It is a massive shame they went as part of the attempt to save the club.
Players leave and are missed but we do have a good record of replacing them with new young lads and this will happen again.
Lets all hope the cycle of bringing them through and then losing them due to financial problems is now over and we can keep them. There will always be lads that want to move and in a way this is why we can tempt them here in the first place as they know they will be training at Tong with good coaches and will get a chance if they try hard. Inevitably some also see this as a chance to learn then move on as we do also have a very good record of finding good youngsters. Catch 22 I am afraid.

You do have to wonder if all the various "problems" we've suffered over recent years doesn't cause some youngsters, and maybe especially their parents, to think twice about the Bulls? Certainly the people who are the face of the club, JK and the people involved with the whole youth setup and training would instil confidence, but that constant vibe in the background...

What’s not to like when you’re a junior? The setup is good, central location, excellent facilities and an established pathway to a first team if you’re good enough....

Amended for accuracy

I thought the "a first team" bit allowed Bulls, Giants, Saints, HKR - whoever wanted our players really. I was going for subtle....

Saying that though, if one of the younger ones of the 5 - say Storton or Milnes had wanted to stay, I don't think a choice was offered by the sounds of things. If your club tell you (out of the blue) they've come to an arrangement with another club and your agent has started to negotiate your new contract I don't think Storton (for example) gets the chance to say - "actually I would prefer to stay, thanks. "

I think he will. His agent should be acting for his player so shouldn’t be negotiating a deal his player doesn’t want and as hard as it would be going forward, a player can’t be forced to sign a contract at a new club even if his club need to get rid

We are still in such a state of flux you could forgive any player for opting to go sign elsewhere. We have interim people in charge and no indication of the financial backing or funding model required to stop us going pop again. If you were an agent and we came knocking wouldn't you ask what's different this time?

The rfl were given our budgets and forecasts, no? So I would say that there probably is a model in place.
Or are you expecting it to be made public? Because that's obviously not going to happen.

We've always had quite a few of the 'top' rated juniors - too many to name in fact, and there's absolutely nothing to suggest they won't still get an excellent education in the game at the Bulls. The best juniors won't be short of alternatives though, in truth they, and their parents, are likely to be sifting through a bundle of offers from SL clubs and hopefully from us. Given our recent record of upheaval I'd think it would hardly be a shock if a few decide to go elsewhere.

Well I personally am not going to just accept bland assurances that everything will be ok. Not anymore. So they can either demonstrate to me and everyone else, who are understandably jaded and cynical, that things are going to be different, or I'm not emotionally investing.

My point however was that Agents have a duty of care, and irrespective of the budget made available NOW, wouldn't they wish to assure themselves that the club won't go bust again and leave the players in the lurch.