At last! This is what im talking about! Lets get out for a few beers before a game!

The main problem I see with the problem is that it does undoubtedly dilute the clubs identify. As a wire fan, you want see players who have committed to the club, play an active part in the community off the field and are in the P&B for reasons other than getting match practice.

There should certainly be a limit - sending four or five of the youngsters would benefit both clubs - it would enable Warrington to assess youngsters progress and provide Swinton with some depth.

I was cautiously in favour of the system before but Wood & McCarthy? We, and they, aren't going to gain anything in footballing terms (could well set McCarthy back because I though he was outstanding the last few months of last season). For the system to work it has to be beneficial to all parties.

did we lose our identity when we signed johns on a temporary contract? no!

in fact my abiding memory was a surge in interest and an absolutely rammed south stand! i also remember the likes of paul noone playing like world beaters off his shoulder...

only in the miserable moaning world of rugby league fans could a player like paul wood coming into your squad temporarily or a bunch of up and coming young lads busting their guts to get tony smith's attention be a bad thing

Again I'm sure you'll be down at the LSV happy to pay to watch them

Seeing the greatest player in the world playing in the games premier competition was a media, PR and sporting coup. Aside from comparisons with Paul Wood and Johns playing ability the two scenarios are totally different.

Tino

Johns was a 'one off'. There is a big difference in taking one player for a season, and taking 5 DR's and possibly other loan players as well.

I can understand your point here, and it is sometimes difficult for the SL supporter to recognise the problems that you have in the Championship. It must be difficult to build income streams and develop players, so fair point.

correct

As I put , Swinton are unique in that they are currently ' nomads ' attempting to keep a ' name ' alive , so I do have considerable sympathy for them


However this system , now it is available will be abused , and it will damage the credibilty of the competition for all the clubs in it , even those who are not twinned

According to Gareth Walker (League Express Championship correspondent this morning-



This has left me even more bewildered as to what the hell is going on, but it would seem that the above are no longer Warrington players. Who is paying their wages/fees, how long they are contracted for and whether Warrington have first dibs to sign them back I do not know. It would seem the only way they will be able to play for Warrington would be a (minimum) one month loan from Swinton.

What an absolute mess.

Does he mean that they are on season-long loans instead of DR'ed? I thought that was what had happened and they are still our players, as I cannot see us simply letting so many talented young players go.

I may be wrong, but my understanding is that the afore mentioned lads are now registered with the RFL as Swinton players. This means that the only way they could play for us would be for us to loan them from Swinton for a minimum period of a month. I think this has been done to get around the limit of five dual registered lads being allowed to play at one time.

I could however be completely wrong. I am trying to seek clarification, will let you know.

Tis would be completely mad. I know Ormsby only signed his new deal at the end of last season and Mendieka had a great game on Boxing Day. I hope this is confirmation of season long loans.

Just spoken to Walker, the above players (plus Burke) have signed for Swinton, on one year contracts.

Perhaps we have first option on them if they cut it at open age level?

I imagine their will be a few clauses like that in their contract.

Thinking this over, and if the Wire players have actually signed for Swinton, then my personal view is that Wire have stuck two fingers up at the current system;

We know they have spent a lot of time and money developing a strong youth system, and we know they were dead against theses changes. At the start of the season we had approximately 10 over-age players ( not eligible for the U19's ). With only 5 available DR places available at Swinton, this would mean that this group were never going to get a game each week. No doubt Hetherington would have been delighted to see them released, and lost to Wire. So they have stayed within the rules by moving them to a one year contract with Swinton, and presumably as suggested above, they will return to Wire either via a contract clause, or their own free will at the end of the season.

It's clear Wire have not abandoned their youth development policy and are determined to hold onto their youth system. From what I can see, we have 27 U19 players on the books as well. That must surely be the largest contingent I can recall. Unless someone knows better ? Walter ?

With new money coming into the game, lets hope the SL clubs decide to reverse some of these changes and invest money into their youth development once again.