It's a pity the Wigan friendly has been cancelled, it would have certainly been a great crowd at Eastlands after the Hull result. Just over 11k Facebook likes with about 2k in the last week alone. They need to keep the momentum going!

Very true, Salford have scrapped their academy and then complain there are no decent players available to sign.



(INVEST IN YOUTH DEVELOPMENT MARWAN!)



However the quote below shows Marwan wants to turn super league into an NRL division 2 full of Aussies who didn't make it.





"At Salford we have money to spend on the cap but the quality is not out there. We don't have enough quality to go around 12 Super League teams so we need to relax the number of quota places available.



"There are some fantastic young kids from Australia and New Zealand that we could bring in who will not be very expensive but will add value to the competition. That's the way I see the competition getting better." Marwan Koukash

Salford like Leigh would be 4/5th pick behind Wigan,Saints and Wire for any quality juniors , so let's say Marwan ' invests in youth development ' next year , he might produce a couple of decent players by 2025

Regardless it should be mandatory for any top flight club to run an academy. Wakey have to compete with Cas, Leeds, Fev and Hudds, we're not backed by a sugar daddy and there's nothing to be said about our stadium. Yet we still can run an Academy. Salford and Leigh should be ashamed

Running an academy is relatively easy , producing players is the hard bit , how many have Wakey produced in the last 5 years ?

& so it should, it is, or at least could be a big thing for the future prospects of the sport.



Congratulations to Toronto are due.

King James.....not if either of those sides were in the 3rd division would they be, expansion lover.

Didn't Richie Myler and Stefan Ratchford come through Salfords academy? This kind of disproves your point that it's not worth them trying, as has been pointed out Wakefield and Castleford manage to produce a lot of their own players despite not winning trophies.

Crickey,out of the limelight for a decade and the cream start dictating what should be to us..

Funny.



Leigh have been the pick of the Championship for the last 3 years and were "ready" for Super League but, havent got their own academy ?



Regardless of exactly how many players make the grade and whether they end up at Wigan, Saints or Warrington, every SL club should run their own academy, unless, by pooling resources, they can produce more "better quality" players.

If all clubs followed the Leigh/Salford model, we would have to increase the quota for second rate Aussies.



Sotty but, much as Leigh deserve their spot in SL, they should be running their own academy. (as should Salford)

Was a stipulation of the franchisee licence at one point.. As was Stadia..What changed? Or rather whats not changed in a decade?