Derek threatening to quit (again)

[Robin Evans]

6 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

We did 

Occasionally someone will post a thread inviting your five best games ever.

When it's on the fev page the 2003 academy final often features prominently. Thursday evenings at academy games were great experiences. We saw Zak Hardacre makes his academy debut and thought.... "we'll do we'll to keep him for more than a season".

It's a crying shame this is unlikely to happen again in the near future. I would get emotionally profane if I had this discussion face to face Steve.

[Damien]

9 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

It's very difficult to run an academy with nobody to play games against 

Its odd he changed his mind again the season after then and looked to introduce them again. 

[GUBRATS]

2 minutes ago, Damien said:

Its odd he changed his mind again the season after then and looked to introduce them again. 

Over the last decade there have been numerous attempts by the clubs not in the ' elite ' academy league to put together a realistic competition , I am not familiar with them all or the various reasons why and when , but I do know that the attempts were made , other than that I couldn't give a toss , and am not going to get involved in the minutiae of the argument 

[GUBRATS]

10 minutes ago, Robin Evans said:

Occasionally someone will post a thread inviting your five best games ever.

When it's on the fev page the 2003 academy final often features prominently. Thursday evenings at academy games were great experiences. We saw Zak Hardacre makes his academy debut and thought.... "we'll do we'll to keep him for more than a season".

It's a crying shame this is unlikely to happen again in the near future. I would get emotionally profane if I had this discussion face to face Steve.

As an academy director I had the pleasure and privilege to lead out the Leigh team captained by Anthony Blackwood against Fev in an academy GF at Hilton Park 

[Robin Evans]

2 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

As an academy director I had the pleasure and privilege to lead out the Leigh team captained by Anthony Blackwood against Fev in an academy GF at Hilton Park 

That was a good day enjoyed by all who attended.

[sweaty craiq]

4 hours ago, Davo5 said:

Why didn’t he do it years ago then 

Help me out here, what years did we have the opportunity to apply for an elite academy licence, dont forget we do run a cat3 one

[sweaty craiq]

3 hours ago, Damien said:

In 2016 they ran with no academy and reserves to focus on promotion. As usual Beaumount seems to change his tune every season depending on which the wind is blowing.

and it proved the right thing to do. An academy cat 3 was set up but the elite academy is all that matters for player production at SL level

[Damien]

6 minutes ago, sweaty craiq said:

and it proved the right thing to do. An academy cat 3 was set up but the elite academy is all that matters for player production at SL level

So are you saying that reversing that the year after was the wrong thing to do then?

[Snowys Backside]

5 hours ago, Man of Kent said:

Given it's a genuine rugby town, the question I have is why doesn't Leigh already have an Academy? And I don't mean recently, I mean yonks ago.

We did and was one of the first Academies back in 1992. Paul Rowley, Simon Baldwin and Scott Martin all promoted as 17/18 year olds to play in the top tier.

Leigh would have a fantastic set up at the LSV. To be honest, it was great back then too.

[GUBRATS]

17 minutes ago, Snowys Backside said:

We did and was one of the first Academies back in 1992. Paul Rowley, Simon Baldwin and Scott Martin all promoted as 17/18 year olds to play in the top tier.

Leigh would have a fantastic set up at the LSV. To be honest, it was great back then too.

Don't be silly , RL didn't exist till 1995

[Snowys Backside]

3 hours ago, GUBRATS said:

Don't be silly , RL didn't exist till 1995

Wasn't we in the third tier then !!!   It soon went Pete Tong but that first SL season didn't really do Oldham and Workington any favours either. And that fantastic expansion too. I can still hear Stevo creaming himself in Paris although it didn't take long for crowds to dwindle to 500.

Bring back the 80's and bring back the biff !!!  SL sucks !

[RayCee]

He's hit the deck again? He'll pick himself up again I'm sure. 

[Manx RL]

Has he quit yet?

[fighting irish]

47 minutes ago, Manx RL said:

Has he quit yet?

He was out in his leopard print hoodie the night they beat Salford. 

[David Dockhouse Host]

On 14/06/2021 at 14:40, phiggins said:

Assuming it's related to this article? https://www.totalrl.com/beaumont-i-had-to-bounce-back-after-academy-blow/

Haven't read the print version, but from that page, I can't say I'd blame him, or people running the other clubs that were knocked back, from wondering 'why bother?'. 

What other sports turn down investment in academies? He also made a good point about the salary cap provisions relating to academy players whilst not allowing all clubs an academy.

Generally, I wince when he opens his mouth, but have a bit more sympathy with him on this one.

Whole thread on it.

One teams gain is a loss to the community game, it is assumed there are already more academies than players to service them

 

[David Dockhouse Host]

On 14/06/2021 at 20:45, Snowys Backside said:

We did and was one of the first Academies back in 1992. Paul Rowley, Simon Baldwin and Scott Martin all promoted as 17/18 year olds to play in the top tier.

Leigh would have a fantastic set up at the LSV. To be honest, it was great back then too.

Lot different back then, you could be amateur and play in the academy 

[phiggins]

31 minutes ago, David Dockhouse Host said:

Whole thread on it.

One teams gain is a loss to the community game, it is assumed there are already more academies than players to service them

 

Playing off professional vs amateur clubs points to a broken system for academies. And you don't solve the problem of lack of players by reducing the number of pathways into the professional game. That's just embracing the shrinkage of the game.

Biggest problem though, is why would anybody want to be a pro RL player in this country any more?

[fighting irish]

4 hours ago, phiggins said:

Playing off professional vs amateur clubs points to a broken system for academies. And you don't solve the problem of lack of players by reducing the number of pathways into the professional game. That's just embracing the shrinkage of the game.

Biggest problem though, is why would anybody want to be a pro RL player in this country any more?

It strikes me as a very odd question.

It's almost as if you think of Rugby League as nothing more than a means of earning money. Like digging holes, or becoming a train driver.

I wanted to be a pro player, because I wanted to achieve my potential (as a player).

I wanted to be a R.L. player because R.L. is my favourite sport (most enjoyable, by a country mile).

Running up the field with the ball was utterly exhilarating, making sure I was strong enough to cope with the physical demands of the game and working out how two or three of us could combine to break down the oppositions defenses occupied most of my waking hours. 

Thoughts of whether I could earn more money as a RaRa player, or riding an 'oss in Three-Day-Eventing, never entered my head.

If those reasons are not enough for others then I'd say they aren't R.L. players at all, but mere athletic opportunists looking for the highest pay-off with no thoughts about squeezing the most joy out of life's moments.

  

[David Dockhouse Host]

1 hour ago, phiggins said:

Playing off professional vs amateur clubs points to a broken system for academies. And you don't solve the problem of lack of players by reducing the number of pathways into the professional game. That's just embracing the shrinkage of the game.

Biggest problem though, is why would anybody want to be a pro RL player in this country any more?

I'm all for more clubs and attraction of players but it's not a point to of ore.

If you look at the fall out rate at community level it can be linked to academies, so it needs to be discussed not dismissed