St Helens Academy production line : Mon Jun 11, 2012 9:00 am
Given the thread on Dixon and Foster I thought we could expand a little further here.From the last crop of Academy products to hit Saints in the last 3-4 years I would say that Lomax/Makinson have nailed themselves a regular starting spot, with Gaskell/ Wheeler being just around the starting 17 and Foster still in with a chance but looking less likely to get another shot.
I'd argue that if we are producing 2 or 3 youngsters every 5 years that can hold down a starting spot that's a pretty good result. Losing Graham and Eastmond has skewed the number of starting homegrown players in our team, but that if you like is outside the control of Saints as we can't compete with other competitions salaries for every single player.
I would argue that the Eastmond bunch of players has probably run it's course now with the likes of Ashurst/Dixon/Forester being shipped out, we did not produce another forward like Roby/Graham/Clough. But then if you think about it, it was about time we had some backs as Bar Wellens our academy has not produced a back for some time that could hold down a first team spot.
Magennis I'm not sure whether he will make the grade but even if he does not. 2 Full first team players in 5 years is not bad IMHO. It would have been more if Eastmond had not taken the Union $ and it could still be more if another one or two of Wheeler/Gaskell/Foster get back in next year.