I think the Roberts deal would have been announced earlier if Gledhill had not have got wind of it and announced it on Twitter.

To dual reg or not to dual reg it seems most people don't like it yet most do it. As far as roberts is concerned he would give us extra strike out wide him and gee in the second row looks pretty handy to me. Garside did seem to up is game when he got back in the side after Hewitt was recalled and i would say he as a higher work rate then roberts but not the tackle busting abilities. And Kavanagh i don't know if he is better out wide or through the middle once sides worked out the short ball off grix he didn't offer much threat but does have good footwork for a forward and a decent turn of speed.

It's fine to stand by your statement, but you can say that you prefer season-long loans all you like, there just aren't going to be many in the modern game, they just don't make sense for the SL team.

It would be the same situation with Championship clubs loaning to League 1 clubs - for instance, if, say, Greg Worthington and Joe Arundel are Halifax's starting centres in week 1, would you be happy if Zac McComb is loaned out for the rest of the season with no recall clause?

Interesting example from my point of view as I wasn’t happy when zac McComb was loaned out for a couple of weeks to Dewsbury last year especially when Ed barber primarily a second row and Greg worthington who only scored one try all season ( nothing against Greg and I appreciate his value ) we’re placed in front of him . Zac came back and played with enough merit to warrant consideration for player of the year . However I digress, it’s slightly different ( I do take your point ) as McComb played and borough was left in no mans land , lam played shorrocks in front of him, it wouldn’t have been so bad if he’d have come back once lam wasn’t picking him . Last season was unique with the covid protocols and was very disruptive . I acknowledge it’s a difficult balancing act but in answer to your question I would have accepted zac McComb going out on a season long loan as long as for example bourouh / Hewitt season long loans were honoured by Wigan/ Huddersfield respectively.

The relevance of the new variant will exclude recall issues. DR won’t happen now.

Are you stating this because you are aware of a decision already being made, or is this just a guess? Even the epidemiology experts are still uncertain about the impact of the Omicron variant, but we will know much more in a couple of weeks, let alone in seven weeks when the season is due to start.

The uncertainty is the issue. In seven weeks time there will be another variant.

That's a really weird answer. I was trying to find out if you had inside knowledge on a decision about DR and you appear to have transformed into an epidemiology expert!

You appear to be speaking from a position of authority - "DR won't happen now" "In seven weeks time there will be another variant". Again, are you able to back up these statements, or are you just guessing?

Agree with you Phantom is he an Epidemiologist or eminent Professor of Medicine ? Please enlighten us Atomic

Atomic, can we please have a nu clear answer, or maybe not as we don’t want any fallout.

Not sure what your point is atomic? We've not had a realistic option to go full-time for a long time (no mega-rich benefactor). Don't understand where you think "that money" went to? The reserve side we had was built and sustained by fan donations.