Why does it bother you so much?

Thanks for that, I can see how it would work from a marketing perspective. I'm sure there will be other little differences between the ESL & NRL that I will have to get used to. Cheers.

So, 2...possibly? Great argument.

The question should be why does it [inot[/i bother you?

Let's see who's system works the best this season. I am more interested in success. If that comes on the back of giving young local lads a chance, all the better. But only finishing 11th but being able to brag about blooding x amount of local youngsters is not my bag. I would settle for a top two finish or a cup over how many local youngsters we have any day of the week.

I know squad numbers have to be given and they may be irrelevant to how we line-up, however if the squad numbers are Chessy's current thinking for the team, it does throw up a few really interesting ones:

Dixon at Fullback - He could be devastating in broken play, but does he have the defensive and organisation skills to play there?
Blair at Standoff - He seems to be the incumbent, although Chester has said that it may change when Campese comes over. Competition in the halves is good, but a settled pairing ASAP is my preference.
Even if Blair is at standoff, no place for Welham at centre - As much as he may be training the house down, he will have to play himself into the team which can only be a good thing.
The pack lines up as expected, however I had assumed that Burke or Donaldson would play loose forward rather than McCarthy. Again the pack is interchangeable based on form and injuries, but that choice seems interesting.

Even though I think it will be a real struggle to make the 8 this year, I am missing rugby and am looking forward to next season.

yet still have larger fan base then you, also get bigger gates on a regular basis.


neither clubs have had anything to boast about in the League over passed few seasons.


yet won more trophies then you in the past 20+ years

so even though we've been going through a lot of upheaval and transitions, you're still out done by the black and white army

Isn't the point though that no side in the last 10 years has achieved what you say you'd settle for above, without bringing quality youth through to the first team? It's been dominated by Wigan, Saints & Leeds.

Sides need to make the most out of the cap, and home-grown players are a lot cheaper than a player of similar quality brought in from Aus or even another SL club. That's the reason academies are so important in a league with a salary cap.

Those teams wised up to it years ago. Huddersfield and Warrington have woken up in the last few seasons. Cas have a great record too, placing an emphasis on youth too, albeit I imagine they're working to a lower cap level than the others.

It's time both clubs sorted themselves out.

Humongous bite, well done that man.

This whole how many academy graduates in the 17 do you have is becoming nonsensical now. As is the who will play 15 games comment. How do we know who will play when with form, injuries and our permanent residency at Red Hall to contend with.

This farcical holier then thou attitude of FC fans is 1, why not a lot of people like you and 2, a little bit hypocritical. Perfect opportunity for a young much maligned half back to step up to the plate this year...that's worked out well. Do you genuinely think Abdul will play 15 games this year to use your benchmarking? I'm dubious.

Fans of both teams are lying through their teeth if they say they would rather have a team full of kids instead of success. Yes a balance has to exist, which both clubs are working hard to rectify but if a kid coming in from West Yorkshire or west Sydney who is better then a kid from hull and improve the teams chances of winning then he plays every time for me. If Leon pryce scores the winning try in your cup final ( which by the look of last year was the pre season friendly ) are you going to be disappointed because it wasn't a Hull born player scoring or elated you won?

To go over it again and again is tedious and a non starter. Gone are the days of 17 hull born lads, unless you fancy trips to Rochdale, York and Workington. Winning is winning, end of.

do you think we're that bothered

And to add to the arument further, give me ANY of our new players over Welham, a home grown player who doesn't cut it. The same as Hall, local but originally FC of course. Salter is good and will play, but the simple fact is thst we have better players. If the board are willing to invest in purchasing players that are better than local lads, why stop them? Are we really bothered Hull (City) Tigers don't have many local lads? It's a shame, yes, and we will still look for local talent, but why set any limits?