Big win for the academy against Warrington. The first years seem to be adjusting nicely at this stage, and some of the older lads like Brady, and Sanderson seems to have improved massively this year.

Is Ryan Jones injured at the moment?

Sanderson is going to be a dilemma for the club at the end of this season. Probably not quite ready to be out on dual reg at a top Championship side, but won't be eligible for the Under 19s.

If we ran a reserve side, then we could keep him and play him in reserve grade along with some of the other "might be worth keeping" third years. Wonder if the club would consider keeping him on and finding a League One club to take him on loan for a year?

I agree we should have a reserve team, very unlikey we will in 2017, he could go on loan to Hunslet if he isn't going to get to play at Fev.

If not good enough for championship rugby then not good enough to persevere with IMO. I see no benefit in league one rugby. I think the reserves will be a certainty next year though.

Our 19s are our reserve team.

He'd probably be good enough for Championship rugby, but given our dual reg club has ambitions of making the top 4 and getting promoted into SL they're probably not going to want to take an unproven young half-back and build a team around him.

Pretty sure Fev would also be miffed if Leeds started sending kids out on loan to other clubs in the Championship, hence the suggestion he goes to play League One as a first taste of open age.

joe sanderson has really improved this season and i agree that the club have a dilemma on their hands with who to retain and who to release.
imo joe won't be retained in our 25 man squad so our only option is to try to get him into a club in league 1 on a loan deal and see how he handles it

the sanderson's are quite a talented family,all of who'm have been half backs too, his dad mark played professionally with mansfield marksmen back in their day as well as for milford,whilst his older brother michael plays for drighlington, and he kicks goals from absolutely anywhere on the field and is also a very good player

No, the 19's are our top age academy. How many of the 19's have played this season in an injury crisis? one, who is actually a member of the first team squad. Fev, dual reg is our reserves, although not utilized to any degree due to injuries.

Under 16's which covers two age groups, under 18's which covers two age groups, then the reserves is where the future should be. Quality players who are still 16, but professional cotracts, can develop in the reserves to show what they have, to be ready for first team, if they are of a quality above the other 18's. Or if the club chooses it can also utilize dual reg, if that method continues alongside.

Dual reg would work if the lower leagues were a genuine feeder competition. Since they all want to be promoted we're in a horrible half-way situation using them as a buffer for a few players to keep fit/get experience. If that won't change we have to go back to a reserves team.

The reserves would include all fit first-teamers not selected, plus a few squad players who are happy to hang around and get the odd game in the first team, and a place to try out the best kids. The coaches would get the chance to experiment with no pressure to win, whilst making sure all players follow the same structures as the first team. The fact that the quality would be low is irrelevant. What we have now is just such a bad way to try to run a professional sport its ridiculous.

I dont disagree with you Gotcha but the clubs stance as per GH is that the 19s are our reserve team and that wont change going forward.

If this is true, then he's lost the plot.

Bet other clubs wishes their CEO's would lose their plot too then!!

I think it will change. He has been shown to be wrong this year, and I don't believe he will leave the club out on it's own just to save face.

Agreed. But I believe the Leeds arrangement with Hunslet is pretty much a feeder arrangement anyway since Hunslet are propped up financially by Leeds. GH isn’t really bothered what other clubs do unless Leeds start to do badly out of it – which you could argue they are now.

Can’t see anyone changing the championship into a feeder league – it’d turn so many supporters off that clubs would go to the wall.

I'm not sure that they have. We've had Lilley and Handley emerge as first teamers last year and they look, at least , to be capable of super league standard at this stage in their careers. Producing two every year or so is a pretty decent hit rate.

Of course, their first team opportunities were somewhat forced upon a first team coach who seems to be very reluctant to give such opportunities to young players, judging by the likes of Baldwinson and Mulhern. That may be as much of or more of a problem than the Academy production line. Maybe there's been a blockage at the end of it in the guise of a first team coach who seems to have faith in a very limited number of senior players?