Re: St Helens Academy production line : Mon Jun 11, 2012 7:08 pm  

theres only one stan wall wrote:

the irish lad McCloskey who is Phil Adamson mark 2.

His brother might be worth a look, then...

Re: St Helens Academy production line : Mon Jun 11, 2012 7:32 pm  

Cragganmore Kid wrote:

His brother might be worth a look, then...

Re: St Helens Academy production line : Mon Jun 11, 2012 7:58 pm  

theres only one stan wall wrote:

Like the look of Walker a young reserve prop, million times better than the irish lad McCloskey who is Phil Adamson mark 2. Big slow & cumbersome. Percival looks a quality centre but physically a couple of years from playing at superleague level.

I think that the expectations on players from expansion areas is too high. Players like Walker play in a big rugby league town and have had the benefit from years of youth coaching. McCloskey and Cross have been picked out of a village Rugby Union team from a non RL country. The fact they can keep up at all is an achievement. As a result of Saints picking up these boys Ireland get two real Irish players that they can play instead of Yorkshiremen with Irish grandparents. We should take their signing for what they are, Saints doing their bit for International Rugby League and the expansion of the sport.

Re: St Helens Academy production line : Mon Jun 11, 2012 8:12 pm  

Billinge_Lump wrote:

I think the problem some fans have is that they've bashed Wigan for releasing youth players who, frankly, weren't good enough to hold down a regular place in the team. This leaves them in a difficult position when we've done it.

Smith was released because he is not a top class half back and Eastmond had more potential, the fact that Eastmond didn't work out is immaterial because for me Gaskell and Lomax are better than Smith anyway.

We've not let one player go that has come back to bite us on the backside yet.

I agree with you as well.

Some players will become superstars and some will just be cover and squad fodder before moving on. You don't know which players fit in which catagory, Ste Tyrer and James Roby are good examples. We have a number of good young play makers coming through, going back to players that did not make the cut previously has no merit.