Last night the under 20's were told that no reserve team was going to be run next year with only an under 19's team representing the Bulls. This is seemingly what Super League want with their clubs using Championship clubs who will run an under 23's team as their reserves acting as feeder clubs. All Bulls current under 20's who are ineligable for next years under 19's yet still under contract will play for eg Dewsbury under 23's (or first team if good enough). Nothing has been decided as to the club that the Bulls use as this depends on whether they are in Super League or not and could be a feeder club themselves if they end up in the Championship.

What is unfortunate is that all players whose contracts end this year have been told to look elsewhere, this means I have been told that most if not all the local players such as Rob Hawthorn, Jordan Aitchison and Matt Bailey have left the club.

If this is what all clubs have to do then it is a bad day for Rugby League in my opinion.

Once again we see young players let down by the RFL.

With the club not knowing which division they will be in, why have they told the U20s there won't be a team next year? It also seems a bit early to let players go if they might, in fact, have a U23 side.

Have they been given some unofficial 'nod' to prepare for a season in SL or is this whole farrago just becoming more and more bizarre?

Left hand, meet right hand!

Right hand, perform standard reciprocating gesture applied to personages deemed similar to bankers.

What's the idea behind this change? It's only a couple of seasons since the last one isn't it?

My Mates lad was in Bulls under 16s and all have had to be released and Leeds only signed 6 of our 16s when they normally sign 15 ish.
A lot of disappointed lads I hear and some will probably be lost to our game.

I think they thought the much heralded U20s wasn't providing the quality comp for players they envisaged.

As such they hope to farm out players over 19 to Championship sides where the standard is better. In an ideal world that will mean those that don't make it in SL aren't lost to the game completely. Those that are good enough get better preparation for playing in SL by playing more open age rugby of a standard better than the U20s was.

This of course depends on championship sides and SL sides going into it with the best intentions. A SL side could just use the championship side as a feeder club if the rules aren't stringent and see further interest lost at championship level as line ups change on a weekly basis and people see clubs as a "A" team rather than a club in their own right.

I'm sure there's more to it...

I did wonder whether this would have an effect on the Scholarship teams as not really heard yet what will be happening to the U'14/15s which Cookie Jnr and a few of his team mates had been told they had got into.

Don't let Smokey TA hear you blameing the RFL. They are not responsable for anything that goes on in the game.

My lad was one of the 6 signed so i know a bit about this, think the RFL have got it very wrong

Swinton now 'partnered' with wolves. Apparently can have up to 10 players from warrington.....absolute joke. The current system of 4 dr or loan players is just about ok. This devalues the championship completely and if my club Leigh go down this route and the team is made up of over half from another team then my involvement and interest in RL is finished.

Good luck to him

I'd feel the same if we get dumped in the Championship

Could anyone imagine being a feeder team for, say, the Huddersfield Giants? Oh wait....