How do Leigh secure stability in SL? All odds again against them for securing a position in SL. How do you secure a position in SL?

You can’t, we were hamstrung from the outset. The pandemic has clearly impacted our activity in the recruitment market.

All we can do play to our potential and hope it’s enough to keep us up, we aren’t competing in SL, we we competing to be above Wakefield and tat should be the focus.

What it has highlighted in English RL is the dire need for investment in youth, without fresh talent coming through we have nothing.

Investing in youth is great but for a team Like us ,unfortunately any really good players will get picked off by the top SL clubs as like Marty Ashton at Swinton he’s now at Wire
Manfredi came through Leigh miners Wigan got him from a young age
It’s looking like with less SKY money teams will invest in their youth and this can only be good for the game we have to try do the same and the hard work is then keeping these youngsters

If we had 2 years in SL and knew we had it we could build a SL level team. Currently DB has to form a new plan every year. One thing that is important is to get the full academy up and running to bring forward young talent that is what strong Leigh teams of the past have been built on. The SL needs to go to 14 teams not 10 no one wants to see the same teams playing each other all the time. We are have a sport going round in ever diminishing circles at the moment. Decisions cannot be just based on the money sky gives out.

Pandemic is responsible for Leigh's recruitment WTF. Super League clubs have a core of players and every season they release the players that they don't want, and try to strengthen through Overseas recruitment, poaching of players at the end of contracts and developing kids through the academy.

Leigh started recruiting for a Championship season, and recruited a team which would have challenged for promotion. If anything they got lucky by picking up a raft of players from Toronto. Overseas players only come to SL if they have a problem, Sex, Drugs, Domestic abuse and loss of form. The ARL pays significantly more for players than SL, so not exactly sure where Leigh are expected to scout out very good Aussies who want to take a pay cut. I have seen Fans on this forum thinking we can sign a Marquee British player, but who would want to leave St Helens, Warrington, Wigan etc. to come to Leigh for a season.

The only way Leigh are going to bridge is through an Academy and nurture the next John Woods, Mickey Higham or Stuart Donlan. In summary you have to have a strong Championship and get very lucky to be able compete with Teams that have been troughing at the SL table for a very long time.

I was under the impression Leigh had applied for an academy. Isn’t there certain criteria to be met for that?

That is correct the application has gone in

When did we last bring a player through our Youth system? That is my point. It takes years to reap any benefits from a youth setup.

Well the reserves where disbanded, In order to take focus on SL. Many disagreed/agreed. The cost of getting to SL outweighed the cost of youth development. Sustainability of the club in SL must come first. Then you can build the foundations of a pathway. No point why the club is a yo-yo at present.

Promoted teams should be given 1 year exemption from relegation to build a team and get to the speed of SL.

Its too much of a jump in standard from C1 plus teams only buy in players when they have won promotion. By this stage the better players generally have gone. The better SL teams are securing players now for next season.

Im asking cos i dont know

When and who was the last player from Leigh, representing any club, play for England/GB

Chris Hill 2019 GB Lions Tour