Again to be fair to Smith we just didn't have many good young players around when he joined, which is why he started signing 'squad' players. We signed too many no doubt, and retained a bunch of players we shouldn't have, but our first 17 was/is a bigger problem. Not that he did a great job there, in the forwards at least....

That’s fair. Smith arguably had the same group of youngsters they just weren’t ready yet, so can understand some of the filler he signed. Those players are now 2 years further on.

I’d love to be able to send sinfield on a years loan but still unsure if there’s the depth for that.

They're a really professional outfit but it helps to have such a high level of participation in their patch. Thousands of juniors playing RL in the Penrith catchment alone - every week! A British RL club would never get that in their wildest dreams.

Most NRL clubs don't get that either.

True and they say as much in the interview. Participation is so important. Shows why Australia have been so dominant internationally since the 1970s when participation went through the roof. It's in contrast to over here. I bet there are more juniors playing RL in Penrith than there are in the whole of Yorkshire.

Get the right systems and pathway and with a hinterland like Penrith it's difficult not to see them in the top 2 or 3 for the foreseeable future.