Which is my point, its well documented we are just about the poorest club financially in SL and had we had the finances I'm sure the club would have kept Walshaw and the likes of Kay and took it out of their agents' hands, Webbo's problem is having to juggle with what he's got and what he can afford to get, as has been stated on here by the club chairman and whether the decisions' he makes are popular or not they are his to make and as fans' we all want the local talent to succeed unfortunately the coach cannot afford such sentiments'.

I’ve no problem with the club not offering more than what they think a player is worth (although what they paid to get Siejka over here could’ve gone towards offering something like whatt Kay (or his agent) was asking, but my point is if the juniors felt they are likely to get a fair shot at first team action rather than have a 36 years effectively come and take their place they may have been willing to accept the lower offer to stay and play at a higher level.

I'm really sorry to hear this although speculation has been present for a while.

I felt Sonny Bill made a marker this season and did more than what was asked of him. Some of his performances were exceptional IMHO.

As people say if we can't keep the cheaper, up and coming players like Walshaw and Kaye then we need to think exactly what is our strategy? Of course, Webster and Carter know best and genuinely they do. What they've done over the last year has been nothing short of superb and I am forever grateful.

I suppose we all have our own opinions. If it was me I would want to develop a team to stay together for the long term. So investing in cheaper proven prospects like Walshaw would be where I would be looking. Certainly as a contributor to 1873 from day 1 then I'd also like to see some home grown players serving long term.

In spite of this I'm only speaking as an outsider who knows nothing of the dealings and economics of the situation.

At the end of the day I'm sad to see Walshaw leave but trust that we are in good hands for the future.

It's a shame, but only time will tell.

It's up to Luke now, even the current Bradford is still a club you can make your name at - I have a feeling this one may come back to haunt us.

How the heck did Kear fail him. Although I agree with the general sentiment expressed, no way was Walshaw ready for SL in any sense in most peoples opinions when Kear was in charge. It's only this season he's shown some real promise.

It's a mistake letting him go in our opinions so we agree on that but let's not milk it.

As i put on another thread very disappointed in this. The lad seems to have precious few chances in comparison to others to show his obvious talents and i too think this will turn out to be a major error.

There seems a lack of desire to develop our young lads once they leave the under 19's which is surely the point of them being there in the first place.

Our strategy is simple, instead of spreading the money around the coach has gone for the want of a better expression quality over quantity, he's openly said that the money he has at his disposal has gone on better players' and has gone with a smaller more experienced squad than a larger inexperienced one, is he right who knows I don't only time will tell. Lets hope that if we get a lot of injuries' he's got some mates' who are SL coaches' to help us out otherwise he might regret not finding the extra money to keep Walshaw.

oh he was there for their final

Forgot you are the expert on everything

That wasn't the point I was making if you could ever be bothered to read anyones viewpoint other than your own .Wallshaw was not ready to play SL when Kear was here and no other coach would have played him, he was to young and lacking a bit at the time. So you can say what you like about how you think Kear ran the academies but it's simply untrue to say he denied him chances, he didn't.

Also I'm getting tired of this twaddle regarding the GF team especially from you. You endlessly bang on to Cas fans about them flukeing a team together and having a lucky season, touch hypercritical or what. The truth is that's what happened with our academy team where the sum was greater than the parts. It was a team that gelled but didn't really have any true stars and as the players have got older it shows.

I remember the poster Jonh on here saying exactly what I just said. Whilst stating that the Wigan youngsters of the same age had already made the leap to SL standard which is why the Wigan academy appeared weaker and that Wakefield didn't have a great crop of youngsters. I hate to say it but he was bob on.

So please just swallow the bitterness and recriminations and accept it was a fun year but those lads were basically and sadly over achievers - and were not the RL equivalent of the Fergie foals.

I actually think he WAS given the opportunity to prove himself.
I didn't quite think he proved it in previous seasons at secnd row but this season at centre I thought he was great.

Problem is, he is a running centre, just like Lyne is. Neither winger will score a bag of tries off them so maybe Webster decided his limit was 1.
Who knows. I wish him well and I think he will look great at Bradford. I hope they look after him better than we have.

Back on topic please Chaps. PM each other if you wish to continue your joust. Thanks.