I think you'll find that the Bulls gave Peacock to us on a plate when they couldn't offer him a new and improved contract due to financial constraints

But then went ahead and committed financial suicide by pinching Harris from under our noses

A masterstroke if there ever was one from Mr Caisley

Jog on clever cloggs

If you're think that there should be a crop like the one we had ten years or so ago, then you're going to be disappointed. It's very rare that any club gets a crop of quality youngsters mature at the same time as we did with this current side.

All the Academy should be there for is to drill players in the skills and moves that the first team employ, and to produce one or two first team squad players per year. If you get one top SL level player from the Academy every three or four years, you are doing well.

It is not about winning silverware.

Leeds will have no trouble attracting quality players but it must be a worry with the lack of young talent at the club. Just look at their recent academy record etc.

You can spend to the cap all you want but without quality young players bulking your squad out and adding quality you just can't compete.

Look at us before IL took over us.

This thread is about young players under 19s etc, Peacock and senior were the finished product.

We are still looking

There's talent in our Acadamy and i'm sure there will be break throughs and more than enough quality to gel into the 1st team.

You moron - we paid a significant fee for Hardaker and the other two weren't signed as youth players

And Leeds can't compete with Simon Moran's deep pockets if he wants to splash the cash on plucking the best kids from other clubs scholarship programmes

The academy results shouldn't really be taken at face value.

Yes, we used to spank everyone when the likes of McGuire, Sinfield, Burrow, Diskin, JJB, Calderwood and Mathers were in the U21s but more recently, the club has rather academy players play in other club's first teams (BJB at Quins, Amor at Wakefield, McShane at Hull, etc)

I'm sorry, but people convince themselves of things and believe it to be true, despite how very wrong they are.

There is a reason it does not happen, but that is by choice rather than potential. When you have a crop of younsters come through at the same time that are at the level required then you don't push for immediate replacements. That's why it doesn't happen, and the next batch are to a degree ignored.

On the contrary to what you believe, there is always another batch.

If however you are saying you are not likely to see a McGuire, Sinfield, Tomkins, every year, then on that basis you would be entirely correct. But let's not confuse that with a batch of youngsters. A Mathers, Diskin, Bailey, Ward, JJB, Scruton, etc, are available every year if you plan their development properly.

The benefit those players had is given first team rugby at an early age, which allowed them to develop much quicker.

The benefit those

We have had a strange sort of problem for a while, where the path to the first team for a lot of players in a few positions, most notably the halves, was blocked by previous academy alumni. In 2006, for instance, there was hardly any point producing a pair of new halves for the first team, because there was no vacancy.

The golden generation is now knocking on a bit, and succession planning should be happening.

The new U15s are getting announced at HQ on Friday too. Some REALLY promising lads in that bunch. Defo names for the future if we can keep them.

Ashton Golding (Half Back), Sam Hallas (Forward) & Jordan Lilley (Ball Playing LF or HB) will be the spine of our team in 8/9/10 years if all goes to Barrie Macs plan.

Stevie Ward is the future isn't he?

He's looked a quality player every time I've seen him play, but has been out with an injury for the last 3 months or so

We're doing fine.

We get a gradual stream of 1/2 coming into the first team every 1/2 seasons.

Maybe slightly below what it should be, but if you think you're gonna have a big batch of ''fledglings'' all at once every time you're in cloud cuckoo land.