In my opinion if you are looking at basically an academy player from another club i would be a little annoyed. At the beginning of the year a big push through your club was about players within and as people have stated Kyle Trout is a real good prospect. At Cas we have a brilliant young player in Dan Fleming out on dual reg and it annoys me that he won't be playing for us. I think both our clubs junior development is poor.

Disagree totally

Cas have always had a good youth set up, ours is getting there in terms of talent but in terms of set up I think we are ahead of Cas, problem is our clubs are still way behind the likes of Leeds. We have had some good prospects tand that what they are, Trout FWIW and IMHO is a back rower, he played one game at prop the other day as a fill in but thats it, he didnt do himself any harm and I thought he went really well but hes not a prop. The youth set ups generally find the odd golden nugget however until you have a structure where the younger players are totally loyal to the club (like the Leeds set up) then players will come and go, I beleive for a couple of reasons (well 3) . Firstly the club itself (hey I have just signed for the SL champions if I make it I may win trophies etc). Secondly the set up (whats in it for the player so now clubs are looking at parallel pathways for those that dont make it and that is the majority sadly however many go onto play at a an excellent standard outside SL and with a good education pathway can compliment their playing talent at whatever level with employment. The last area is money and as young players develop and agents/parents are involved sometimes the grass is greener elsewhere. So the reality for me is that the minority are likely to get to SL level however the key is the great set up to attract the best to identify the best ala Leed etc.

I trust R.A. who I hope has seen something in Singleton that he didn't see in Matt James. I haven't seen loads of Singleton but I was impressed on Boxing Day.

As for Matt James I couldn't understand why we let him go with another year on his contract and at only 25 could have learned something maybe from Poore. What was the issue with Matt James? Was it the money at Featherstone or a fallout with R.A.? What was the weakness in his game?

I can't comment on Adam Gledhill as I've never seen the lad.

They are doing a voluntary scouting system for the Wildcats to identify young talent. If you believe in your own ability to identify talent as you say you ought to volunteer your services and have an actual impact at the Wildcats.

I dont think James wanted another season in the 20's. He only made about 6 appearences last year which for someone who's 25 and had played 1st team, week in week out the year before for his previous club, must be quite difficult.

As a prop at 22'ish you kind of expect to be in and out of the side at 25/26 you want to be starting to play regular.

Singleton will fill the 5th prop role that James played last year and obviously falls within our budget. Trout can then fill in as and when required as its not unprobable that there will be times next season when we will be a couple of props down. Cant see our luck with injuries been so good next year!

sure can bren,but people who watch our academy and thats not just me, get a bit pieved when folk go in to raptures about young uns from other clubs and never watch our own play

I don't see anyone going into raptures about Singleton; I do see people being realistic though - given that we don't know what happened behind the scenes with Gledhill (unless you'd like to share) then we have to assume that either he wanted too much money, was advised to go elsewhere by his agent or that RA didn't rate him. Either way, we can only support the players who do run out for us next season.

There are usually two sides to a story.
As Fritzy alluded to I think James was probably wanting first team rugby.
He has gone to a top Championship side where he can perhaps make his mark and once noticed can then step back up into Superleague.

You've got a real gem in Singleton, my worry is that he will enjoy his time in the Wildcats squad and may decide that his future is with you. Amor decided to opt for regular first team rugby rather than be fifth/sixth choice for the Rhinos, Brad may decide to do the same if he gets a warm welcome from the fans rather than a Leeds reject attitude.

singleton is a better player than some of you give him credit for, IMO better than Kirke, Griffin and Moore, James, Lillycrop and Gledhill plenty Leeds fans agree,
Great business by RA for a season long loan if it comes off

Wake up some of ya!
I trust Agar with this one

Really, I'm delighted for you - personally don't get it unless there is another signing coming.

I don't think you need to tell people to wake up, you're not the only knowledgeable voice on the forum.

Ooh sorry I'll be quiet then from now on,
Vasty knows best