Re: Leeds' relegation form : Sun Sep 28, 2014 1:48 pm  

Gotcha wrote:

No he didn't. He is happy at Leeds, but like other promising youngsters he wants a shot at showing his ability, not holding back working through a system. His uncle as recently joined the Cas academy, and they are very keen for him to be there. More chance of him going to Cas than Wire, and Cameron really is the bees knees.

Yes he did, you think or beleive what you like.

The fact is he decided to stay put at Leeds so it's almost irrelevant now but in 12 months who knows.

He will definitely not go to Cas Uncle or not!

Re: Leeds' relegation form : Sun Sep 28, 2014 11:53 pm  

Gotcha wrote:

I don't care much for rumours. Smiths move had nothing at all to do with money, straight from his birds mouth, and she didn't want him to move.

You told us earlier in the year a rumour that Daryl Clark had done a U-Turn and was heading for Leeds instead of Warrington??? How did that turn out?

Yeah I'm sure all these talented youngsters are heading to Warrington because of 'development' reasons, same as why people have signed for Salford recently sinced Koukash has taken over no doubt.

If I was 16 and was going to be given £30k next year even though I was at least 2/3 years away from SL level I would take it too probably.

Re: Leeds' relegation form : Mon Sep 29, 2014 6:44 am  

Gotcha wrote:

I don't care much for rumours. Smiths move had nothing at all to do with money, straight from his birds mouth, and she didn't want him to move.

It had plenty to do with it and the "whole package" they offered his Grandad (his guardian) wasn't impressed with GH or the terms when they sat down to discuss a deal.

Re: Leeds' relegation form : Mon Sep 29, 2014 7:13 am  

rhinoms wrote:

It had plenty to do with it and the "whole package" they offered his Grandad (his guardian) wasn't impressed with GH or the terms when they sat down to discuss a deal.

This seems to be a theme at Leeds with young players - perhaps when they get some of the big earners off the payroll it will free up some monies to invest in the youth?

Re: Leeds' relegation form : Mon Sep 29, 2014 7:32 am  

Sal Paradise wrote:

This seems to be a theme at Leeds with young players - perhaps when they get some of the big earners off the payroll it will free up some monies to invest in the youth?

Yet they didn't have no problem for many years holding on to young players.

Leeds will be offering the same kind of deals that have been good enough for plenty who came through previously so there's nothing to suggest they aren't offering the same kind of respectable deals.

Difference is now you've got the likes of Wire and now Salford who'll offer more.

When you compare the offers Leeds make to ones Wire will make then the Leeds offer might look 'derisory', take away the kind of silly money offers from Wire and the Leeds offer was probably perfectly acceptable.

Re: Leeds' relegation form : Mon Sep 29, 2014 7:43 am  

ThePrinter wrote:

Yet they didn't have no problem for many years holding on to young players.

Leeds will be offering the same kind of deals that have been good enough for plenty who came through previously so there's nothing to suggest they aren't offering the same kind of respectable deals.

Difference is now you've got the likes of Wire and now Salford who'll offer more.

When you compare the offers Leeds make to ones Wire will make then the Leeds offer might look 'derisory', take away the kind of silly money offers from Wire and the Leeds offer was probably perfectly acceptable.

I would suggest its not just about money although those that come through don't stay on 12k for long. GH runs the club fantastically well but maybe the lustre of Leeds is starting to dull. Also if there are issues with the quality of the coaching and the perceived lack of opportunity you can see why young players move on

Re: Leeds' relegation form : Tue Sep 30, 2014 1:42 am  

If you start breaking the pay structure apart for one kid you'll soon have no structure at all. Again, despite the complaints, we've yet to see any genuine star who was on Leeds' books come through somewhere else.

In terms of opportunity its always been the case that when ANY club is well served in a particular role a talented kid may be well-advised to look elsewhere. A talented hooker in St Helens would have been crazy to sign for them when they had both Cunningham and Roby. Until very recently I wouldn't have bothered signing for Leeds as a junior halfback for the same reason.

That's not to say some cases may have been mismanaged, or that Leeds do need to improve their success ratio in some positions going forward. If anything the lack of real stars coming through SL as a whole speaks more about the overall quality of juniors full stop.

Re: Leeds' relegation form : Tue Sep 30, 2014 8:50 am  

BrisbaneRhino wrote:

If anything the lack of real stars coming through SL as a whole speaks more about the overall quality of juniors full stop.

Or the coaching. I can see no reason why, overall, kids have any less potential now than they ever did. But the ways in which the game's coached have certainly changed. From an outsiders perspective, it seems our - i.e. RL's - coaching set up has become very formatted with the consequence that we produce few players with any unorthodoxy about their game. Maybe one of the board's coaches - without doubt more knowledgeable than me - would care to comment?

Re: Leeds' relegation form : Tue Sep 30, 2014 9:22 am  

There's still scope for the "maverick" player who will do something off-the-cuff or unpredictable. However, when they get to higher levels they need to be able to produce that within a structure. The likes of Lee Briers, Danny Brough, Sam Tomkins etc manage to do that.

So your talented young player who has gone along at Under-13 and Under-15 level being unorthodox and getting away with it because they have the talent to do so, might get some of that knocked off them when they get to an Academy and it's not all about playing for fun with your mates any more.

When you've got other people depending on your performance to an extent to make a living, doing your own thing on the field is going to be tolerated less. That's not just a rugby league thing either, look at the likes of Mario Ballotelli for example. Talented player, but struggles to deliver it within a team structure where he's expected to be unselfish.

Nostalgia has a part to play here as well. I can't honestly say that the 70s, 80s or 90s were some sort of golden generation of flair players. Yes there were some around, but the game wasn't packed with them.

Re: Leeds' relegation form : Tue Sep 30, 2014 10:30 am  

Andy Gilder wrote:

There's still scope for the "maverick" player who will do something off-the-cuff or unpredictable. However, when they get to higher levels they need to be able to produce that within a structure. The likes of Lee Briers, Danny Brough, Sam Tomkins etc manage to do that.

So your talented young player who has gone along at Under-13 and Under-15 level being unorthodox and getting away with it because they have the talent to do so, might get some of that knocked off them when they get to an Academy and it's not all about playing for fun with your mates any more.

I guess what I'm wondering is whether the unorthodoxy is now knocked out of them before they reach academy level. I don't get to see juniors play often but when I do it's apparent, even at very young ages, they are encouraged to play to structures far more than was once the case. I can understand the benefits; what I'm unsure of is the cost.