what a refreshing change this season has been, the players grabbing the lime light are generally young british players instead of the usual antipodean suspects. the best i've seen this season so far are:

richard owen
joe westerman
kyle eastmond
gary wheeler
sam tomkins
shaun ainscough
richie myler
greg mcnally
kallum watkins
tony clubb
LMS

the future certainly is bright......

And another one from Fev Scholarship!

We have always produced decent young raw talent, but we have trouble coaching them to the next level. I bet half the players you've named there will never play for England.

Who do people fancy for young player of the year?

LMS and Clubby already have.

and Myler

me, I couldnt do with his voice for 80 minutes

I suggest you check out SLTV coverage of Castleford v Harlequins Rugby League earlier this year if you like your dialogue with a YAWKSHIRE twang


Probably the best commentator never to grace national airways.......

at the moment i think myler is a nail on.

Kid

where did they drag him from

Featherstone. In fact every good young talent in this country is from Featherstone but just like Brazil in football its natives will have to emigrate elsewhere to make a name for themselves!

All these great yougsters from GB and guess i thinks the best Rangi Chase a Kiwi.

You would.

You've always had these types in England.


Players who's only positive is that they are not yet 30 years old. They show little, get praised as the greats of the future, get over paid, under worked, they glide through a half hearted career, lauded by the English anyway, and they get to be 32 year olds who never developed their game beyond their teenage years.



How many of these players are special, really blow you away special?

Israel Folau has just turned 20, that is something to write home about. Two Origin series, a Grand Final, youngest Kangaroo's player in history. Thats making news.

Ryan Hall? 21?

Wire_Yed_79, Folau is 20 and has played in a World Cup Final. Yeah, they lost, we all saw that.


So what have these supposed news makers done? What....an away win at Castleford? I mean, is that really the standard now in England?

The amazing thing is on so many threads you hear people talking about players even as old as 20 who in many people's opinion need to 'wait a few years' before they become regulars. It's bizarre. In the case of Ryan Hall - who came to league late IIRC so his age is a tad misleading - a few Leeds fans have been talking about him moving to second row. Thank gawd none of them are coaches.

To me it highlights a couple of problems - one being that the quality of the games played at Academy level are simply not good enough if kids are getting into the first team with glaring deficiences. It's no surprise that a number of clubs are preferring to loan players out to NL or even other SL sides rather than have them play Academy level. I still think sending out the best of each year's batch of English lads to train and play with NRL juniors would make an enormous difference to their development.

It's also a crying shame that absolutely average overseas players who will never improve their game are in some cases keeping young English players who are probably only marginally worse out of the team. That's the main reason we absolutely have to reduce the number of overseas players.

But seriously, when you read just about any club's MB on here, it appears that a significant number of fans seriously don't believe anyone can make regular first grade until they are about 23. That's as big a crock now as it was 30 years ago.

Folou is just a freak though, he's the exception, not the rule.

Most of the players mentioned are every bit as good (or at least can be) as the majority of young Aussie kids coming through.

Folou - that big winger who can't tackle and only seems to be good at cross field kicks? yeah special



Greg Inglis on the other hand, that kid IS special.

You may even have a credible point, but oh dear, far too much negativity fo me.

Well said.

The problem you have highlighted stems from the attitude of British coaches and Chairmen. Brian Noble consistently rambles on about "duty of care" which maybe applicable to 18/19 year lads who are just finding their way but he applies it to Sam Tomkins at 20 years old who has shown the maturity to be a regular super league player. But instead the duty of care tag gets thrown about and Tim Smith who is absolute gash is his replacement.

Sean Ainscough at 19 is the same. He has his deficiences of which you speak of but then Amos Roberts at 29 who like you say is never going to improve looks just as defensively poor as Sean Ainscough. He flapped under a high kick and was caught way out of position on numerous occasions in the match. People big up the breaks he makes but this is also applicable to Sean Ainscough who can create something out of nothing. I could possibly accept Amos Roberts playing every week above Ainscough if his performances were vastly greater but they aren't. Instead Ainscough is left to rot in the reserve league not further enhancing his development at all. Wigan leave it too late with youngsters. James Graham one of the best prop forwards in the league (If not the best) made his debut at 17. Sam Tomkins has made his at 20. Richie Myler made his debut (I think) at 17 and led Salford in NL1 to promotion at just 18 and look how far he has developed.

The other issue I have highlighted and again I have to use my club - Wigan as an example is this old habit of just going to Australia plucking out Aussies and hoping they will turn our fortunes around. Why? Why can't clubs see the success of Leeds and Saints comes from faith in young players and not just "projects" from Australia or people who as LeagueFreak once put it "come to super league to die". Overseas players should only be signed when you can't fill a position with someone from your reserve league who is of super league standard or if you can't find a cheaper British alternative. But this will mean showing faith in your younger players. Wigan are now searching for a new second row forward after what has happened with Gareth Hock and the first reaction from the fans was overseas, overseas, australia and looking for candidates to replace Hock - Why? When Lee Mossop is earning the plaudits of a team higher than Wigan. When Liam Farrell (relative of Andy Farrell) is tearing apart the reserves league?

Some clubs (Sadly Wigan) never seem to learn.

Is that the one who says tatt-ull instead of tackle?

Quote ="cadoo"Some clubs (Sadly Wigan) never seem to learn.'" Fingers crossed, things are slowly changing. www.wiganwarriors.com/news_full.asp?newsid=4894 =blue [iWigan Warriors are delighted to announce that rising star, stand-off Sam Tomkins, has signed an extended contract with the Club until the end of 2014. Tomkins, 20, currently had two years left on his contract but the Warriors have moved to secure his services for a further three years meaning he is now committed to the Wigan Club for the next five years. [/i

Quote ="cadoo"Some clubs (Sadly Wigan) never seem to learn.'" Fingers crossed, things are slowly changing. www.wiganwarriors.com/news_full.asp?newsid=4894 =blue [iWigan Warriors are delighted to announce that rising star, stand-off Sam Tomkins, has signed an extended contract with the Club until the end of 2014. Tomkins, 20, currently had two years left on his contract but the Warriors have moved to secure his services for a further three years meaning he is now committed to the Wigan Club for the next five years. [/i