LeytherRob

The recruits will come soon enough, personally I'd rather we took our time to get the best we can in this situation. With only 2 overseas spots available and a good chunk of the squad signed up prior to the announcement it's vital that the signings are the right quality to give us a chance of staying up.

I've no qualms with him lending a hand during the week. He was a very capable assistant for many years, he just wasn't cut out for the top job.

I came on here expecting having to say the same but you've saved me the trouble. I've seen similar comments from some Leigh fans panicking at the site of Neil Jukes name involved with the club again, but having been in the corporate for a couple of games this year I can safely say he has nothing to do with playing matters on match day.

In 5 years time the same people will still be telling everyone that rugby league is on it's death bed, just like they were 5 years ago.

Thanks, that makes more sense.

Is there a reason why Hull KR don't have a main shirt sponsor this year? If it's a deliberate choice, seems a strange one considering the financial climate.

I think in some positions we're stronger than the 2017 SL squad, others we're behind. Below is a 17 based on who made the most appearances our last year in SL. Ryan Hampshire Matty Dawson Ben Crooks Mitch Brown Adam Higson Ben Reynolds Josh Drinkwater Gareth Hock Eloi Pelissier Jamie Acton Harrison Hansen Atilea Vea Glenn Stewart Lachlan Burr Danny Tickle Liam Hood Sam Hopkins I think wing, halfback and hooker we're stronger/better balanced than 2017. Centre we're currently a little behind but a good signing will change that, same with second row. Prop is an interesting one, Hock was unbelievable in rounds 1-8 and carried the pack until he got injured but the pack in general was so immobile that teams just picked us off down the middle.

Leigh still only have 22/23 players so there is definitely more to come. DB has already confirmed on a couple of interviews he did that our remaining quota spots will be used on another centre and 2nd row - Tim Lafai, Dean Whare and Bryson Goodwin were all being considered at centre and i'd expect another couple of further additions on top of that.

Leigh's away kit has been confirmed after the change

This would be a terrible idea that would throw away what little credibility our international game has. There are blowout scores in RU, cricket and even football World cups. We've done enough damage to our sport, making strange choices to pander to the sports insecurities already.

Visa issues most likely

Even funnier that 1 of the only 2 players he names as being SL standard was SBW, who was one of the worst performing players in that team last year.

Same thing for those furloughed in my company, their email accounts were all temporarily deactivated the same day so they we're even able to access them

I'd have him back, whether Rowley himself would want to come back is another question though. I agree that he was the final piece of the coaching jigsaw for Salford though.

If we are to stay up, it will take an approach similar to Watson at Salford i.e. getting a team of cast offs with points to prove to be more than the sum of their parts. Tierney is the perfect kind of player for that.

Leigh have a cat 3 academy, they will be applying for a cat 1 academy when the next round of licenses are awarded at the end of next year. There is absolutely zero we can do more in the meantime without the approval from the RFL. If you want to shame anyone, shame the RFL for implementing a system where not everyone is allowed a proper academy.

Possible they either think, or have been told they might be losing their Cat 1 status and decided to cut their losses early. It's all speculation though without knowing whats gone on behind the scenes. May all become clearer when the new licenses get announced.

Not necessarily but it does make it more difficult if not outside the heartlands, London and Newcastle will keep theirs and I doubt they'll touch Bradfords as long as it keeps producing. Widnes were the most vulnerable after the admin and losing part of their funding, they would have more than likely been the ones to miss out if there were any other applications.

Yeah it doesn't make much sense and doesn't really encourage clubs to grow the game or themselves. Even the reseverves became a farce below SL because the RFL wouldn't enforce it and it became a handful of clubs just playing glorified friendlies amongst themselves and cancelled fixtures left right and centre. The last full season in 2014 had a pretty well attended grand final at LSV where Leigh lost to Dewsbury. Chris Hankinson, Joe Bullock, Jack Hanson and several others currently in the pro/semi pro game were in the Leigh team that day. How many other late bloomers are getting lost to the game that would've been picked up in the championships academies/reserve setups?

I agree, it'll take time to get things up and running. Beaumont seems determined to leave a lasting legacy at the club in the way of an established SL club with full academy. I don't have the exact quote but what he essentially said to Matt Shaw last night was 'if I finish up at leigh and all I've done is spent my kids inheritance on player contracts without really achieving anything, it will all be for nothing. I want to make a lasting difference to the club'

They'll need to take from the wider greater Manchester area as well as Leigh. Even if they do take from Leigh that would have gone to saints or Wigan, it just means those clubs will also look a bit further afield. No different to all the west Yorkshire academies so close together.

It's what a lot of championship fans have been saying on here for a while. There is simply no league infrastructure outside the invitational league for anyone wanting to set a serious academy up. Not sure if anyone saw Matt Shaws chat with Derek Beaumont on his Facebook page last night, but DB confirmed he was looking to apply for an academy should we survive and tick the box as an SL club.

Unless someone steps in to resurrect them in a season or 2, yes. The new owner had no interest in anything except SL.

Of course, and I'm not saying they don't have working class followings too, i'm just pointing out the differences.

I think I read somewhere there was a meeting coming up, possibly this week, to confirm the start dates. I've seen a few rumours floating round that the summer bash will take a year off, which is probably a wise move considering covid and a likely later start date,