BR is right.



IF the joint Academy is run as a true elite operation, it could just be a masterstroke for the LONG TERM.



The FC and Rovers scouts have a huge area of junior schools and amateur junior RL to cover to find top potential talent to be offered an Academy place. Hull will still need and have a thriving junior RL set up acting as the pyramid for those with most potential to be invited to the elite academy. What an incentive for young RL players in the Hull region.



Doesn't stop them aspiring to play for FC or Rovers (as they chose-no Stalinist type draft please) if they make the grade in due course.



Some of the criticism on here actually reflects a decision of the Hull clubs that I did and do believe was very short-sighted and not in the interests of the game: ie. voting to scrap A teams/reserves/under 21s (with an allowance of x over age players). The absence of a second string reserve set up between first team and Academy is the real disaster.

It's short-termism of the highest order. In the immediate future, the city of Hull is going to have a stronger Academy team because the resources of two clubs are being combined into one.



In the longer term, juniors in the Hull area are going to find their opportunities to access professional coaching and facilities cut in half. The best players at 16 are not necessarily the best players at 19, and some very good players are potentially going to be lost to the professional game. Alternatively, some of them may even go on to somewhere else and build a career for themselves. All so the two Hull clubs can save themselves a few quid on the cost of their junior development.

This.



Lads at the age of 14 being brought into the academy system need a club academy system relatively near to where they live as they obviously rely on parents to get them to training and games.



Much the same with the amateur game, if there isn't one nearby then there is a huge disincentive to going to an academy setup that is further away. Especially with Hull as the next nearest academy area is the Leeds/Cas/Wakey area that has plenty of amateur clubs and players in it to fill their scholarship intake each year.



So this will definitely lose players to the professional and semi-pro game.

Don't forget we're not just talking about the elite players who go on to play for England. We're also talking about players who go through the academy systems and then find their level either as a squad player or lower down the pyramid.



Once again, halving access to academy setups and coaching is not the way to develop more and better young players. It's just a way to cut costs.

That's a generalistic view of player development and it just isn't true. Just because you have more participants doesn't mean you will get more elite talent. If the bunch of players are of a poor standard, it limits the development of the best. This is the issue in Hull. There aren't enough quality players to fill two academies.

Which is why their efforts should be focussed on grassroots level.



Working with local amateur clubs to improve coaching, setting up new clubs/new age groups, helping with costs, getting into schools.



This is exactly what the Rhinos are doing, their involvement in grassroots RL in Leeds is phenomenal. In the past year my amateur club has gone from one junior side to 5, parents and coaches been sent on coaching courses helped by the foundation, our coaches attending the Brian McDermott master classes, fundraising help (players, trophies, Ronnie the Rhino etc). They have around 15 full time foundation staff. They have affiliated sides from Wetherby to Oulton, to Farnley to Garforth. A new side up in Adel have gone from nothing last year to 4/5 sides this Summer. All starting at U7's.





The logic both clubs in Hull have is backwards IMO. The reason they give is that the player pool in Hull is diminishing, well do something about it.



The real problem is turning those U19's into SL players. We had two SL Dream team youngsters in 2013, both have since signed elsewhere for 2016.

Yep. No need for 2 Hull clubs in Super League anymore.

By their actions both clubs for me show they are losing interest in junior development.

ahh yes, the two hull clubs that most other clubs owners would hate to lose from SL

Oh aye? Please provide evidence of which of the other owners said it, when and why.

apart from the fact that most clubs usually beat them, why? it can't be the old "we fill away ends wherever we go".. that finished years ago!

Cas owner would miss us both id imagine

TBF it's probably a case of Hudds home fans don't bother so, why should we.

we do bother, 5,000 of us there today





now why would club chairman hate to lose ether hull club?