Sorry to interrupt the squabble....

As a Salford fan I'm really disappointed that we've lost our u19s team. I can see the reasons - our primary aim right now has to be getting more people through the turnstiles. Lots of reasons they ain't coming but having a good academy team is not going to get them in now. Having a successful first team will help. Won't cure all but will help more than a u19s team. Koukash may be a rich man but he cannot afford everything. He's chosen to focus his cash on the first team. Short-termism? Definitely. Understandable? In my view yes. The RFL cut Salford's funding after a review downgraded them. Can understand why they'd do that - why waste money on something not delivering - but also wonder whether they could be more creative and rather than cut funding use it to send in people to get the right systems in place?

All the other activity with youth is continuing - still an u16s team, increasing from one college team to two, considering running a reserve team and, if they do, they will invite some of the u19s back. looking at a shared academy with other clubs in the area (believe that when I see it but might work). Most important thing for me is they will continue the work with schools and local amateur clubs. This has been a massively overlooked and under-resourced area in Salford for pretty much ever. The relationship between the old regime and the amateur clubs was poor. Salford now run training sessions for amateur coaches including free level 1 and 2 courses plus loads of development sessions with them, do sky try initiatives, embed the pathway, players at kids sessions, junior tournaments, etc. There are more junior teams in Salford now than there has been for a long time, maybe ever. Most of that is down to the amateur clubs but the links to Salford are definitely helping.

Having an ex-local junior player and coach of open age team as Head Coach and Adrian Morley, another local product from amateur club not the pro-set up, (hopefully still) involved also helps build the community feel.

At the minute, realistically, an under 19s team will have a few Salford/Manchester lads in but will mostly be Wigan, Warrington and Leigh lads. I think the last genuinely Salford born and bred player we produced of any quality was Nathan McAvoy. And we lost him to that hotbed of Academy products, Bradford! We've had a few since but most of our successes in recent years - Evalds, Ratchford, Sneyd, Turner, Fages - and the ones on the fringes of our current team aren't from Salford. There's a few in the lower leagues. Of course I would rather have an u19s team with players from wherever than no team but if we are prioritising spending then so be it

The problem is the pathway from u16s to the first team. That's going to be our problem until the u19s structure is replaced but the work with the most likely chance of success is what's being done with the amateur teams and that's a good few years from bearing any fruit yet

But that's not what the embedded pathway is about, it's about a clear pathway within the game at any age and at any point in the development of players, not "eliminating" them at 13 years old.
The system is changing and changing for the better IMO, I still has a long way to go, however, whilst we have an RFL running the game at tiers 1&2 and independent leagues and bodies governing the community game, we will have a fragmented system that is not fit for purpose.
There isn't a shortage of talent, there is a shortage of "correct" resource to develop that talent, there has been a big jump in participation numbers From u7-U10's since the introduction of the "sky try" programe with some fantastic success at certain clubs ((SL mainly) who have been targeted to develop these age groups or loose central funding.
It's not all doom and gloom, but it doesn't help when a club decides to scrap its academy and suddenly makes a plan to work with another club which in reality isn't in line with the RFL mandate.

When I did my Level 2 and my Embed the Pathway course they put a reasonable amount of emphasis on the difference between ability and maturity, and also first/fourth quartile babies which maybe helped a bit with counteracting this. There's a lot of support behind leagues being split by weight rather than age in Australia/NZ and I'd be curious to see the same over here. I remember reading a report that found those kids who were bigger at age 14-16 were less likely to make it as Super League players, presumably because they hadn't had to develop their skills as much as they were able to rely on being bigger than everyone.

Why would this temporary measure be necessary? I really can't take the idea that we are so efficient that we have absolutely exhausted the player pool seriously.

Absolutely.

But sadly not every coach does the Embed the Pathway course and fewer actually embrace the ethos of it properly, and even fewer are at clubs where they would be helped to do so, and yet fewer clubs are in league structures that help them to do so.

You're right on the stats about the young players and I know Leeds have been actively searching for quartile 4 players for this reason.

The Embed the Pathway scheme has given me a glimmer of hope because at least I know that the RFL recognise the issues. It just depends on how willing they are to confront the amateur leagues and force them to change. Right now they're sort of preaching to the converted, although that's not necessarily a bad thing to begin with.

The other side of the coin that is almost always missed by those who insist the amateur leagues are fine, is that the amateur setup has 2 purposes, not just 1. Yes they have to develop talent to push up the hierarchy, but their other equally important purpose is as a gateway to the sport for present/future supporters and sponsors. In this regard the amateur setup cannot be described as anything but a failure with only bright spots of mediocrity.

18 months ago, youth was the focus www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... ---9239057

18 months ago, youth was the focus www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... ---9239057