It's only @ www.blackandwhites.co.uk

It's only @ www.blackandwhites.co.uk

Well thats set the week up nicely. Thanks as always Wilf. Hopefully Mr P has read this and will start to understand the depth of feeling amongst the fans with regards this so called merger. He under estimates the fans at his peril. Its certainly something that even a good winning streak from the first team will not erase.

I'd love to know how players will be drafted into first team squads when required like they are now. Do we have one years half backs and them the next. If we sign two quality second rows for the first team do we discard any chance of signing the academy second rowers and allow them to have first pick. Its an ill concieved idea and one that will simply discourage the young talent in the city to sign for the academy.

A good and I mean good scouting team would be all over the East and West Riding looking for players. Not just watching the kid of someone who happens to drink in the chief scouts local. The talent is out there but it doesn't come looking for a club, the clubs have to work at finding it. If that means going out of the confines of the city boundary then that is what has to be done. I can guarantee that if the next Gary Divorty, Richard Price, Garry Schofield was out there today we would not know about it.

To think that Wigan want to spread their wings into London as they recognise the talent that is within the M25 and we are pulling up the draw bridge and raising the white flag. It's too sad to really contemplate.

Great article as usual.
Can't help thinking that everyone is still missing the point, there simply aren't enough boys playing the game.
Something I've been banging on about since my own boy took the game up as a six year old in 2004. In all that time, apart from the great Mark O at West Hull I've never seen a SL player from either professional club get involved with a junior club until this season when Gareth Ellis took a session at my boys current club East Hull.
Dan Wilson is a great lad but like most involved in the professional game has very quickly lost touch with core essentials of the game. As I have pointed out on numerous occasions to him it does not matter a jot how highly your academy is rated if there isn't a conveyor belt of boys being supplied to them from the self funding amateur game.
Both professional clubs are guilty of doing little or nothing for the amateur game and if the number of participating boys continues to fall then very soon they wont have enough quality boys to fill this new Super Academy.
I'm in my 55th year now and people have been telling me for most of those years the RL is dying sport, for the first time i actually think they are correct. Without an amateur game to under pin the professional game there is no hope. Unfortunately the majority of people who take money out the game are doing little or nothing for the amateur game. The game has only survived because of what is now an ever dwindling number of people who put their own money and time into the amateur game.

Thanks for this weeks diary of death Wilf - can vou find out what AP's sales pitch will be for next seasons passes, this year it was "give us ONE last chance" Where do you go from there ? Merger - Bollards

totally agree with every thing you say wilf about the merger, don't like it in anyway shape or form! I actually thought it was me being a bit stupid and missing a glaringly obvious explanation when I thought if there are two teams now, and next year only one dosnt that mean 17 lads wont be getting a game!? this seems to be the case, so surely those lads will either drift away from the game or go to clubs outside of the city wont they!?

I think I've said on here before that I genuinely believe I will be in the generation that sees the end of rugby league as a full-time professional sport in Britain (I'm in my 30s).

Lets hope were both wrong but I fear you will be proven right.

Great diary as always Wilf.

Sadly your thoughts and feelings will be shared by the vast majority of the Faithful. Teaming up with our arch enemy is just unthinkable no matter how you look at it or try to dress it up.

For me we have always brought young talent through the system but the problem as I see it is their progression stops as they get the the first team. As many have promised so much but failed deliver and that is not due to not having sufficient talent in the area but a failure of both FC & KR to nuture the talent right the way through the transition from the junior ranks to being professional.

AP can throw millions at it but until he addresses the fundamental flaw in the Club Hull ethos and the Coaching set up nothing will improve.

We need experienced Coaches with proven credentials not unproven assistants with no experience of Coaching at this level or outside of the City.

What I don't understand is he fired a Coach that for me was doing a better job Radford, yet he is still backing Radford as the one to turn things around even though after nearly 2 years we are worse than we were until Gentle with what I believe is a better team and facilities.