Out of curiosity, how would you rate Leeds' recent record of developing young players? I could be wrong, but it seems to be a bit of a theme that youngsters come on the scene looking like they're really handy and for whatever reason tail off.

I could be basing this on expecting great things from Sutcliffe which obviously haven't materialised, but it seems to have happened a bit.

No I know. It’s a fair assessment IMO

jack walker looks class

Yeah, not great really, but looks to be getting better, still the odd concern though.

We went through a period when Barrie Mac was heading our youth where the recruitment was pretty bad tbh. We rectified that and started to get top talents into our scholarship system again. Brian Mac wasnt renowned for develping youth which, for me, showed with even some of the players who'v become first teamers under him.

If anybody remembers Stevie Ward coming through, he looked like the next coming of Paul Sculthorpe, all the skill in the world, he became a good backrower, but nothing like the player he could of been if developed properly, even taking into account his injurys.

Liam Suttcliffe was a great running 6 in his best season in the Academy, he never developed his passing game at first team level, still hasnt to this day, we probably ruined his chances of becoming a top player by constantly moving him about, he should of been developed as a 13, allowed to develop there and build his size up over time.

Singleton, i just think lacks the natural size, we tried to put some weight on him but he just dosnt carry it well, dont think we could do a lot more with him. If you could put his aggression in a bigger body, he'd be a real player.

Agars doing a good job in develping the young lads. I wasnt in favour of his appointment but its mayb not a bad time for him to be here, listening to players he's worked with in the past, they all rave about his ability to improve them individualy, obviously hasnt shown in results on the pitch in his carreer but Newman, Oledzki, Holroyd, Smith, Handley all seem to be develping well under him also Jack Walker, whos always been a great runner, was rounding out his game nicely before injury and we'r going ok on the field so he's doing better than i expected.

My concern is our love of ex players as coach at Academy level, Adrian Morley was a disaster, Rob done pretty well, now we'v got Chev Walker, who i dont rate atall. Our Scholarship coach, Mark Butterill, is one of the best in the buissness, they play lovely stuff and every year he sends a load to the Academy who look real class, thats when a lot seem to stagnate, we dont seem to develop them at that age as well as yourselves or saints do.

All just my opinion ofcourse.

Interesting, thanks for that. As an outsider, I got the impression that Leeds were excellent at getting young players ready for first team rugby, but until the most recent crop struggled to get them to kick on once they were there. On reading this I was probably being unfair.

Certainly Ward is just down to horrendous luck. For a while he was rated as highly as Bateman, so nothing the club could do there. It does seem like one of Agar is doing a good job with the youngsters too, impressed with Oledzki in particular in the last few times that I've seen him.

Oledzkis improved massively, his workrate and tackle technique have come on a lot recently, he's running with real purpose, doing longer stints and looks to be on route to being a very good prop. Really pleased with his progress.

Singleton is not exactly my choice of a Prop signing, but at least he is coming to the club in a fit condition and give 100% commitment.

If he doesnt play this weekend i think he will definitely make his debut v saints

Not strictly correct, he’s undergoing physio for a knee injury.

I know he was originally for next season but I do hate it when they sign players who are injured,still let’s hope it’s something and nothing

Sorry, I did not know about him having any injury, but it comes as no surprise!

I can’t remember where/when I read it but he was quoted in saying he was a few weeks away from being in contention. He mentioned the knee had pretty much recovered there was just some physio work left to do to get the strength back up.

A very solid debut, unlucky not to score.

Very mobile and looks he’s here to play.

Thought it was a great debut. Going to be a great asset

He’s never going to be a world beater and there’s going to be a lot of games where he goes under the radar but he is still solid in D and makes yardage in attack. It’s a very shrewd signing IMO. He’s the type of prop you need in your side, the type that doesn’t take a backwards step and gets stuck in.