We've payed players more than there market worth in previous seasons just to get them on board, seems we are not prepared to do that anymore and I can't disagree with that.

If we think, for arguments sake, his value is 80k. Then no point in giving him 110k like we have in the past just to get him to the club. That 30k could be used to top up contracts for the likes of Salter, Cox et al

Do you mean Wes? If not you better hope Kev's got a Fijian passport.

You sort of lost me at this point. 1 decent game in 4 years hardly constitutes "rejunvenated", we need more evidence. Nev should play when we are down to the bones, and in no other circumstances.

Note how I did mention him last!

You maybe right about them, they've ploughed alot in up to now.

I just can't see Hull going for Lovegrove, not knocking the lad but I don't think we need him.

A colleague of mine has said his trigger would be if Rovers didn't collect a transfer fee from Fc for Liam Watts! Well, fickle can be relative Eh!

Departures will be mitigated to some extent by younger players stepping up I'm sure - but it doesn't have to be all or nothing. We can't expect all those young players, most of whom have never played SL to become anything more than fringe players in a single season. 1 or 2 might, and the likes of Cox and Taylor, who've got a good few games under their belts, will hopefully continue to grow as players.

We will sign some players, but competition is clearly fierce, so I suspect realistically it is about getting the best value rather than the best players - and trying to grow in a more organic, sustainable way. We needed the shot in the arm circa 2008, to buy time. It looks like Widnes are looking to do something similar now. Hull are are having to do something vaguely along the same lines, until they get some more of their own players coming through. We're in different place - after the rollercoaster of the last few years, it does seem a bit quiet and understated, but that hopefully offers a more solid platform.

theres so much crap spoke on these threads by fans of both teams, but isnt it nice to have a good well spoken and interesting thread for a change,good reading,for my pennies worth think theres gonna be a clearout for both teams,

And how do know this MrPhilb?

Personally, I would love to see a Rovers team containing all the youngsters mentioned, playing their hearts out for the shirt, week in week out (obviously not a viable option, particularly for the ones just breaking into the first team.) And if the results don't go our way as long as the heart and desire was there I would be happy to take the step back to go forward Hudge has spoken of. However this is a business, and I worry that any drop off in competetiveness in the team could have a massive negative effect on gates and revenue, particularly in the current financial climate. I just hope the cuts in spending aren't so severe as to knock the steady progress that has been made since our promotion.

An honest question.

Do you think Dobbo and Blake Green, plus a few other more 'senior' players will be comfortable playing in a side that is likely to be largely uncompetitive for a few years until all the younger lads have bedded in?

An honest answer.

I have absolutely no idea, and anyone who says different is either Blake Green or Michael Dobson.

I don't think we'll be following the full SmokeyTA model in all its ludicrous glory. I doubt we'll be competing [ifor[/i Super League in the short-term, but the aspiration has to be to at least compete [iin[/i Super League, even while 'building for the future'.

But yes attracting and retaining players during a transitional period might be a challenge - true also of fans, so it is a question of finding a balance.
Getting battered every week is no good for bedding in younger lads either.

I wrote out a 'back of a fag packet' 2013 squad based on the more plausible rumours t'other day. It looked alright.

I wouldn't expect that any CEO would take such a huge risk as bank all on building a young, local/english squad from scratch, particularly in the franchise system, however, given that both Rovers and Hull have stated publically that they see the future being youth and English, I wonder just how this can be achieved for a range of reasons/concerns.

1). Both clubs are way behind the likes of Wigan, Leeds, Warrington, St Helens and even to some extent Huddersfield, in respect to their youth structure, although I would consider that Rovers are slightly ahead of Hull at the present moment, in terms of the overall quality of its youth squad.

2). Without investing considerably in experienced players, including Antipodeans, how do they maintain the competitive process and as pointed out by MR, confidence is a keystone to developing high quality players, getting battered every week is not going to produce 'confident' players

3). With a struggling team/squad, how do you entice and retain the 'right kind of experienced player' who it is hoped will make the team competitive and nurture the younger players

4). How long will fans stick with such an ethos in the face of indifferent results

5). For how long could the club(s) maintain such an ethos if crowds dwindle and finances continue to be a driving issue

For my part I want to see a highly successful Hull FC, being competitve and winning trophies as I'm sure that Rovers fans want to see the same for their club, quite how long we/they would stand for the development phase to materialise is open to conjecture, at a guess I would say that the troops would become extremely restless if the process didn't produce within 3 seasons. In terms of development, I suspect that that is quite a short period of time, particularly if you are already 2 or 3 steps behind your major competitors. I would like to think it is attainable for both clubs, but I have my doubts, in the same way that I don't think that the salary cap is working as it should or was envisaged that it would.