I really think he stood up well on Friday in fact the biggest compliment I can give the lad is he looked a bit Chris Joyntesque in his performance. I now think the way forward excluding scrum half which is beyond me is to now stick with Jones and Percival for the season in the starting line up.

Looked a bit flat at the start of the season. Think SR is his future.

Thought he had an outstanding game on Friday in difficult circumstances.

Showed up well with and without the ball.

Decent, solid young player. But like Clough, you don't notice him at all.

He just needs to learn to pass a bit more consistently. I remember he kept hold at a key point I think during the second half when had he passed, with a speedster on our wing, we may well have scored. Still, he's young and hopefully will continue to develop.

I agree, there were a couple of times I was screaming for him to pass. However, to his credit he made good meters he just needs to look at his options.

I thought Jones was one of our better players on friday. He looks strong in defence, but needs to learn to pass!

That's the thing with Jones, he doesn't seem to know when to pass. There has been many a time this year where we have had an overlap on the edge, but haven't exploited it because he can't pass. I see him as a future Loose Forward personally, but he is certainly more suited to the Back Row than in the Centres.

I'm not 100% convinced on josh yet. He's done good so far but I wonder if the is much more improvement In him.

He's 2nd only to Percival in clean breaks so far this season.

That's the question with all young players though. If he adapts and learns then he'll improve, if he doesn't he'll sink. He looks to be at least a decent SL standard player to me though.

Did he play centre through the youth grades? He looks just as comfortable now in the back row as he did at centre when he first broke through.

Some of our best opportunities on Friday were created after a break from Josh.

I just have my doubts if he can continue to improve.

If he is working in the pack there is no reason why he can't chance an offload. He stats where pretty good this week, definately and improvement from him.

Slightly off topic but, do any of you know if Josh has any Welsh heritage? Heared a rumour down the Scorpions the other week that he was amongst a few players that Iestyn Harris was looking to draft in for the World Cup.

Thanks all.

Good luck for the rest of the season

Believe it or not, i do seem to recall that he played quite a number of games at Stand off.

That doesnt mean that i think he is a standoff. However its perhaps an indication of Saints putting young players in unfamiliar positions to develop their skill sets.

For example Jamie Foster although a centre by trade, played many matches at fullback, and also made the odd appearance in the halves.

Think he must have been mentored by Mark Bailey during that period.

I,m almost sure he first came to the club as a scrum half, filled out a bit and moved out to the centres.

If he's a forward there is a good chance he will play in the halves this season.

Josh played most of his junior rugby at Stand Off with Chorley Panthers up to U15s then moved to Blackbrook for U16s season playing at centre and helping Blackbrook win the NWC premier league title that year. He then stopped playing amateur rugby to join Saints U18s squad with a number of other Blackbrook teammates inc. Joe Bate, Marcus Baines, Danny Jones, Ste Yates and Callum Welsby.
All these lads went on the Saints tour to Australia in 2009 where Josh played in the centres in all 4 games.
For me Josh never had outright pace to be a top draw centre. His future lies in the second row or loose forward in my opinion.
I'm sure Rogues will add to my thoughts!

Yeah, pretty much spot on that. He isn't, and never has been a 'natural' centre, but he has always been solid defensively, and if partnered with a quicker, more attacking styled centre, he would - and has proven to be great. It's also worth noting that he has played quite a bit at 13 since joining Saints, and that is where he is at his best in my opinion.