Enough to have seen us in the middle 8's then!

I wouldn't be surprised if Ryan Bailey was recommended by uncle Tony!

Anyone know why Jonny Campbell isn't still with Keighley? He seemed to go well in first couple of games and then hasn't played since. He was at odsal on Sunday and not even watching Keighley

Looks pretty much nailed on that Pitts and Purtell are off to London

Doesn't seem like anyone wants to offer Olbison anything - the T&A suggests he might end up playing part-time at Batley with Diskin. That seems a helluva come down for someone who was in the same bracket as Whitehead and Donaldson not so long ago.

And suggestions that a number of other contracted players are free to leave 'if an opportunity presents itself'. Presumably that covers people like Mendeika, Campbell, Halafihi etc

A real 'clear out' (and much needed IMO)

Think Olbison has gone 'off the boil' a bit, both this year and last. I've no idea why but he seems to have hit a plateau after his period of being the 'next big thing'. Disappointing but it happens - a new club, new environment, different coaching may be all he needs since I'm sure the basic ability has to be still there. That maybe means that Batley, and Disko, wouldn't necessarily be his best option though.

Some of our homegrown guys have stalled, purely because of the lack of development having SL intensity every week brings. Although coaching comes into it as well. I have been worried about Mellor this season but Rohan I think sees potential & should get his development back on track. Too late for Olbison though. Which is a shame.

Was very refreshing reading that T&A article. Sounds like Smith is going to be ruthless and isn't going to show the the kind of blind loyalty that Jimmy showed to certain players.
i think some players are going to have the shock of their lives pre-season.

Totally agree with this. In his junior days John played 6 or 13 or even fullback, once in the first team was used as a battering ram and we didnt see anything like what Wigan are now with him, try scoring and creating etc. For me Bradford have always fallen foul of wanting to bulk young lads up, John has stripped right down at Wigan. also see Jamie Langley line breaking international back row to workhorse due to putting too much size on

Most of our juniors of the past 10 years have gone on to greater things when they’ve moved. IMO that’s been down to the lack of stability in the club over this period. We’ve also had a lot of inexperienced head coaches (apart from Potter) in that time. I remember Whitehead and Olbison coming through and looking good before either stagnating or developing bad habits. I remember saying at the time if you bring young players into a first team that is poor quality and cuts corners then they’ll start doing the same before long.

Rohan Smith comes with a reputation for being good at developing young talent so maybe this trend will come to an end now – provided we stay afloat.

I'm surprised we're not offering Olbison a new deal tbh. He's not a flair player but at the same time I can't really remember him doing anything wrong or having a particularly bad game either.
He's a very dependable second rower in my opinion, and is also home grown so we should be keeping him I think.
He came off the bench against Halifax on Sunday and made great yards, more than most.

Ah well, just have to trust Rohan I suppose. As long as it was a managerial decision and not a financial one.

Do we have confirmation yet that we're swapping squads with London?

Blame Paul Medley for that if you weren't 18 stone and over 6 foot you weren't getting recommend by him.

Seems that way. Will never forget johns debut for Dudley hill open age 1st team at 16 came on at full back and tore Stanley to shreds, created game squalling try to take challenge cup game to extra time. Played the week after at stand off scored and created loads, a lot of us were shocked the way he was used at the bulls

After hearing who might be in the squad for Sunday I'm quite looking forward to it.
Keyes debut, possible Bentley debut, and Clark and Lumb both back from injury.

Also, more 2017 squad news. Blythe linked with a return to Warrington!

John Bastian and his team have been really impressed by James Bentley of late. He's really come on. Same as Ross Oakes. These lads are hoping to put in a huge pre season and get in the 17 next season.

I've heard Blythe has got a deal at Warrington. Surprising. Good luck to him. For all his many brain farts he never hides away and shows more enthusiasm than many of the rest of the side put together.