Believe we only spent half of the allowed salary cap this season so yes we can afford to run the reserves next season and it always as been the plan to start it up again next season.

U23s only......i could stomach that...just

Your coach too will have to stomach it , as he could become nothing more than an assistant coach to the Wigan coach. Is he strong enough to tell the Wigan coach he is not picking a certain Wigan player over his own? The team that is Twinning with Leeds are even to have an assistant coach from the Leeds camp.

Maybe nothing has been finalised - hence nothing else to say. The club has said they WILL NOT become a feeder club though. A joint arrangement at under 23's is a different matter, whereby both clubs can save money by running a joint team, funded by both clubs.

As for the coaching, Paul is our Head Coach and will surely not be assistant to anyone. He's signed about 20 players (off the top of my head) and they are his first team squad. I'm confident that no Wigan Under 23 player will take precedence over any of that first team squad, who we have spent our precious funds on. I'm also of the opinion that Paul would try to avoid D/C arrangements if he can.

The idea that a Leigh coach would take instructions from a Wigan coach or indeed any other clubs coach is ridiculous.

Really hope it doesn't happen and i'm sure you know more than me Alan . The team Paul has picked has/will really gel together very nicely and we don't want anything upsetting all the hard work the club and Paul has put into this team ,as for the under 23s I suppose thats a different matter .

If thats the case Alan then surely it should be us sending players to there u23s to help bring them up to the required standard and not bringing sl u23s down to "what is in effect" below amateur level.

Sl clubs now only run one seniorish team below first team and that's U19s. An absolute joke.

I don't think so, j.c. if that U 23 side is competing against similar 'joint' sides.

I think this matter needs clarifying because of Season Ticket sales could be affected over this.

I think doing it the right way is better, and maybe we won't lose the hardcore fans by sticking to this. But if fans are staying away because we can't get the monkey off our backs by winning a playoff game against unfashionable teams already, then they are hardly going to turn up when getting thumped by the Hunslet Rhinos etc.
Its a real pickle. And it kind of highlight the selfishness of some clubs (not just in SL), because if one or 2 clubsgo down this route then you get other clubs getting sweeped away by it as well. Otherwise they will fear missing out.

Also some have said the competition up to now has been relatively untouched and prospered because of this. I disagree. How many threads have we had on here about so and so is in the Warrington Squad meaning not playing for us etc? The DC players wasn't our players, and so we have already had agreements with SL clubs deciding when players they lend us play or not.

That's under the normal loan dc rule of 4. Not 6-10 like you will see at swinton. Plus we never had 4 at all last season (i don't think). And if you think the dropping of 20s and 18s at sl level is good then you know nowt.

They wer already competing against similar sides Alan.

Leigh,swinton ,york,dewsbury etc could have just handed over £50k to a sl club and said please help us to devolope some of our players in your u23s

Everyone who supports Leigh RLFC' plus the board and coaching staff know already we can NEVER ever be Wigan's feeder club.

No statement is needed. We have a club with ambition. Does anyone seriously think that becoming Wigans feeder club is possible ? Be sensible folks.

Having a reserve side is vital and doing so by allowing contracted Wigan youngsters into our reserve side will not effect our first team because our coaching staff are as Leigh daft as I am. This will save our club money and is sensible.

10 contracted Wigan players in our first team forgive me but it will never happen and is not even a possibility.