shouldn't that be from widnes with these two? salford had all to do with their junior development...................

I also like the look of halley at bradford, wheeler at saints( there is another young lad at saints who's name escapes me) The tompkins lads at wigan, shaun lunt and moore at huddersield, we have the foundations of a good selection of talent at our disposal, how they are used is up to the man at the helm

Quote ="saints35 bulls0"do we need workhorses in the England/GB team? sure, we need someone who can and will make a lot of tackles, but we need someone to actually create gaps and make breaks. I really like Clough, he is a very good Super League player and will have a great club career ahead of him - but has he actually broken a tackle this year?'" 15 looks a lot better than westerman on this www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009

Quote ="saints35 bulls0"do we need workhorses in the England/GB team? sure, we need someone who can and will make a lot of tackles, but we need someone to actually create gaps and make breaks. I really like Clough, he is a very good Super League player and will have a great club career ahead of him - but has he actually broken a tackle this year?'" 15 looks a lot better than westerman on this www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009

gary wheeler is by far the best young prospect in the game at present, arguably the best stand off any club have had since tony myler.......

sorry i meant in the current salford first team squad not who came through our ranks

Who are you? 7,000 posts and I've never seen you post on the Saints board? Name change I guess?

If Wheeler is so good, why isn't he playing first team rugby?

firstly you don't see me post on the saints board because old chap i support widnes,



secondly, wheeler has played several first team games this season with quite a good try scoring record to boot. he would certainly have played more but for injuries.............

Quote ="Saint Simon"15 looks a lot better than westerman on this www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009'" That just show they're completely different players, and Westerman still shows flashes of his old position of Stand Off

Quote ="Saint Simon"15 looks a lot better than westerman on this www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009'" That just show they're completely different players, and Westerman still shows flashes of his old position of Stand Off

Yes, we do. I think we forget that with our back rows.

Something that struck me about the Aussie in the world cup, was how well the back rows helped ease the workload on the props.

You've got to win the grind before you worry about the fancy stuff. You should have 3 solid backrow and 1 impact in your 17 imo.

Quote ="Saint Simon"15 looks a lot better than westerman on this www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009'" Westerman has played two less games and has started a couple more from the bench as well, which means his stats are likely to be significantly less.

Quote ="Saint Simon"15 looks a lot better than westerman on this www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009'" Westerman has played two less games and has started a couple more from the bench as well, which means his stats are likely to be significantly less.

:90lr11ho

Yes, otherwise these people



I'd pick him above Wilkin at International level. He's also only in his second full season at SL level, I'd expect him to kick on and improve his all round game as he becomes more experienced. The fact that he's already better than a lot of SL second rowers, even without that experience stands him in good stead IMO.

I hope that's not just because he's big. If he's got the skills for centre, he should stay out wide. If he hasn't, maybe he should work on them.

I think we're too eager to push big lads into the pack.

I think that is where he'll end up he's big, fast, great ball skills, hates taking a backward step and isn't scared to take the ball up.

I'm guessing your only talking about English SRs with that statement?.

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, not everyone wants to sign every Hull KR player.

Sounds like an international centre to me

So your saying you'd have him over Puletua(s?) who is a St Helens Player, I wont mention Ben Galea for us because it's a pointless argument with a pointless person.

Do HKR fans self importance know no bounds?

Watkins is a talent for sure but this season he has struggled somewhat. He's tried a little too hard and made some errors. He's also been hampered by having to play in the right centre which is not his natural opsition. He will be Senior's replacement for Leeds in due course (and hopefully England).

But so far this season its' all looked a bit of a struggle for him overall with a few touches of genius. They're handling him with kid gloves at Headingley and are probably doing the right thing.

My appologies, what with you being Fingerpost's finest and Fingerpost being in St Helens and you talking of a young St Helens player who hasn't shown much at senior level I assumed you were a Saints fan who watched the academy on a regular basis.

So, I'll change my question, how does a Widnes fan come to the conclusion that Wheeler is the best stand off since Tony Myler?

Maybe a bit controversial but i am not convinced about Ainscough. as good and quick as he is, and leading try scorer in SL defensively he is not good enough yet. He was at fault for two Huddersfield tries and did not play against Saints because they threatened to bomb him on every 5th tackle.

Against Australia or NZ he would be targetted from the first minute. Whilst various English teams have suffered from different weaknesses over the years the one consistent one is the inabilty of our wingers to deal with kicks. That would be the key issue for me in picking a future english winger it is likely to mean that we have to train Ainscough to leap like a gazelle, find another winger or play someone out of their normal position.

I was thinking of Puletua as a prop. But yes, id have Clough over Galea, but I know youd have Galea over Clough

From the looks of that westy would certainly be regarded as the more creative player, he hasnt been himself this year in some of the games i've noticed when he has come on from the bench he has seemed much better, at a guess i would say this is because beeing a starting player for over 2 seasons at his age has exhausted him a bit. Looking forward to when he comes back he will be raring to go, especially if its against leeds.

1. S Briscoe
2. R Hall
3. T Briscoe
4. M Shenton
5. S Aincough
6. S Tomkins
7. R Myler
8. J Graham
9. D Houghton
10. L McCarthy-Scarsbrook
11. M Burnett
12. S Burgess
13. J Westerman

14. J Roby
15. K Eastmond
16. P Prescott
17. L Burgess

So you wouldn't have Offiah (in his prime) in your team - a player that was hardly noted for his defence and was targeted by the opposition week after week?
By this I'm not comparing Ainscough's attacking skills / speed with Offiah, just that he's a young british winger, currently at the top of the scoring charts doing exactly what he does best......score tries!