SaintsFan wrote:
So we start playing the best of them now. That way, we will have a first team prop for 2013.
James Graham had his debut at 18. How old was Paul Clough when he had his? I can't remember. Anyway, although Jammer is a freak of nature, there is no reason not to believe that buried in that group of young possibilities are one or two very good first team props.
I really can't understand why Saints fans have a complete mental block when it comes to managing their expectations of academy players. Yes, James Graham was eighteen when he made his debut. But it took him the best part of
two and a half years to physically develop into a viable, competitive first team prop that could be relied upon to pull extended shifts when injuries dictated.
It is hopelessly unrealistic to expect any academy player recently elevated to the first team squad to be
fully competitive in under three years. Yes, there are some exceptions i.e. Cunningham, Graham, Farrell etc. But these are extremely rare. Better examples are players such as Clough and Dixon. The former played his first match in July of 2005 and only became competitive the best part of
four seasons later whilst the latter has taken until this season to grow into an effective back row after making his debut in February of 2009.
Even physical freaks need time to develop into established players. Think of Joel Tomkins, an international back rower who was mercilessly slated by a section of Wigan fans until the age of 22/23. That's four years from the academy age of 18.
There isn't a chance in hell that ANY prop promoted from our academy this season will be ready next. AT BEST they will be two years away from final maturation sometime around the age of 20. So the most we can hope for is that they will be physically mature in 2015.
We need an
established prop now - not an underdeveloped one.
