John B is working hard to get some deals done with our most promising kids. He knows just as much as us the importance of hanging onto players. The challenge is to give them a future once they've broken into the 1st team. Otherwise we just become a nursery, we have a great reputation for developing players into 1st teamers but they then have to go elsewhere because our 1st team is poop.

And realistically, you can't see that changing any time soon.

I think we are destined to become known as one of the country's best feeder teams. Actually scratch that, we already are.

I would assume we'll get 1 year worth of development compensation, as we are a new company which started in mid-January. The RFL will have to decide.

Because all the aspects of this have been fully thought out by the RFL....

Our only hope is a bit of a "sweet spot" in the next couple of years, where we get some good youngsters into the team which drives a bit of success, which they & the fans commit to and we go from there.

Let's get the media man on this and give it a positive spin... "Are you a promising youngster? Why not sign for the Bradford Bulls. In no time you too could be snapped up by saints/Wigan/Huddersfield etc"

In serious, the best of luck to James. He has been a rare positive in this season and always have it everything he had. I hope we have at least attempted to wrangle him back on a year long loan next year as he is unlikely to get into the saints first team straight away.

There we go again - giving one of our best players to help a SL club.

Our club motto should be "Bradford Bulls - the club that just keeps on giving"

Have to agree we are just being bled of our future heritage.We ought to receive something and sell on options surely.In a real business world you would not be able to give away your assets.

I aren't sure why people are getting upset, out of contract players move on from big clubs, it happens, not just to us

He's an employee who's fulfilled his contract,just like you changing job for more opportunities or money

It's not the legalities, it's the morality. Should we continue to spend our meagre resource developing quality players for the game when we receive nothing in return. Same can be said for Halifax or any other club developing talent, it's a waste of time, money and effort. Why do something you get no benefit from? We may as well sack it off. Hudds can turn out the talent and reap the benefits of their own endeavours.

However, the stipulations for NewCo were 'must run an academy' on no phuqqing funding, for other teams to cherry pick with no compensation. The RFL didn't even bother with lube this year.

An alternative would be to stop chasing the 'big name' juniors; ie. the ones who are on the St Helens, leeds, Wigan etc watch list. We always make a big thing about taking juniors who were being 'courted' by the big clubs but these are [iexactly[/i the ones who are most likely to depart when they hit open age. We'd be better off lowering our sights on these recruits and taking the ones who are not being chased by the SL clubs. There are plenty about and the chances are we'll still get some very decent players who will want to play for us.

Eh? Couldn’t disagree more. Have you been on the sauce?

We already take on a lot of juniors that are "below the radar".

Cameron Scott was one that was passed over by the "big" clubs. He subsequently did very well with us thanks to our superior coaching and development and was selected for England. He's now at Hull. So even if you lower your sights you still lose them.

One lad currently shining is Reiss Butterworth. Let go by Fev. Doing well for the U19s, not out of place in the 1st team. He'll get better.

All the kids will leave if they do well unless the club itself starts to improve. It matters not where they come from.

Perhaps we should recruit the kids that are no good and that won't improve. We'll be alright then because nobody will want them.

I'm with Bullseye. The junior players we sign, stay with us for a couple of years at least normally (until we have an off-field meltdown). I think us gong down to L1 has a big reason Bentley has gone. Ethan Ryan is likely to go too, but last 2 seasons he's been our best back by a country mile. When the young players come through, they end up being some of the best players in the squad, so i think it's essential we keep the academy going. Where would we have been without Ryan, Oakes, Bentley? I don't think we would have won a game. Bentley and Oakes were probably on a damn sight less than Thomas, Mendeika etc too. If we continue that conveyor belt and have stability, yes one or two will inevitably go barely playing a game, but i think most will stay for a few seasons. I don't understand Bulliacs idea of sign a worse standard of junior player. If he surprises everyone, and plays well for the first team, he will sign for a bigger club anyway.


The Cameron Scott example is stupid by Bulliac. He didn't leave because a bigger club came calling. He left because he were liquidated. Bentley hasn't suddenly attracted a load of interest because he was a good junior, it's because he's been outstanding in the first team. Do you think if he was a junior that nobody wanted Saints wouldn't have signed him now? Same with Butterworth. His Dad says he's here next year and if he performs in the first team (like he has been doing) the bigger clubs will come sniffing no matter whether only us wanted him as a 16 year old, or every NRL/SL club were trying to sign him. Personally think he will stay as he will probably see playing first team games for us, is better for his development. Give me 2 seasons of Reiss Butterworth over 5 of Oscar Thomas!!

Er it was me that cited Cameron Scott (not Bulliac).

A few of the young lads - like Bentley - re-signed with us after we were liquidated and reformed. A few didn't like Scott, Trueman, Brown, Hooley and Waite Pullen. I'd say they were some of our best and all signed for SL clubs despite them not playing 1st team.

Agree 100% with your other points. Think players like Butterworth and Pickersgill will figure more prominently next season. Like you I'd take them over players like Thomas and Mendeika.

Apologies Bullseye and Bulliac, as i thought Bulliac had posted it i read it as Bulliac was using Cameron Scott as an example of it being pointless signing talented 16 year olds

You after a game?

We've tried that with the grown ups.

I can see Toovey shedding more than a few tears if he had the privilege of seeing a player of my ability out there.

If we'd played 2017 in C1 like we all wanted, had a decent year and were now looking forward to the Championship, i reckon there's a decent chance Bentley and Ryan would've stayed with us for 2018, if they felt the club was going somewhere and we didn't mess them about.

With the best will in the world, though, even if you thought we were going to rip up C1 (which would be a rather ambitious thought at this point), surely nobody can expect lads with that sort of talent to trot out in C1 for a shambolic club with admittedly no money and no sign of finding any?

All this is the fault of the RFL. The insolvency happened and the previous management are to blame for thta, but who got the new club, and where it played, and on what terms, was 100% up to the RFL and they failed us miserably. No money from half the season tickets, no money from the RFL, no money from the new owners, forced to compete way above our level with a -12pt handicap. Starting from scratch in C1 was the only sensible choice but we were sacrificed on the RFL's altar and that's where we are where we are.

Haha, no. Just idle thoughts, which may, or may not, have much merit!

More or less working on the principle that clubs like Fax or Fev, or any other club in our position, don't seem to be chasing the standouts but concentrating on local youngsters and bringing them through. I'd say the major difference is probably that we have [igenuine[/i hopes of getting back to SL where they, maybe, don't.

Truth is though, that much as I take quite a bit of pride in our academy, our owners don't seem to be even remotely 'minted' and the bottom line is that it costs a lot of money to run and we don't seem to get [ithat[/i much benefit from it. I'd seriously suggest that Fax etc get far better returns to cost figures than we do. Like it or not, we maybe should be comparing ourselves to clubs in a similar position as ourselves and not to such as Leeds, Wigan and Saints.

Cutting the cloth and all that?

No. I think cutting the academy would signal the end of ambition and would be the end for me without question.

Clearly the academy was kept in place to act as some kind of academy for the whole league and was conditional of ChaLo getting the Bulls. Can't really understand why ChaLo didn't realise the amount they would be spending on the academy would not offer any returns to the Bulls. Especially as they were the preferred bidders due to their rugby knowledge.

Which begs the question; "why would the RFL be so bothered about our academy"?.

It's definitely one of the better ones, according to independent assessment, but obviously, it's far from being unique or in any way so 'vital' to the future of the whole game that the governing body would get involved. Let's be honest, if the Bulls academy hadn't existed ALL he lads who came through it would have accepted offers from Leeds, Wigan, Saints or wherever and would have received a quality RL education and most probably be somewhere close to where they are now. So why is the RFL playing its current role?

I really don't want to go into all the 'other stuff', which has its own thread, but there [ihas[/i to be a reason.