Really like the look of Hird, be good to see him involved in the first team.

Think he is some way off that at moment Frosties but hes got potential. Needs to fill out and he will be a big lad then.

Weve got some good young talent in the team tho and Hird is right up there

Have Saints got another load of top quality coming through?

Yes they always have. Josh Simms whos played plenty of SL. Full Back Bennison played well. I really like what ive seen of a 2nd rower called Reece Sumner ive seen him play a couple of times and found him very good.

Dont worry tho weve got some real talent too. Saints had 10 full time players playing today we had a lot less 4 i think.

One area where I think Saints are better is the transition from very talented junior to established first teamer. We need to improve in this area to reduce our reliance on squad fillers like Thompson or Donno for example.

Personally i wouldnt say that was neccessarily true Batley. I think its probably been easier for Saints to bring kids in cos they have gone into a dominant winning team which always helps.

But i dont think theyve brought through anymore than we have really in terms of numbers. Both clubs have exceptional junior departments. Theyve brought thru players like Welsby, Lees, Dodd thru recently but weve brought thru quality like Newman, Mik and Gannon.

Saints had a more experienced team yesterday, we had 6 x 17 year olds and thats a lot for a reserve team. We are choosing to loan out players to Championship clubs rather than play in our reserves. Time will tell if thats the right move. Its understandable that you want players like Levi and O'Connor to play at the highest level possible to develop them further but the flip side of that is you have a young half that you are trying to develop but hes got a pack thats not physically up to the task. Its a difficult process.

I think our junior department is outstanding and we will continue to reap the rewards down the track though.

U18's beat Newcastle 58 - 8 tonight, Will Gatus with 4 trys, we scored 13 in total, poor goal kicking, we only got 3 from 13.

Call yourself a Sinfield…

Thought Newcastle tried hard tonight.

Its a decent Leeds team at 18s level. Weve got decent backs. Pack lets us down a bit. Bit interesting to see how we go against better opposition but on firmer tracks we will do well i think.

Yes that’s a pretty handy backline there and you could add Levi Edwards to that backline.
I’m not sure if it will eventuate but the Australian Schoolboys under 18’s are due to tour later this year and you would think that Leeds would have at least 4/5 players involved in that series.

Reserves absolutely hammered tonight aswel, state of this club at the minute...embarrassing.

Chev walker another job for another boy.

We, wrongly, dont take the reserves seriously enough. I wouldnt read much into their results tbh.

Corey Johnson out for 3 to 4 months. Grade 3 MCL tear.