Re: What next? : Wed Aug 30, 2023 10:54 am  

BigTime wrote:

I doubt many of us would have envisaged Batley being a bigger draw than London so we shouldn’t rule it out but it seems to me not worth the effort for, say Beinik, to move to a team like Bradford who appear marginally better than us but if a SL club weighed in that might be different. Trinity are the X factor here. They will be in the market for players and may take a punt. I wonder if Horsman might move on/ be moved on. As for the Academy prospects some haven’t figured at all eg Howarth so it will be interesting to see what we do. One assumes we should give them time to mature but game time is needed and whilst we have flirted with the bottom of the table that has been too big a risk at times.

I think for the likes of Bienek, Butler and Walker, it would maybe be less of a consideration now, given they have already had that experience of playing up north at the highest level. You could say the same also about Davis and Stock. It didn't really work out for any of them long term, but as you say who knows? It's ultimately a very short career and why not take a gamble if someone is willing to throw a decent amount your way?

It's not often with UK players that circumstances fall into our favour regards recruitment, but I think for all the dramas of recent seasons, the club has done a decent job of bringing players back into the fold, whether more down to personal circumstances or not.

I'm surprised with the constant upheaval and disruption to the reserve grade system and with the lack of a regular 'feeder club' on our doorstep, we haven't looked more closely at running an 'A Grade' side in the Southern Conference/London League like Skolars have. It would give us an extra outlet for player development and I assume the costs would be pretty minimal.

Re: What next? : Wed Aug 30, 2023 11:21 am  

Knocker_White wrote:

I'm surprised with the constant upheaval and disruption to the reserve grade system and with the lack of a regular 'feeder club' on our doorstep, we haven't looked more closely at running an 'A Grade' side in the Southern Conference/London League like Skolars have. It would give us an extra outlet for player development and I assume the costs would be pretty minimal.

The reserves and academy have only won one game each this season so maybe we do need to try something different.

Re: What next? : Thu Aug 31, 2023 12:08 pm  

BigTime wrote:

I agree with all that and your player assessment. Who knows who will want to move on of the Uk based players. I doubt many of us would have envisaged Batley being a bigger draw than London so we shouldn’t rule it out but it seems to me not worth the effort for, say Beinik, to move to a team like Bradford who appear marginally better than us but if a SL club weighed in that might be different. Trinity are the X factor here. They will be in the market for players and may take a punt. I wonder if Horsman might move on/ be moved on. As for the Academy prospects some haven’t figured at all eg Howarth so it will be interesting to see what we do. One assumes we should give them time to mature but game time is needed and whilst we have flirted with the bottom of the table that has been too big a risk at times.

I think we have a fair chance of retaining the Antipodeans we want although, as before, I assume we are a ‘summer job’ for Whare and Norman. The one I’m not sure about is Parata. I think his other job is property renovation/ development. I suspect it is North based where prices to buy fixer uppers are more manageable. If so an offer from Bradford, Widnes might be of interest to him.

Beinik can earn more money doing his job and playing part-time for Broncos than playing in Superleague. These are considerations at this level.

Re: What next? : Thu Aug 31, 2023 12:29 pm  

The Curtism wrote:

Beinik can earn more money doing his job and playing part-time for Broncos than playing in Superleague. These are considerations at this level.

Walker most likely the same.
Both players are probably at the point where they're looking at their future once they stop playing.
Present situation allows them to keep playing and develop careers outside of rugby league.

Re: What next? : Thu Aug 31, 2023 1:27 pm  

That's an often overlooked point. Unfortunately the Southern playing pool is too small for it to seriously assist Broncos as it stands.

Years ago the then non league Crawley Town FC had a city worker play for them. His full time job had a contractual minimum bonus of £250k p.a. Strangely enough he regularly turned down one year contracts at 30k or so from lower level Football League sides.

If the London(ish) RL player pool ever develops to serious numbers there would almost certainly be a few good players not wanting to play full time.

Re: What next? : Thu Aug 31, 2023 2:32 pm  

Halfdan of t'wide embrace wrote:

If the London(ish) RL player pool ever develops to serious numbers there would almost certainly be a few good players not wanting to play full time.

Would be interesting to know if less or more Championship level (or better) players are being developed in the London area than in the past. My gut feeling is less but don't have any data to support that.

Re: What next? : Fri Sep 01, 2023 8:33 am  

The decline in junior sides and loss of stepping stone sides such as Oxford and (professional) Hemel makes a decline almost inevitable. The development sides results this season suggest the club is seeing an impact from the general RL situation down south.