U18s well beaten by Wigan tonight. Presumably we'll hear we fielded a very young team and it will be invaluable for their development. May well be true. GH keeps repeating we currently have the best crop of youngsters for 20 years. I get to as many Academy and Scholarship games as I can and I'm struggling to see the same thing. I see us beaten regularly by the Wigan and Saints of this world which doesn't fill me with any confidence we'll be closing the gap any time soon. Would be very happy to be proved wrong though.

Nail on the head

https://www.therhinos.co.uk/article/210 ... e-for-2025 Can anyone offer some insight into the players in this intake?

https://www.therhinos.co.uk/article/210 ... e-for-2025 Can anyone offer some insight into the players in this intake?

2nd year U16's are strong, 9 players from Kippax and 5 from Lock Lane, all the best players from the best 2 teams in Yorkshire, players to look out for:

Robin Smith - Prop
Jack Mears - 13/6
Brennen Townend - Back Row
Jacob Tooala -
Sonny Hetherington - /Fullback


With quite a few more good prospects

1st year U15's, really strange intake, with just 6 of the 20 actually playing in the top division of the Yorkshire League, the other 14 scattered between divisions 2 and 4 and RU. Quite a few of the obvious better players in the Yorkshire league are crossing the penines to Wigan/Warrington etc, on the surface, it looks like we've missed on quite a few. Some could be decisions on what the club think they can become, rather than what they are now, but know we missed on one with big potential who chose Huddersfield over us.

The best U14 team in this age group are West Hull, but we dont seem to look anywhere other than our doorstep these days, which is really dissapointing, Kells U14 in Cumbria are a great team, with lads going to Wigan/Warrington, who recruit from all the hotbeds, but we dont bother. On a side note, the Scholarship players of the year at Saints and Warrington were lads from Siddal

But yeah, apologies for waffling on, strange, but interesting, intake of first years this year

Blease has mentioned that targeting juniors from Yorkshire based RU clubs is going to be something they're going to try and do more of.

Think Matts is spot on with his assessment of scouting.