They aren't going to risk relegation by bloodied youngsters, and they aren't going to put money in to building an acceptable academy when it might not pay off for 5 years by which time they could be back as semi pro playing in front of hundreds again and that academy is dismantled.

Under P+R staying up isn't just first priority it's the only one. That's why we saw clubs with 15 overseas players and barely an nrl game between them and it's why we saw next to no English coaches, and why our academies were so pants outside the big 4.

No point blaming clubs, as long as they are in SL they won't care.

Franchised mediocrity has gone Smokey.

You need to get over it.

For the first time in years, the club you support will now have to set their ambitions higher than finishing 5th or 6th.

I thought Hull had 8 now (Michaels, Paea, Sa, Feka, Talanoa, Miller, Rankin, Mini)?

I do agree though that Radford did seem more willing to play the youngsters this last year. I guess that the hope will be that those players have that extra development under their belts come next year.

4th?

Yep. The heady heights of 4th. Fortunately it will be a lot easier to do because most clubs only aim is to avoid relegation. So we will go back to putting 60 points on half a league full of antipodean journeymen and looking back fondly at a time when mediocrity was something the game achieved rather than reached for.

Licensing has gone, fortunately franchising will be back in a few years when the middle of the game is destroyed and full of clubs with no way of moving up and only the utter destruction of falling down. Fortunately my club will be in that top part moving further and further away.

Apologies I was forgetting about Sa.

But yes, last year we had Lancaster, Logan, Hadley, Tyson Wilson and Abdull make their debuts. He also released McDonnell in favour of Shaul and gave guys lot Bowden more game time.

I have many criticisms to level at Radford, but I am confident that he will leave overseas players out at the expense of youngsters if required. If all the clubs in Superleague did this then the number of overseas players wouldn't be such an issue. But unfortunately some coaches will choose imports in their 17s regardless of their form or ability.

Which clubs out of the current 12 have no way of moving up. You've got Wigan, Saints, Leeds, Warrington who will be there regardless. Then there's Huddersfield and Catalans who I don't think will win anything but are more than capable of breaking into the top 4. Then there's Hull and Salford who are in no way interested in simply avoiding relegation and I expect both to significantly improve. That leaves Hull KR, Widnes, Cas and Wakefield who, mainly due to their size, will struggle to ever break the top 4 consistently, but they aren't awful teams by any stretch.

Pretty much listed them for me. Add in the exacerbating factors of loss of funding if relegated, the difference in attendances in the super 8s and the unattractive proposition of being in the lower part of the top 8, getting beaten by the top teams in a competition you cannot win and it is a top notch recipe for a separation between the top clubs and the rest, and the likes of Hull, Huddersfield, Les Catalans, Salford etc will very quickly change their focus to avoiding relegation after anything but a good start.

Mid table sides will be looking at either fighting tooth and nail to get in to a competition they would mathematically be incredibly unlikely to win and risking injuries and suspensions which if they don't get into that top comp would put them at greater risk of a catastrophic loss of funding and visibility. Or they give up trying to make sure they get in to a comp they can't win and simple make sure they avoid that catastrophic loss of funding.

I would bet hull fans would strung Adam Pearson up by the docks if he insisted hull go for it, finish 9th and go into 'the qualifiers' (which arent a qualification comp) with a squad decimated by injuries and suspensions.

I do see where you're coming from, I just can't agree with it. In the old days of top 5/6 playoffs with one up one down, after half a season you were left with 5/6 teams who weren't going to win the comp. Then with 5 to go you knew relegation was between two clubs, so you effectively had 4 or 5 teams with absolutely nothing to play for come the end of the season.

Under the new structure I don't think we will ever see a team win it from 8th, but it's still a worthwhile prize because you don't have to enter the middle 8 minefield, not to mention the financial benefits. With the possible exception of Wakefield, I don't think 8th is beyond anyone.

The top teams have to keep going because even if someone has top spot sewn up with 3 to play they will still want to carry over every point they can get. Ok the bottom two or three may rest players if it becomes impossible to make the eight. But you seem to be assuming that a side in 9th or 10th after 8 games will just give up and start preparing for the Middle 8.

As for Hull. Well put it this way, if we finished 9th it would be seen as a miserable failure of a season. Even if we went through the middle 8 undefeated.

NON-FED/Kolpak
(1) Ken Sio
(2) Justin Poore
(3) Michael Weyman
(4) Neville Costigan
(5) Josh Mantellato
(6) Maurice Blair
(7) Albert Kelly

OVERSEAS QUOTA PLAYERS
(1) Ken Sio
(2) Michael Weyman
(3) Justin Poore
(4) Maurice Blair
(5) Albert Kelly

Show me where we are breaking any rules?

hull kr arent breaking any rules, its just a shame its going this way again, looks like the relegation coming back in is the main factor.

oh they made another signing today... local lad from France.

Federation trained