I think the fact only Wigan, Leeds, Saints and Bradford have won the GF masks that others have been 80 mins from doing so (Salford, Catalans, Wires and Castleford all in the last few years).

So yes, the name on the trophy doesn't change much, but the finalists do - so it's far from stagnant.

The draft academy system was one proposed many years ago when a certain rugby union player was heavily involved in our sport at that level. The RFL were all for it, saw it as a way of strengthening all clubs. A sports scientist friend of mine was involved in some trials with the RFL looking at how young players are developed from a S & C perspective and was involved in discussing how this system would be set up.
The system went to vote and Leeds, saints, wigan and Bradford (that’s how long ago this was) we’re massively against the idea (can’t imagine why



) and there was talk of clubs threatening to pull out if this was forced upon them.

I disagree
The key to success is to have more players coming into the system and receiving quality coaching and guidance to help them improve.
It's all a numbers game and of course, money.
Those who can invest most into both recruitment of and keeping hold of the best young players should prosper most often and to be fair to Leeds, Wigan and Saints, plus, Bradford in the early days, those clubs have manged to do this better than the other clubs.
However, as we've seen with say, Warrington and Leeds for the last couple of years, you need a decent coach.
Money alone cant buy success but, it certainly helps.
It's the same in every sport and perhaps the reason that we've had other clubs at least make the final, perhaps shows how a salary cap can be effective, up to a point.

Speculative, but from the Leeds board:

He is, of course, a Hull FC supporter (used to sit with his family in the South Stand) so I guess he could end up in black and white, similar to Taylor and Cator.

Cator is a different, though very admirable, case imo - in that he was never the great red and white hope that Taylor briefly was and Lewis is.

If we do end up having to sell Lewis in a couple of years, the consolation that I (alone) would take is that it might mean that there’d be more openness to innovative ideas rather than replicating approaches of a couple of clubs that have very different circumstances.