Anyone heard sny cheeky rumours? I think the Martin taupau is in line

Unless someone truly world class suddenly becomes available. Sheens has said that we probably wont go for a marquee signing this upcoming season. Which is fine by me. Better to get the right one in than jumping at the first one available...

Yeah I guess your right but still a big name may attract more crowd? Even more if the team play as a team an get consitant

we're building for the future ground up .rather than top down,
rlMillington signs for Salfordrl

A good thing it is to.

Over the last few years we've been calling for investment in the long term. From every stand. When we seem to be actually doing this a lot of fans seem to want big names, like the last couple of years has been wiped from their memory. Or they seem to not understand that you can't have it both ways just yet.

What the Club is doing this off-season is putting the ground work in for the next two and three seasons, rather than ejaculating its all on a gamble with journeymen players. Which has been our party trick since, forever. While I feel realistic about what we can achieve next season, I'm quietly happy that we seem to moving in the right direction, even if it doesn't get the pulses and imagination racing.

The average punter, who who we are trying to attract, woudn't know a Thurston from a Turnbull.
To get pulses racing : wins and attractive ones as well. Our League position last Easter caused comments to me both commuting and at work ... potential customers. The fade away killed it.
"While I feel realistic about what we can achieve next season, I'm quietly happy that we seem to moving in the right direction, even if it doesn't get the pulses and imagination racing."
if we are moving in the right direction, racing will come. Good post.

Sounds promising.

I cant wait for the day we read similar stories but instead, it's a kid from Folly, Eccles, Langworthy or Cadishead being signed up. I wonder how much mileage there would be in signing up two or three of the best players from each age group at those clubs at around U14/U15's to develop and see how they turn out by the time they're 20.

Good signing, I just wish they would write what the players height and weight are not just for him, for all players but even more so if they are forwards to give you an idea of the strength they have etc

I have reliably informed that the club have asked half a dozen youngsters from Langworthy(under 16)down to the club so that they can be looked over to see how they perform.
I also understand that a similar number have been invited from Folly,Eccles and Cadishead to attend on the same programme.

I heard infrastructure, player pool in regards to youth development, Sheens assessment was maybe 2, 3 out of every 100 end up making 1st team nrl and having to look further afield for potential.here.and keeping kids interested in the game long enough to realise that potential, when there is a dominant sport, soccer on the doorstep.
Sheens would have had the 4 suburbs clubs and around 15 junior clubs with teams aged from 4 - 17 to draw from.
This is the enormity of his task ..

No one should begrudge money being diverted to developing our youth recruitment as this will be a far greater legacy, than a aged forward chasing 1 last paycheck .
More Ratchford, less Chase....

Do Folly, Langworthy, Eccles and Cadishead all have U16 teams? If so, assuming each has a squad of 17 players that's 68 kids. I imagine it will be easy enough to halve that number instantly and more to leave yourself with a 25 man squad. I would be very surprised if one, or two lads from that number couldn't develop into Super League players.

I just hope that these days we've got the appropriate personnel scouting and working on behalf of the club, rather than it all being about picking from certain clubs only etc.

All that said, we should also keep up the excellent work we've been doing outside the Salford area which has served us so well in recent times. The likes of Marc Sneyd, Jordan Turner, Stefan Ratchford, Theo Fages, Jordan Walne, Adam Walne, Niall Evalds, Ryan Lannon, Jake Bibby etc.

A club like Salford if anything needs scouts who work more out of area trying to identify youngsters the other SL teams might be looking at and trying to gazump any moves they make.

The club should be inviting the head coaches from all the local teams to become closely involved with the club and have them the second they spot someone local who has talent to bring it to the clubs attention.

The benefit of this would be that that the local clubs all are being coached in a manner that any youngster coming to the club would be instantly familiar with, also think that in this day of Friday night KO's that the club should have players not so much at local club training sessions but actually on game day, can you imagine the boost youngsters would get if they were playing in front of their favourite Salford player.

The player could also (with the coaches permission) help give a team talk before the game for that added motivation. It certainly wouldn't hurt and there is also the chance that if a talented kid does turn up and had the option of various SL clubs that they would think of Salford first because of this.

can only speak for cadishead, they do have under 16 team but salford arent interested.
last years under 18s had a superb hooker, salford were told and never bothered, he is in the under 18 lancashire squad now and i believe a few clubs are looking at him, warrington being one.

I'm sure they had a good loose forward as well but he's on Warrington books,

There is a young lad playing 2nd row an Salford roosters he gets man of the match every week an was talking to Luke gale after a match down there who couldn't believe Salford hadn't looked at him

This is the problem, how many lads before them have been allowed to progress through the amateur ranks to U18’s then become disinterested in the sport and give it up.

Isn’t there a talented centre at Folly who Wigan have signed up recently? Also a lad from Cadishead who Warrington have also either signed or shown interest in. Given the tiny numbers we have in Salford of kids playing RL, it really is scandalous that we allow this to happen.

MR I agree we should be working more closely with head coaches of local junior teams, in return the players should be going down and taking sessions, or even better our head coach (every now and again). We should be supporting all local amateur teams as much as possible and ensuring relations are watertight. At least that way, if we do overlook a player that Wigan, Warrington etc are sniffing around at they can give the club a call and alert them to it.

If it was up to me, I’d be setting up an U16’s Salford Red Devils team, that would compete in the North West Counties Premiership against the best local teams. The basis of this team would come from cherry picking the best players at the end of the season from local U15’s teams and if not already, signing them on a scholarship with a view to playing them in the SRD U16’s team on a weekly basis. Rather than waiting until U15’s, you could also sign players from any age to join the scholarship programme with the ultimate goal being to inviting them for training sessions with the U16’s, giving them the appropriate nutrition advice etc and then once they finish their U15’s season with their local team joining the SRD U16’s team.

Following a season at U16’s, any player showing signs, we keep and promote to our U19’s.