All the big sides fish across the whole pond, and no doubt the "smaller" clubs suffer talent drain. Altough I'm not sure what you do about that practically. I guess the other point is that clubs like Leeds at least do develop talent once they've identified it, with good systems and staff. Not saying others don't but... it's difficult out there.

Well I'm glad we have cleared up that your not an angry little man. Was worried for a moment I may have misjudged you.

Shame Delaney can't play one last time but listening to his interview he is still suffering from double vision. Given he suffered the injury over 5 months ago, I'd hope he gets persuaded to hang up his boots now rather than play at Fev.

Yes it is. The bloke has run through walls for Leeds and its just a shame that he's not able to finish on a higher note after all the effort and pain hes gone through at Leeds.

Hopefully theres a suitable send off for him on Boxing day or a small event at the club to mark his departure, though if Leeds run into injury problems whats the odds of seeing him in blue and amber again on a loan later in the season?

Whilst I agree with the sentiment, finishing your career like sinny et al got with the treble or even a single trophy win is incredibly rare.

He had been a good servant, loved by fans, collected plenty of winners medals and memories and been well paid in the process. He is also not leaving as he has a role at the club. Not bad overall.

I'm sure he will be there in boxing day and I'm sure he will be warmly thanked.

At least 3 of the 7 are products of the Wakefield region.
I'm not making any suggestions as to how that comes about, everyone casts their net further than their back yard after all, but naturally Leeds will use all their advantages.
Only a troll would suggest its a level playing field, to do so would negate the opportunity to be a pr1ck about it, and that's the bottom line for some people.

Sometimes successful clubs like Leeds,and with a squad full of international players often lose out on promising youngsters that they were intent on signing

I was told that Tom Johnstone was massively on the Rhinos radar as a junior but that he simply chose Wakey because he knew that he wasn't going to get a look in for a number of years at the club at first team level due to us having Ryan Hall and Tom Briscoe as the current incumbents and that he had a far better chance at first team footy if he signed for Wakey

We lost out on a fantastic player there and Wakey gained as a result,so it often works both ways.
IMO Tom took the correct option by signing for Wakey by backing his ability and good on him

Tbf with Leeds just been a few miles down the road and borders on Wakefield it's no wonder talented lads may end up there, (it's hardly like going to Saints or Wigan for example) and in Trinity's case, we got TJ from your side of the M62.
Like I said earlier, Leeds have plenty of advantages both in terms of city size, success and how well it's been run since GH came on board over Trinity and Cas but as you say it can be swings and roundabouts as far as signing these young guys up.

Anyone wanting a spot in the south stand needs a ticket - no cash turnstiles. I assume there are for other areas...

You'll get in the South, you'll just have to queue out the door from the ticket office to get them.

Wonder when the teams being announced, they usually announce it 5-6 days before for boxing day. next 24 hours maybe.

21 man squad announced looks very strong for boxing day, obviously Furner wants a good look at plenty of players.
who is Number 12?

1. Jack Walker
2. Tom Briscoe
4. Konrad Hurrell
5. Ash Handley
6. Tui Lolohea
7. Richie Myler (C)
8. Adam Cuthbertson
9. Matt Parcell
12. Dan Waite-Pullan
13. Stevie Ward
14. Brad Dwyer
15. Liam Sutcliffe
17. Anthony Mullally
18. Nathaniel Peteru
19. Mikolaj Oledzki
20. Jamie Jones-Buchanan
21. Ashton Golding
22. Cameron Smith
23. James Donaldson
24. Luke Briscoe
30. Alex Sutcliffe

Looks pretty much a full squad, this should be fun

No Trent Merrin I see. Slight hip injury

Both squads don’t seem to be missing many. Leeds - Watkins, Ferres, Merrin, Ablett, Crosby, Singleton? Wakefield- Johnstone?