O'connor would probably come back as a burnt out prop

Jack Broadbent probably would too lol.

You're probably right, but I saw a few people on the other thread suggesting Sutcliffe might start alongside Newman at centre which is why I mentioned him, and if that turns out to be correct then he presumably won't be on the bench and Leeds would rather he played Championship RL rather than reserves, no?

But...but...we've got a 4-time SL grand-final winning coach now!

Anyway, he can't be any more ruthless than Webster, remember the "In The Sheds" footage of him immediately taking off Tom Holroyd after he missed a tackle against Swinton?

Trust me hes more ruthless than Webster. "Fractured skull? Get back out there"

Would be surprised if Broadbent went on DR.

Tindall, Walters, O’Connor, Edwards maybe. Also perhaps Johnson.

Is there any rush to organise the DRs?

DR is week to week so could be anyone from the club that goes, if someone isn’t in the 17, given how it sounds the reserve grade is going to be, I’d prefer them going to Featherstone.

I would of loved a normal reserve competition and it be competitive.

Walker, Tindall, Edwards, Hall, Briscoe, Sinfield, Austin, Mustapha, Johnson, Thompson, Walters, Gannon, O’Connor.

There wouldn’t be many better than that, but as you say, likelihood is Tindall, Johnson, Mustapha, Walters, O’Connor go to Featherstone on DR.

L Sutcliffe not due to return straight away due to injury so may not be available, but with 30+ being available on day one, it’s great going.

My guess is that Sutcliffe, Sezer, Prior, Martin, Fusitua, Tetevano, Thompson will not be there on day one.

When does pre season start?

Ideally I'd like to see our players kept in the system, under the same coaches etc. - unless the player would benefit from a new environment. I could imagine Sam Walters benefitting from some some under Brian Mac in all honesty, as one example.

Even if we put a strong reserves side out and say they won their competition (not that it means much) - who cares? They're still in the systems and structures, building confidence and combinations. They just need regular games.

I think the issue is complicated due to SL clubs trying to offset salaries - listening to the Craig Harrison podcast this week. DR can work in some instances (didn't do Carl Ablett any harm) but on the whole it's messy. It also devalues the Championship a little bit if certain clubs get access to really talented SL players on short-term basis, it's not exactly sustainable club-building for them.

Issue is the standard of the reserve league makes it too easy for the likes of some, for eg Walters, O'Connor, Muizz. They will be throwing kids around to point where nobody benefits.

Corey did well in Championship with York last year, we cant expect him to develop at a lower standard


Dual Reg/loan has to be only option for some.

This is where maybe a combined governing body could put a structure in place which worked. Again with some attendance gates and streaming options the reserves league could at least subsidies the player’s wages so that DR might be less necessary.

Our first choice reserves side next year would be worth watching.

A reserve league has never made sense to me. IMO it just dilutes a shrinking player pool even further.
To me, the way forward is for SL clubs to manage their duel reg players better. According to Craig Harrison, a lot of coaches at SL clubs don't even watch their players who are on DR, or give them feedback on their performances. Which seems very counter productive to me.