SAM Burgess, Elliott Whitehead, John Bateman... the list of players to have come through the system at Bradford is endless.

There have been plenty more in the past couple of seasons, namely Sam Wood, Oliver Roberts, Alex Mellor and Nathan Conroy.

Another pair of under-19s regulars – Sam Bates and Adam Brook – have also gone full-time and are expected to feature in the first team regularly next year.

So it came as no surprise when the Bulls' Academy scored highly in their annual appraisal by an independent accreditation panel this week.

The purpose of the exercise is to monitor and evaluate the performance and progression of Academies, recognise the strengths of the work they do and identify areas for improvement.

The process focused on four key areas:

1: Achievements of the system – the improvements in the performance of players and coaches over a prolonged period.

2: Quality of leadership and management – the strategy and vision of the Academy and progress made.

3: How well Academies meet the needs of players – the welfare, education and safeguarding that is in place.

4: The delivery of the player development system – the approaches used to optimise the development of players through to first grade and England.

From a grading system of one (outstanding) to four (weak), the Bulls scored two (good) in most areas, an 'outstanding' in the achievements in the system for 2014 and a score of 'good' overall.

A statement from the independent panel said: "The Bulls continue to have an outstanding player production supply and they are continually producing high number of players for Super League and some for England.

"Despite off-field issues, that have now been resolved, the club have continued to perform as an Academy.

"This is due to the continued investment in training and playing facilities and the dedication of committed and experienced staff using well-proven structures and systems.

"There is an ethos from the top down, to make sure the club's Academy remains the mainstay of their focus."

St Helens, Wigan, Leeds and Warrington led the way in the scoring but the Bulls compared favourably with most clubs, while Salford Red Devils were comfortably the lowest scorers.