Watkins almost goes back beyond 5 years now I would argue.

Ward was meant to be, which I guess shows the very best at their age group doesn't necessarily translate. He has 'made it' but I would argue due to a number of reasons is nowhere near fulfilling expectations.

Sutcliffe looks the part at times but has plenty of development to do.

I'm sure there are many others who have been touted as the next big thing (Aston Wilson anyone?) who haven't made an impact. The club will have lambasted for not giving them a chance yet few have gone on to even be very good SL players.

I guess my point is that until we start getting it massively wrong I'll trust the judgement of the people who've been doing this successfully for years.

But thats largely to do with the fact we've had this 'golden generation' around......which simply won't be around in 3 years time or less in some cases.

Given also that we don't look like a club that will go out and spend big to replace them all, then actually if you're around 16/17/18 now then now is the perfect time to be on the cusp on the first team. When Peacock and Leuluai go ahead and retire then Mulhern and Baldwinson chances look better here than if they were behind the likes of Amor, Walmsley, Masoe at Saints.

Who are the U18s players over the last 10 years who have been touted as "best in class". I can think of Sam Burgess, Kyle Eastmond, Watkins, Bateman. Are there any who've done a Richard Gunn and *not* made it?

I seem to recall Rogue's Gallery, a poster who has never shied away from decrying Leeds youth development, once describing Stevie Ward as the best player of his age group. He's now a steady Super League player but would I break the pay structure to keep him? Doubt it.

The pay structure work. It's proven. It is not a bar to retaining the right players with the right attitude (Hall, Watkins etc). Juniors can commit long term within it (Golding etc). At the end of they day if young Smith is the type of player whose sole motivation at age 16 is to play for whatever club offers the biggest contract then talented or otherwise does he fit the ethos of the club.

Of the 29 players named in the 2010 England Academy squad (so arguably the best 29 players of their age group in the country) there are around half a dozen holding down regular first team places in SL/NRL at the moment - Tommy Makinson, Brad Singleton, George Burgess, Adam Milner, Ben Crooks and Matty Russell.

That squad included the likes of George Elliott, Liam Hood and Jared Stewart from Leeds all of whom have dropped off the SL radar. So even under systems where juniors come to clubs much earlier in their pro development there's still a sizeable drop-out rate in terms of making progress to even playing at first team level, let alone going on to become a superstar.

And none of those still in Super League would be worth breaking the bank for.

Again some good points - is the current structure fit for purpose? the circumstances are very different from when it was first introduced. The team is now in decline as its key players age - how do you arrest that decline either spend large money on average NRL players or invest a little more in the very best youngsters.

If Smith is that good he will thrive in any top 4/5 clubs, they all have a good record with youth. Why should he take less money to stay at Leeds - what can Leeds offer him that Saints/Wigan/Saints/Warrington cannot?

George Burgess - whilst not in SL might have been quite useful now - maybe he wouldn't have had the opportunities at Leeds he has had at South Sydney.

Being on his doorstep for a start off. Did he grow up a Leeds fan like some of the players in the current squad?

Doubt it. He's from Cas (Daniel Smith's brother and Tony Smith's nephew).

Very, very difficult to tell how good a kid will be at 16. All you can do at that age is keep learning and keep doing your best. I find it very silly to start employing agents and looking for money at that age. Still, some kids these days involved in sport seem to have a very high opinion of themselves, and that's not just in RL. My lad has basically given up rugby for the moment to concentrate on swimming and boy, do you get some egos from kids 11, 12, 13. By the time they are a little older that tends to go because most drop out when the bubble bursts and everyone else goes through puberty as well. The kids that make it have talent and a work ethic that puts other sports to shame.