At the end of the day it comes down to just how much the club, any club, has to offer to a academy aged player. But the basic factor is that a 'professional' player plays for money, whether we like it or not and the bigger the offer the more likely he is to sign for any club. 

Is that because SL clubs scouts attend amateur matches and if they spot a young player with potential, they will offer him a contract, and if Widnes also offered him a contract, he would obviously choose the SL club?

We had our own Academy for years, quite a few lads played 1st team until 2019. I can only, off the top of my head, name Danny Walker, Matt Whitley & Chris Atkin (who never went straight to SL) in SL from it. Any others are just Champ/ Champ1 players. The potential is there in Widnes, but for a prolonged SL career, being in our Academy wasn't ever 'Elite' enough.

Paulie xx

Is that because SL clubs scouts attend amateur matches and if they spot a young player with potential, they will offer him a contract, and if Widnes also offered him a contract, he would obviously choose the SL club?

If SL is 'toast' then RL is toast at every level.

  We already are,down here in the second division playing in front of dwindling crowds and no way up for the foreseeable future.99% of the clubs in the lower leagues.Surprised you haven't noticed.Super League will be forced back to its natural level eventually,semi pro and  part time.It's inevitable.The reduced Sky TV deals with clubs still spending what they want, is unsustainable.

100%

There are better run Amateur clubs, that bring more to the party, than some Pro-clubs.

Just an example; HFH have produced more players for SL than WV. That's the reality of how RL is below SL. The Clubs 'exist' on SL deadwood or stalled developers.

Paulie xx

we need kids to come and watch and feel part of the club (remember bull and cougar mania ?)

ignore SL and plough our own furrow 

Agree with much of what you say Dan, but the SL clubs are makers of their own destiny, choosing to expand off the field rather than on it. You need backup staff etc but at a reasonable level. I doubt that in its heyday our game had the hangers on as it has today.

THe Aussies are sport mad though population is much less than ours. Certainly in the past the clubs had fitness centres and leisure clubs open to fans with membership tickets, much like we tried with discounts for petrol etc , but on a bigger scale. In truth the Aussies are still struggling to establish the game in the west, but their game doesn't have the challenges in Sydney.

Certainly Maurice Lindsay wanted to reduce the number of clubs in SL, to increase attendances, but that wasn't the way the speccies wanted it! The big idea was (and still is?) to deposit clubs in cities whether there was a desire from them or not! Even London can't drag enough spectators to really stand tall on their own feet.

That was and is a dead duck. Like it or not we are a regional sport like clog dancing. 

Our game, played properly, is our future, even RU coaches can see that. Trim the excess staffing, live within our means (like us!) and play the game as well as we can and that will test the local populations. At some point our future will depend on those much younger than you or I and if they prefer fiddling on their phones to sitting and watching the game that will determine its future. 

AC, I guess, can see this and that is why he is so passionate to increase our regular support.

We have to re-establish the father/son/daughter attendance habit with regular match days determined by the clubs with an ear for their supporters rather than games set to satisfy the TV timetable. Maybe a free pass for kids into the West stand if accompanied by an adult ST holder?  

I guess your interpretation of sustainable is different to mine.

However despite the transfer fees and council money they had to get an advance on the Sky money in November 2024 for £500k. They are in special measures and it's been recommended they need to cut costs by £700,000 to be financially viable. Again how they do that remains a mystery will all kinds of players linked to rival clubs.

All of that has been reported in the RL press, they have done really well on the field but the facts are since Koukash left they don't have a rich backer, they don't own their own stadium and they have small crowds. You could say similar to Widnes. The cut in Sky money means they can't really afford to be a competitive full time SL side.

I feel sorry for them, but that's the issue I was raising as to why currently Widnes are better off in the Championship with a semi pro squad.

On the wealthy backer point, the owners of Saints and Warrington have both said they can't put £1 million a season into the clubs long term. Much like SOC wanted Widnes be financially self sufficient once he achieved SL promotion with a target of 7,500 home fans, that never happened. Since then the Sky funding is much less now than it was back then, putting the clubs with smaller crowds and rented stadiums in an even worse position. 

The other thing that could really kill the game is the lack of amateur sides and kids particpation in the game, in 10 years time that will filter through to the pro game, and we just won't have enough quality youngsters coming through as they will all be playing lower league football or darts on much more money!

If SL is 'toast' then RL is toast at every level.

  We already are,down here in the second division playing in front of dwindling crowds and no way up for the foreseeable future.99% of the clubs in the lower leagues.Surprised you haven't noticed.Super League will be forced back to its natural level eventually,semi pro and  part time.It's inevitable.The reduced Sky TV deals with clubs still spending what they want, is unsustainable.

People have said this since 1996 and it won't happen do you know how much the Moran's, Caddick's Danson's are worth ?. Salford are the club we should be aiming to emulate and should be applauded on how they operate and perform yet people are slandering the club unbelievable.