Hope a hooker of ours makes it big time. In a few years we may have produced a full England pack haha!

It's heartbreaking as it is.
All playing Vs the Aussies or Kiwis at the same time would tip me over the edge.

The haha was sarcastic. I’m dying inside! Knowing these could have formed the pack of Bradford for years! Hopefully one day we’ll be at the top table again and can keep this talent!

It just really frustrates and annoys me that our youth players that do go end up in the Championship on dual reg. Bentley for example may as well have stayed with us. He’s still at the same level and in my opinion a poorer player than when he left. I just hope Wilson gets the gametime at Hudds and not dual reg’d to Halifax.

But if we were at the top table would we have a coach that would play them or would they just slip away because they couldn't get a game like Atkins, Ferres, Sykes, Cook ?

i can understand why we have let him go, however it seems Hudds like a few other clubs just raid our youth/reserve teams because they with don't have one or its in poor shape as all their money go on trying to stay in SL

The Hudders U19s beat ours recently I think. They have some decent players. I think the issue is that if we produce someone of real quality they have the money to offer a far bigger contract. Our U19s will be on much lower money than SL U19s.

We generally don’t attract the very best prospects at scholarship level due to our lack of money and the fact that we’re not in SL and have had a chequered history recently (though hopefully this is a thing of the past now).

What we do offer is excellent coaching and a genuine pathway to the 1st team. We have a track record too of producing players that play at the highest level. Most young lads have ambitions to play in the NRL and we can say that we have produced more English NRL players than other clubs. This means we can offer things that some SL clubs cannot.

The problem is that as soon as our kids make names for themselves we can’t compete financially with the clubs that come looking and waving big chequebooks.

We instead have to make the point that unless they’re going to walk into a SL starting line-up then they’ll be sent on dual reg. That’s not the best way to develop a player as Jordan Lilley and others can testify. As has been said James Bentley hasn’t kicked on since he left and has been part of a Sheffield team that was getting beaten regularly and now he’s at Leigh. He’s no further forward than he was in 2017.

Time will tell how Wilson progresses. I can’t see him starting in SL soon so he’ll be up at Workington or somewhere like that. Good luck to him.

I like some of the junior Huddersfield have brought through. McGivallrry is outstanding. Lawrence and Cudjoe are very good. McIntosh and Learning look promising.

The do seem to make a move for a lot of ours though.

Leeming too.

I think our problem has been going out of business too many times. Had that not happened we might have kept a few.

Bullseye hits the nail on the head. We are a championship club playing above our weight when it comes to Academy matters.
John Bastian and his scouts have a good track record of spotting talent and potential.
They then provide a good coaching set up with excellent facilities at Tong.
The recent partnership deal with the University adds to the programme- opening up career possibilities for those who might make future professional league players and those who don’t.

Until SL clubs start proper reserve grades I’d advise our young players to stick with us until they get an offer from a SL team who fully intends to give them a proper shot at first grade.

I think dual registration or short loan deals are totally the wrong way to develop young players. I’m sure James Bentley has done ok financially out of his move but I bet he’s not on big money and I wonder if he would make the same move if given another choice?

Interestingly Bentley is out of contract at the end of this season. Would you have him back if he became available? I would.