Butterill is coaching Leeds Beckett's RL team next season, taking over from JJB. It's a link between LBU & Rhinos; he's till got his Rhinos role as I understand it.

To what end?

What would that achieve?

I really hope that he does stay at the club as he does a fantastic job of producing talented junior players.
He should be the head of the whole scholarship and academy systems IMO

It would reduce the amount of games, and expenditure for clubs, and stop a player pool that isn't growing being diluted further.

It’s going to grow even less if players don’t have the option of playing for the reserves. A team like Leeds should have no
Problem finding a reserve team, where has the money gone?

Please Zig, Don’t start another where has the money gone thread on here.

Agree though it’s pretty poor that Leeds can’t get a reserve team out.

Sorry Sir it was not my intention to stir up a hornets nest. I love rugby league and it concerned me when a team of Leeds’ standing are not able to fulfill their fixtures at any level. The future of the game looks bleak!

The club probably could get a reserve team together, they just don't want to. It serves no purpose.

Either way, Seems pretty poor if we can and can’t be bothered or can’t raise one.

How do those players get any playing time week to week though without it?

play for fev or the bulls I guess

Not enough spaces for every player in SL who's eligible and primarily going to play reserves. Player development in the past has really suffered for players just having no games to play.

Just allow a certain number of over age players to play in the academy. Most reserve players are academy players anyway.

Wasn’t that how it used to work with the U23s? It’s perhaps a bit harder when the drop is to 18s.

Quote: mattsrhinos1978 "The Yorkshire squad is mind boggling, unless the aim is to get hammered i just dont get it. We should have 6 or 7 in, and that wouldnt include one of the 2 who actually did get in.'" Quote: mattsrhinos1978 "predictably the Yorkshire team were easily beaten in the first game - unless theres many changes to the squad for the 2nd game i cant see much change in the result'" Quote: mattsrhinos1978 "You called that one Matt. Why does it very often appear that squad selections at junior level are politically picked? Surely it's in the best interests of the sport that the best players are picked and regardless of which club they play for? When are the Australian Schoolboys next touring over here? This is another consideration for choosing the very best players for the county games and then also for England International selection based on those games. 2018 was the last time that England played against the Aussies when we won the 2 match test series.'" Lancashire wrapped up the academy origin series yesterday with a comfortable 44-16 win against Yorkshire https://www.rugby-league.com/article/62 ... hire-16---

Quote: mattsrhinos1978 "The Yorkshire squad is mind boggling, unless the aim is to get hammered i just dont get it. We should have 6 or 7 in, and that wouldnt include one of the 2 who actually did get in.'" Quote: mattsrhinos1978 "predictably the Yorkshire team were easily beaten in the first game - unless theres many changes to the squad for the 2nd game i cant see much change in the result'" Quote: mattsrhinos1978 "You called that one Matt. Why does it very often appear that squad selections at junior level are politically picked? Surely it's in the best interests of the sport that the best players are picked and regardless of which club they play for? When are the Australian Schoolboys next touring over here? This is another consideration for choosing the very best players for the county games and then also for England International selection based on those games. 2018 was the last time that England played against the Aussies when we won the 2 match test series.'" Lancashire wrapped up the academy origin series yesterday with a comfortable 44-16 win against Yorkshire https://www.rugby-league.com/article/62 ... hire-16---

Are we in a white rose crisis period?

SL table has Yorkshire sides in 6th (KR), then 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th...

Rhinos Academy out of top 4 I believe, Yorkshire well beaten in origin series... we seem strategically off the pace this side of the hill, and really this is comparing to Wigan, Saints, Wire and Leigh.

Well taken tries from Frater and Lumb last night against Wigan

Fraters a bit of a dark horse to make it, he's absolutely rapid, powerful and quite skillful, never been regarded as one of the stars of this group, but he's really developed well over the last 12 month

Been a weird season for our Academy, loads of talent in the backs, but a combination of barley ever plaing our strongest team and a poor set of forwards has seen some poor results.

Lumb
Thchebembe
Smith
N McCormack
Frater
F McCormack
Sinfield

Is a very good, exciting back line

The only 2 forwards who have really impressed me are Ben Littlewood at prop and Hooker Mason Corbett

Last night was actually a decent performance considering Wigan are a good team, 4 of the 9 above wernt playing and we had a man sent off just before half time

I was wondering what the respective strengths of the sides were. I know winning isn't everything at that level, but it would be good to see us getting the better of the likes of Saints and Wigan on a regular basis. On the face of it last years Championship winning exploits look like a flash in the pan, but hopefully that's not the case. Agree about Frater.

Frater has a young Ryan Hall vibe dare I say it.

Got a bit of Leroy Rivett in his game for me

Let’s hope I’m right mate!

Excited to see young Qareqare develop he looks a good prospect - has that granite Fijian heritage. Bit of Marcus Bai about him (I know he wasn’t Fijian)…

Leeds looking at bringing in hooker Harvey Smith from Wakefield, not heard much about him but highly rated apparently?

Seems highly rated but this is a position we have literally 4 players already stacked up in.

Eseh would be strategically a much more useful signing but maybe yet again we'll go where the easier signing is. We don't seem to fare well whenever another club is interested in the same player as us.

It does again send signals that RH isn't happy with Jarrod O'Connor or Johnson entirely at 9, this coming after the Danny Levi rumours.