Re: Saints new centre and winger sign : Mon Dec 01, 2014 9:14 pm  

Magic Superbeetle wrote:

But why does it matter if they're 7 miles down the road, 70, or 700 miles down the road? The only question that matters is do they have the potential to become a professional or not.

The local area is so saturated with so many clubs fighting over the best, it makes sense if we can pick up a few others from elsewhere whose equal ability then why not?

Just a little hunch I have that proper rugby towns like st Helen's, Wigan, Warrington etc will produce more and better players than Wales will do.

Re: Saints new centre and winger sign : Mon Dec 01, 2014 9:53 pm  

St pete wrote:

Just a little hunch I have that proper rugby towns like st Helen's, Wigan, Warrington etc will produce more and better players than Wales will do.

More, sure I'd agree, but would A St.helens select u16 would definitely beat a Wales select u16? Pretty bold statement, given England u16s struggle to beat France u16s (I don't know about any Wales games but still illustrates the point that outside the heartlands can compete at that age)... if were going to lose 5-10 good kids due to ever increasing competition from our nearest and dearest then we need a plan b, even if that's shipping them in from Wales!

Our production line has served us well in recent years, and I'm sure it will continue to do so...

Re: Saints new centre and winger sign : Mon Dec 01, 2014 10:01 pm  

Magic Superbeetle wrote:

More, sure I'd agree, but would A St.helens select u16 would definitely beat a Wales select u16? Pretty bold statement, given England u16s struggle to beat France u16s (I don't know about any Wales games but still illustrates the point that outside the heartlands can compete at that age)... if were going to lose 5-10 good kids due to ever increasing competition from our nearest and dearest then we need a plan b, even if that's shipping them in from Wales!

Our production line has served us well in recent years, and I'm sure it will continue to do so...

I just feel we starting to fall behind the likes of Wigan, Warrington and Salford recently.

Re: Saints new centre and winger sign : Tue Dec 02, 2014 8:01 am  

St pete wrote:

I just feel we starting to fall behind the likes of Wigan, Warrington and Salford recently.

I'm curious which youngsters you believe Saints have missed out on. I can't think of any who weren't at Saints to start with.

Re: Saints new centre and winger sign : Tue Dec 02, 2014 8:55 am  

Top Saint wrote:

I'm curious which youngsters you believe Saints have missed out on. I can't think of any who weren't at Saints to start with.

I'm talking u15s and u16s mate

Re: Saints new centre and winger sign : Tue Dec 02, 2014 8:55 am  

Adam Swift did not get signed by any club's until he went on tour with Barla GB age 17/18?

Than Saints snapped him up, so even kids who don't shine when young can be developed later.

I'm quite sure John Stankevitch got signed later in his teens from playing for Parkside Golbourne.

Re: Saints new centre and winger sign : Tue Dec 02, 2014 1:08 pm  

St pete wrote:

I'm talking u15s and u16s mate

Are these kids that were completely missed at those age groups and went elsewhere. If so, is it due to a failure in the system or did kids just want to play elsewhere. I do know that the terms generally offered by Saints to academy players is less than Wigan, Warrington and now Salford.

Re: Saints new centre and winger sign : Tue Dec 02, 2014 1:11 pm  

Saints have always used their biannual Australian academy tour as a big incentive for young players to join them, and it's a very good ploy. The difference in contracts at those younger age groups is not a lot of money.

Re: Saints new centre and winger sign : Tue Dec 02, 2014 1:16 pm  

Top Saint wrote:

Are these kids that were completely missed at those age groups and went elsewhere. If so, is it due to a failure in the system or did kids just want to play elsewhere. I do know that the terms generally offered by Saints to academy players is less than Wigan, Warrington and now Salford.

I think Pete is referring to players that the club knew about, but due to a lack of effort recruiting them they opted to go to other clubs. A couple of very good ones too, Wigan signed one to their scholarship not long ago who was a St Helens lad and a very good player.

Re: Saints new centre and winger sign : Tue Dec 02, 2014 1:25 pm  

It's a complex decision for a youngster and their parents. An Australian tour would play a part but also the quality of back room staff and training facilities along with the percentage chances of one day having a crack at a first team place.

I remember not that long ago that a certain team would only recruit from another team that had the words "Pats" and "St" in their title. If you had a youngster in the town with aspirations you had one objective and one alone and that was to play for that amateur youth team. Lazy recruiters in them days. Now they drive all the way over that massive mountain that is 'the lump' to look at 'fureners'.