Loui McConnell, Liam Whitton, Harvey Spence, Daniel Waite-Pullan, Tyler Dupree and Jarrod O’Connor playing for Featherstone Rovers on DR this weekend and Wellington Albert on loan for the season.

Expect the news on who’s joining Bradford Bulls on loan, but fully expecting Corey Johnson, Muizz Mustapha, Tom Holroyd and Sam Walters.

Where have they gone?

This is great, playing Championship rugby is certainly the best place to be for our young players, but how are we going to field a reserve and academy side with so many players playing for other clubs?

Pretty easily, as the club have said many times. They are going to use Amateur RL (max 2 per game), University RL players (max 2 per game), Featherstone fringe players (DR works both ways) and Leeds players that aren’t out on loan or DR (max 5 per week at Featherstone).

Complete farce a reserve grade should for the Clubs players too old for u18 & not makkng ge matchday 17.

Why?

Why not?
Its another RL comp that should be used to develop youth help snr players stay fit or get fitter after injury.
Its not an experimemt to throw together anyone & everyone who fancies a game.
Dual reg isnt enough going to keep everyone playing if Fev want reserves pick their own squad.
The Uni & Amateur plan is just a gimmick unless its a genuine trial for a player not some made up quota.

Wonder how other clubs are viewing the reserve competition. Seems a complete and utter waste of time from our point of view to me.

Club ain't interested, that's for sure.
Just hope we're not missing a trick. Seems to take an age for us to develop youngsters these days. I'd hate to fall further behind if it's merely down to sulking cos our preferred methods aren't those of the majority.

And that’s what Leeds will use it for won’t they? It’s just they’ve put loan and DR above the reserves. Which I can entirely see the logic behind as it will be higher quality.

Not sure why that decision is described as farcical?

Using Fev is exactly what we should be doing and exactly why DR was brought in, to essentially try and replicate the feeder club system in the NRL. Just because other clubs couldn’t be bothered to make it work isn’t Leeds fault. Don’t see why we shouldn’t maximise that relationship and use Fev players in the reserves to both help them and provide a stepping stone between Fev’s academy (such as it is) or ours and first team for Fev.

All Leeds have done is put the reserves down a notch in terms of the pathway a player could take, quite rightly too in my opinion.

My guess is the 6 Leeds players in the Fev squad are likely candidates for the hybrid reserve squad and I can't see any of them playing for Fev this year barring a rash of injuries. I don't think it;'s a coincidence that 4 of the 5 players that Fev retained from last year's reserve squad are outside backs given Leeds seem to have much more depth in their forward youngsters than in their backs.

So my guess you'll see...the likes of A Sutcliffe, McLelland, L Briscoe playing for Fev on DR when not selected by Leeds
...the likes of Holroyd & Walters going to Bradford on loan
...the likes of Dupree, Whitton, McConnell, O'Connor, Spence, Waite-Pullan and a few other Leeds youngsters, plus around six Fev reserves, making up the hybrid reserve team.

Jack Broadbent, Jarrod O’Connor, Luke Briscoe, Tom Holroyd and Muizz Mustapha all chosen for Featherstone on Sunday v Hull KR. Wellington Albert also included.