Tough question. My point really was just that Hull and East Yorks is a shallower well to draw from than the places that say 'ginnel' instead of 'tenfoot'. It only has to support 2 SL clubs, but being smaller might tend to be more cyclic - maybe just that year was a bit poor. And Queens had, according to the interview in RLW, been considered too strong for West Yorks.

I'm very far from an expert, but at that age, I don't think it is about raising the intensity of competition, just trying to get kids to develop with good coaching and letting them have fun.

My suspicion is that we're just seeing a bit of batch to batch variation, rather than a systemic problem. Not every local generation can be golden, but by looking further afield Hull and Rovers can hopefully balance that out.

You look at the successful teams of recent years (including Hull in the middle of the decade) and there was always base of good homegrown players in the team. I know Rovers get stick for bringing in antipodeans, but in the short term the alternative hasn't been loads of good local youngsters as we were starting from scratch and the Smokey doctrine of losing nearly every week for 3 years would have been suicidal. To take another step we need, for example, for Scott Taylor to come on like Liam Watts has, for Sheriff, Cox and Bell to then follow him. They might or might not, but we'll only be serious and regular contenders once we get a generation that do.

I have seen this first hand I lost count of how many players at any level were happy just wearing a West Hull(Other teams are available) Tracksuit even though they got nowhere near the pitch.

I personally think its down to coaching at FC & Rovers. If you look at youth teams such as west hull etc that near enough always have some youth teams in yorkshire and national cup finals. At west Hull the u14's and u16's both got the national cup finals last season. I also think u13's got to yorkshire cup final and the u16's won the competition. Im pretty sure other clubs in the hull area have been successful against outer town teams but when they get beyond 16 when they get signed up professionally they are nowhere to be seen. What does that tell you then???

some kids develop faster than others, some get signed at 16 and never make it and leave the game,the hull area is very strong after U16 ,at U18 level with myton warriors and west hull the best 2 sides in yorkshire same at U17 cottingham tigers and west hull and some of these players may come though to academy level this year . Hull look to be improving coaching at scholarship and changing staff at academy level so we should see if its the coaching or maybe just not enough quality about. But having watched alot of games at these levels all over the youth game i havent seen better players at other clubs nationally , but they seem to get players coming though

I wonder how much time Hull FC players spend at local clubs like West Hull?

Many of the "old boys" can be seen in Wigan St Pats clubhouse and on the training field. Even as a seasoned, top international, Sean Edwards was hardly away from the place.

Player development is a two-way street. Pro clubs must do more for the amateur youth clubs than just throw a few quid their way, if they sign any developing talent

I totally agree, we need to get out young players right which in turn will raise the intensity of the competition anyway. The sad thing is we dont have the finances or desire to get kids younger playing the game. (in schools for example)

I'd like to see us working more with kids aged 12-13 about the mental side of the game and diet etc. I think playing the game first and foremost has to be about enjoying it but i think we need to start making it a way of life from an earlier age.

I'm not sure what the answer is around increasing skill and developing decent ball playing halves. (which is a big issue imo)

Its Ok going on about West Hull stockpiling the best players, but ive asked this question before and people have scratched there heads to answer, name the last few West Hull players to make it.

Thats a good point when you compare them to Wigan St Pats who churn players out year after year. Hull signed a good crop from Wests this year and it will be interesting to watch their progression over the next few years, as it will the crop that Rovers signed from Isberg last year.

This article about De La Salle Caringbah Junior RL and their "old boys" ( which include Adam Dykes who's sons are now playing there ) shows the different attitude that the junior clubs have in Oz. Their ambition is to produce professional players that go onto First Grade , SOO and International standards and those players retain an affinity for the club. www.theleader.com.au/news/local/ ... 02763.aspx

This article about De La Salle Caringbah Junior RL and their "old boys" ( which include Adam Dykes who's sons are now playing there ) shows the different attitude that the junior clubs have in Oz. Their ambition is to produce professional players that go onto First Grade , SOO and International standards and those players retain an affinity for the club. www.theleader.com.au/news/local/ ... 02763.aspx

at the age of 16 - 18, maybe a lot of players fall into the temptations of beer, girls, and drugs and night clubs.
its a shame because in the age of the franchise and no relagation i thought more younger kids would be given a shot and a chance to stake a claim in the first teams,
the pressure on clubs to win too, means older more experienced players will usually be picked before a promising kid.

In my primary School we might see someone from FC Community team once a year; conversely we regularly have Union Development Officers in willing to run sessions every week for us. We run a rugby league club which has tournaments every half term, but have never had any local league clubs pitch up to offer support.

It could be argued though that of all the clubs in SL we are one of the most advanced around the criteria you suggest above. If we agree that we are fairly well set up there's somehow a disconnect then between that 1st class set up and the output of the production line imo, particularly in the last few seasons.

The "we" was a royal "we", as in The Rugby Football League

As an aside, West Hull under 8's had their presentation night tonight and neither of the Hull FC players that were due to attend turned up. Luckily, Gentleman John and Rich Fletcher stepped into the breach so the kids didnt miss out. I dont know if it was a breakdown in communication between the Hull FC club and its players but i do know that they are both currently still in Hull. It does nothing to foster links between the pro and junior game.