THE lack of regular week-in, week-out Reserve team rugby is disappointing and the situation does not look likely to get better.

It is not just unfair on players on the fringes of the first team squad are left, who are too old for 19s, who are left kicking their heels.

But seeing players go out on dual registration, purely to get game time, is not a satisfactory solution and it all a bit too piece-meal and haphazard.

The perfect solution is to make it mandatory for Super League clubs to run A teams, but at the moment the resistance of those clubs not to holds sway at the top.

It is disappointing that it has left the clubs who want to be progressive frustrated.

Is there a different way of doing things?

Imagine the benefits of Super League clubs being allowed to field a Reserve team in Championship 1.

The benefits to young players like Jake Spedding, Calvin Wellington and Jonah Cunningham would be that they continue to play regular rugby under the same coaching staff.

But would it offer benefits to that league, featuring so many development area teams, as a whole.

Would part time players from South Wales, Oxford, Gloucester and Newcastle relish playing in the same league as a Saints or Wigan team.

Looking at the gates in that division something needs doing there as some of the paltry crowds make the early 80s gates at Huyton’s Alt Park look healthy.

The fledgling supporters in those area would love it too; they would not see it negatively as playing Saints’ reserves but would embrace playing one of the great names in the world of rugby league.

For the club fielding the A team, it could also pay for itself. People would turn up in decent enough numbers to watch that level of rugby.

Of course there would be groans - playing as Saints A and Wigan Reserves would not sound that appealing.

But maybe there is another way of dressing that up, and it could be done in a way that spreads the game in fitting with the Championship 1 ethos.

That way would be for clubs like Saints, Wigan and Warrington to field their second team under the flag of a neighbouring town or city – provided they then did their bit in promoting the game, on and off the field, and maybe even scouted for players there.

For all our talk of expanding the game, there are still huge holes in the north west; towns that do not have a rugby league presence.

Established clubs could do their bit by just nudging south, east, west or north.

So why could not Saints Reserves play under the banner of Southport, Ormskirk or Prescot – even playing the odd game out of there if they could find a ground suitable.

Warrington could work on Chester like they have done in the past in the old summer Conference league and Wigan could push into Blackpool, Preston or Bolton or carry the proud rugby name of Orrell.

Rules would have to be put in place to stop those teams gaining promotion of entering the Challenge Cup, but they could play their part in the rest of the regular season.

But essentially this would allow is for teams to continue to nurture players, past the age of 19, and keep them pushing to reach the highest level in the game and stop them drifting away.

Is it not worth a thought?