The more we see of our young lads stepping up, the more we realise what a mockery this alleged merger is.

I haven't read the whole thread, but just wanted to point out that whilst some of your overseas signings have been questionable (Steve Michaels was average in the Queensland Cup), Frank Pritchard could be an absolute superstar. He's a great power forward but also has a great short passing game. So long as he's not isolated (shouldn't be if your other forwards are fit) and is fit and motivated, I expect him to light up SL.

As an aside I only watched the highlights of the game vs Leeds - some really nice attacking play from Hull.

So the youngsters have to prove themselves for another season to see if they are good enough for first team or just used when loads of injuries. You all say how great they are doing and great games they have and better than a lot of others and play with pride but don't put them in first team just back ups. if they don't get much play time someone will snap them up

You mean like at Leeds?

Leeds introduce their players slowly, one step at a time over a number of years before giving them a sustained run. They don't just go "Yeah, you're doing alright, straight in to the first team for you." They have to prove themselves to be top players, not just squad players or better than the average player in front of them at the time.

That's the tactic we used to do at Hull, just chuck them in and see if they sink or swim (usually the latter). Look what it did to the likes of Craig Hall.

If we have a strategy for the youngsters, they'll understand why they aren't going to get a long run in the team straight away and understand why that's a good thing at that point in their development. Yeah, you get some freaks like Tomkins, but that's an exception rather than an model.

And how do they stand a chance when the club just buy more top players? To improve dosent mean put out on loan or the odd game here and there. I would rather see them given the chance and a new coach than spending loads on Aussies.

If we did that we wouldn't finish in the top 8, the club would lose fans, money and then could potentially lose these players.

The club are doing it the right way, easing them in like other top clubs do. How many other teams regularly play 18/19 year olds? It fact is argue that with Lancaster, Logan and Abdul we are spin better than most clubs in playing young players.

There always has to be a balance and for a club at our present level Radford hasn't felt like he had much choice but to go with what he thought was the best choices even though they haven't produced at a level we would want. That fear factor of being out of the top 8 (possibly out of a job) means he has gone with the older more established players even though he might have wanted to play the youngsters.
I do feel he has to be braver but for this season at least these last few games he can give them a run albeit in dead rubbers.
I don't think the youngsters have let us down and playing more can only help with their development, when you look at the hunger Fash & Downs showed Friday giving a very good accounts of themselves will hopefully give Radford some thoughts about using them more earlier in the season not just as fill ins due to injury but to rotate the senior players (especially in the forwards) or insert them if through poor form. Not only does it give them more game time but instils in them that they do have a chance to become a mainstay in the team in the future and their determination/application will hopefully come through to justify selection.

Next season we have what on paper is the best squad we have had for quite some time, scraping the top 8 as this year would be a failure, even more so, so it really is last chance for Radford to prove that he has what it takes

The last few games are not dead rubbers for Hull FC as a club. The higher we finish up the ladder the more prize money we receive, for the fans maybe they are. LR still has a duty for us as a club to finish as high as possible. He still has some tough choices to make and wont just throw a load of the 19's in to see how they go (baring injuries). With pass sales looking as though they could take a hit AP will want as much revenue as he can and will want a high as possible league table finish.

Of course finishing as best we can is a gimme, however as this season has unfolded various senior members of the squad have underperformed but were often still selected instead of giving the younger squad players a chance either on the back of poor form of those senior members or even just to rest fatigued ones. Given where we finished I don't think rotating some of the youngsters in a bit more would have being detrimental. Let's face it out of Logan, Fash, Downs, BTW, HTW, Jansin Turget AND Naughton they made a total of NINE appearances before the 8s.
He (Radford) is using them more in the 8s, in some cases purely down to injury but also because it's a good time to try them out, whilst the money to the club is important with a better position realistically we were never going to go any better than 5th even IF we won 5 of the 7 games so tbh playing them now is risk free. And so far of the matches they've played in I don't think any have let the side down so continuing to play the youngsters is the right thing to do.

Shame we don't have any quota places left, I love us to sign Justin Carney.