Quote: Bullseye "The thing I don't understand is the reason for the changes.
The RFL brought in the Non Fed and Quota rules and the minimum of 8 club trained players to promote chances for home grown players. Within a couple of years of these rules being enforced they're watering them down. Are there too many club trained players? No. So what's the reason?'"
These changes are definitely happening, but FC and the club have been aware of the alterations for a while so nobody is at a disadvantage.
The reason they are changing is because of the regionalised academies that are going to be set up within the next couple of years. I think this stems from the academy review that the RFL carried out earlier this year, when quite a few of the academy set ups were found to be of a poor standard. So much so that the RFL decided to set up regionalised academies in certain areas, rather than each team having to run their own.
As a result, the home grown player pool reduces and also becomes uneven for some teams. This is why the number has gone down from 8 to 7.
As for the non-fed rule, this is either a knock-on effect of the academy changes, or something loosely related to the world cup. I suspect the former, but I wouldn't be surprised if the WC uncovers a few hidden gems, and the increased non-fed spots may allow some clubs to add to their roster after the comp is over - quite late in the day for squad additions. Adam Pearson has specifically stated he is leaving some non-fed/quota spots free for the WC.
