rlanybody see the game?rl nice to see the academy winning big against warrington.

It's great news that one of our junior sides are running well.. Maybe these is the next class of stars.

Bloody marvellous.

Bollox to all the sodding politics and shareholder playpen antics, THIS is what we want to see.

The first team is doing much better than so many "experts" assured us they would. The Academy is looking good for the future. We look to be getting it right on the park. I challenge the new board to get it right OFF the park, and live up to the standard the players are setting. Don't you bloody well dare not!

sounds a great result for the young lads the usual names popping up again in the report Curtis Naughton , Alex mellor and Liam McAvoy all really good prospects the future is bright at the bulls


p.s would be good to hear from anybody that went to the game

Sounds like an excellent result. Really need to make the effort to get to a few more of these games this year.

Great stuff. Naughton sounds like he is going to be a top FB!

Any chance of some BullBuilder highlights?

Who takes the credit - McBanana, Potter, Medley, Agar?

Potter, clearly. Theyd all be playing a game a season if Macca was here.

Cracking question, that!!!

I was at the game and have direct knowledge of how most of the young players have come to be there.

(I suppose I have to say IMO) the direct "credit" goes to Paul Medley and Stuart Barrow, for being at the forefront of the decision as to who is signed as a Bulls Academy player (with big help from their Scholarship coaches and Scouts) and they are the people directly involved in the players progression from that point, by their coaching along with their assistant coaches.

Maybe the senior coaches can claim an influence over Liam McAvoy's progress,as he is in the full time squad and trains with them when he is able to, but the coaching of the rest of them is down to these two men.

The 18s who played on Saturday (which did not contain the still eligible John Bateman [quite rightly - he is beyond this level] and Connor Spencer), were what I believe is the strongest mix available of U18s and U17s players and it would serve the Bulls well to try to keep them playing together through the season as much as possible, rather than diluting them by taking players into the 20s because of shortages. The 20s have been weakened throughout the season by lack of experienced 1st team squad players dropping down, because of the injury situation, as well as 20s own injuries , resulting in their position in the table being as it is.

I am all for moving up when it is right for the player:- thats the only way you get to be good enough, but it should be when there is a good enough team around you so that you can learn from it, add to it and any minor mistakes are covered by the more experienced players, not a team which is full of other youngsters and thus at an obvious disadvantage to other teams with full squads.

If this set of 18/17s can be kept together, the problem will be sorted in 2 years when they are all 20s, and also the quickest developers will be pushing the fringe of the first team.

That is a very interesting summation and viewpoint, coming as it does from someone very well-placed and qualified to comment, especially since we've seen quite a few people on the internet forums having a go at Medders and Barrow of late.

Guess only time will tell, but so far its looking encouraging there.

VERY interested to hear the opinion regarding the 20s current situation. Must say it makes a hell of a lot of sense IMO.

I think it's clear as day that the U20's are vastly understrength given that they are about 9 eligible players down. However, they really shouldn't be 11 games in and 11 games lost.

The age group classifications are been changed again next year to U19's and U23's replacing the disastrous age groups we have now.