This was a proposal tried to bring in by certain members (with a past RFU background) of the RFL. The plan then was to do away with individual team academies and have regional academies, and also to implement a draft system similar to the one that they have in the NFL. A friend of mine was involved in some sports trials with academy teams a few years ago to gather information for this. It was blocked by certain clubs- no prizes for guessing which ones....

I personally think this would be a brilliant way to improve the game and spread talent, whilst ensuring that talented young players stay in the game- but some teams didn't want their stranglehold on talent broken...

If you stop clubs going far and wide then you also limit parental choice. There's no easy solution but the way things are set up now means certain clubs have choice and other clubs have less. A draft system would provide a fair platform for all clubs- and better coaching and facilities to all youngsters.

A draft system doesn't provide a remotely fair platform. Why should the clubs who want to prioritise junior development be held back by those who don't? Is it fair to tell a kid from Wigan, who has grown up dreaming of playing for Wigan, that he has to go and play for Salford in front of crowds of 2000 because they had a bad season and they want him?

However, the idea that the only possible reason for the merging of academies is cost-saving is just not true. Looking at Cas and Wakefield for example:

They'll have 50 players combined at u19s level (ish)
The worst 25 players at u19s level definitely aren't going to play Super League
The worst players will take up a disproportionately large amount of coaching time because they have the most deficiencies
The worst players will disproportionately limit the standard of training by providing weak links in drills

By limiting the number of players to 25 between Cas and Wakey, you:
1) Increase the quality of training - less weak links, meaning the best players' skills are challenged more
2) Increase the ratio of coaches to players (unless they fire half of the coaches)
3) Increase the proportion of coaching time/resource spent on players with a viable chance of playing Super League
4) Improve the community game by not taking 25 players out of it solely to provide a team for the best players to play in

Hardly just a cost-cutting measure in reality.

Fax ran a reserve squad last season, and we have 4 of them who are stepping up to the 1st team next season. AFAIK we're running the reserves again next year, but our biggest problem was finding teams to play against. SL teams should be required to run a reserves team. The bizarre thing for us is that our DR club (Salford) are only running a 1st team next year...