There has already been quite a lot of debate about signings for 2015, so with around a third of the year gone, which of the younger players have impressed and are likely to be future Wire players ? I have put them in groups for my own views;

Matty Russel
Ben Currie
Rhys Evans
Ben Evans

James Laithwaite
Brad Dwyer
Gene Ormsby

Glen Riley
GOB

The top group seems to have the most potential, but I am a bit disappointed with Currie, he doesn't seem to have kicked on really from last year. Rhys Evans is my top pick though, he looks better each week and I like his defence as well. Brother Ben seems a bit like a bottle of red wine, maturing slowly. I don't think he has yet reached the stage where you could predict he will be an automatic first team choice in the future though. Russel is exciting, but I am waiting to see if he can develop into a more rounded player, both attacking and defending.

I think there is a fair bit of uncertainty surrounding the second group of players. Dwyer was developing nicely last year, but I think the lack of playing time he has been given this year has not done him any favours. With the team in need of points, TS seems to have stuck with Monas at the expense of bringing Dwyer on. Ormsby is a handful but very raw, I don't think we will know about him until he has played quite a few games. Laithwaite is pretty solid, but doesn't seem to have kicked on as much as I thought he would.

And finally group three. Props develop very slowly, but I am not sure about Riley. If you swapped the physiques of Ben Evans and Riley, then Evans would be a top class prospect. Riley doesn't seem to be making the most of his size. And lastly GOB has failed to impress, despite the number of games played. He is now 22yrs old. Both these players are contracted to 2015.

In general I am a bit disappointed. Somebody on here said that the younger players had not kicked on as much as was expected, and much as I hate to admit it, I think that is a fair summary at this point in the season.

Thoughts ?

Hard to disagree with most of that. I suppose you could put Dwyer in the 3rd bracket... it doesnt look like he is going to feature in TS long term plans.

The Evans brothers have been the highlight. Rhys should always be in the starting 13 now (if he can stay fit).. Ben looks like he is getting better all the time.

Slightly going OT, but does anyone see Chris Riley getting back in this squad now we have Evans and Ormsby?

Cant disagree with you really, I think Laithwaite will benefit the most from this year and put my money on him improving the most for next year.

Cant see Riley getting back in as he is hardly proving himself worthy while on loan at Wakefield and others are doing better anyway.

My views are that Matty Russell is exciting everytime he gets the ball, he is quick and elusive and when he gets clear he stays clear he is good now at 20/21 what he is he going to be like with a few more years experience (England internation ?)
Ryhs and Ben have been solid in defense and effective in attack, i think Ryhs is top scorer this season upto now.
Ben Currie, not sure what everyone wants out of a forward who is so young, do we expect O'Loughlin type displays, he is solid in attack and defense, he also shows some good ball playing skils which with work could be very exciting.
Laithwaite is solid not sure i can remember too many mistakes in defense and he runs sthe right lines in attack.
Riley still not sure, he is still young and playing as abulldozing forward at 20 is tough so i think he could do with game time elsewhere but will improve with time.
Orsmby and Dwyer not enough game time to see, Dwyer looks sharpe but you wont know if he cant bed himself into the team.
GOB is the one i was hoping to do well and as yet he seems to vary in confidence soem games good some not so. When he is on form (Widnes ) he is first choice for me, but seems to be very suseptable to losing cofidense quickly?

GOB did indeed play well against our genetically modified neighbours, but, then again so did everyone else, not least the pack.

This begs the question, could a so-called top half back have done any better behind some of the distinctly poor team performances that we have to endure so far? Is it fair to judge GOB and the rest of the 'youngsters' when some of our seniors aren't pulling up trees?

I think we've rediscovered that RL isn't an easy game played on the backfoot.

Russell is an obvious talent... as is Rhys Evans. They're already established in my eyes.

Of the rest, Currie, Evans (B), Laithwaite and Ormsby all have potential that I think will make them useful. Watching them play you feel that with the right development they could become very good players.

The rest should be shipped out... some like Dwyer and Riley I just don't think will ever make it. GOB (and Chris Riley while we're at it) I don't see fulfilling their potential with us... both players are superleague standard, I just don't see us getting the best out of them.

Matty Russel
Ben Currie
Rhys Evans
Ben Evans

James Laithwaite
Brad Dwyer
Gene Ormsby

Glen Riley
GOB
-----------------------

Pretty much sums it up.

Matt Russell needs to sort his link up play, he slows down the shift plays he gets involved in.
Ben Currie is a young lad in a mans position, quick, good hands but his lack of years can show, experience and age will help him
Rhys? Only in this discussion due to a run of bad luck with injuries. If he could keep fit he would have been well established.
Ben Evans is currently playing at squad player level. That isn't the insult it sounds like. He does enough to get picked and cement a spot but doesn't stand out.

Laithwaite is in that area occupied by Tyke/Mitchell/Cooper/Blythe/P.Wood. The will he or won't he make it hard to tell right now group Cooper and Wood pushed on and to some extent Blythe.
Dwyer needs to sort his defence out, playing in the middle you need to be better than he his right now.
Ormsby still looks like he isn't quite ready yet.

G.Riley how does a guy that big have so little in the collision? I think he needs better strength conditioning.
GOB capable but not commanding.

And with Kevin Penny looking good as well it could be a long season at Wakefield for Riley ?

Laithwaite has done nothing wrong for me and could become a strong squad player (if he continues to improve)

I'd agree with most of what has been said.

I think in terms of raw skill, Currie is streets ahead of any other of the pack prospects but is sufferring from expectation and 2nd season syndrome a bit. He'll come good though, I'm sure of it.

Of the other forwards I really like Ben Evans and I think Laithwaite is a slow burner, but going in the right direction. Riley is a huge disappointment so far - his ball security is not good and he doesn't look to have a rugby brain.
Dwyer I'm keeping an open view on - he has pace which for a modern day hooker is manna from heaven but his defence needs to be tighter - however, to be fair his game time has been very limited.

In the backs, Rhys Evans, pure class. No question. Russel also a very exciting player but by no means the finished item.

Ormsby I'm afraid I don't think offers anything that Penny doesn't and the latter of course has the advantage of blistering pace. Penny's re-emergence is a genuine feelgood story, and I hope his improvement continues, gathers pace and sees him secure a wing spot for some time.

Ben Currie had a virus at the end of last season and went down to about 85kg, didn't he? At his size and frame you'd expect a 100kg second row in years to come. He's the one I'm most excited about but I would like to see a bit more aggression from him, even now.

+1

All of the senior squad players really rate Ormsby.
They train with him, but we watch them.
He really has only had a handful of first team games, so is miles behind the likes of Rhys Evans, but already looks better to me than Chris Riley.

I dunno.
Riley has come in for flak on the back of Atkins lengthy poor form.
Atkins has made in roads over the last couple of weeks.
With that said, Atkins made Ormsby look less than ordinary in defence too.

Penny and Evans may have benefited from this scenario with Atkins staying defensively in position.

Whether Atkins had a roll to play in it or not, I'd still prefer Evans to partner Atkins just in case Atkins goes awol occasionally.
Ideally, I'd sooner see Penny to partner Atkins.

Are you on the Atkins diet?

Not yet.
Does it work?

Russell and currie, don't understand the love in for r evans, atroucious defender

Best of a poor bunch then.

I don't know about the virus bit, but the rest I totally agree with. Ben Currie at the end of last season was a huge promising talent I was looking forward to seeing, but has unfortunately not shown that promise for me yet. He has spells within games where his defence is immense and I am one of the loudest applauders of this, but there are also times when he goes missing. He was 100% at fault for the opening Hull KR try leaving a huge gaping hole in our defence and sometimes his runs leave a lot to be desired.

That being said, I bow down before the mastery of his quick thinking for the rapid 20 metre restart that led to Kevin Penny's try against Doncaster in the cup. True class.

He definitely had a virus and lost a load of weight, it set him back massively and also knocked the confidence out of him, that came from one of the U19 coaches who said they all think Currie will be a top player for years to come.

Why is it all our players have potential and when Wigan or Saints play a youngster they show their potential straight away?
We have had numerous players with potential and very few have made it.
Are we unable to spot talent or do we not know how to develop it

That is a very good question.

When I watch the U19/U20's play I am always very impressed with their organisation, tackling, positioning etc. They look really well schooled to the extent that when the first team have a poor game, their 'basic' skills can look at lot worse.
So here is a suggestion; Perhaps we take a lot of middling ability youngsters and school them extremely well (I think the U19/20's have been in the top four in the league for the past 3-4 seasons now). But a lot of these kids may have limited headroom to improve, it's simply that we make the very best of their potential. The other top junior clubs are Wigan, Leeds and Saints. Certainly the first two of these have a much bigger pool of talent on their doorstep and hence a much better chance of finding a top class player. And from a pool of say 25 U19's, you only need two 'first team' players to come through each year to maintain a very good side (with the rest from imports). If you look at our record over the past 10 years (for which I have the data), we had 24 youngsters making a SL debut, but only three have made it to become first team fixtures; Harrison, Riley and Mike Cooper.

And are there any that have gone on to be regular first team players for other teams, Winslade's? Or have the other 21 all disappeared into obscurity?

I can not recall any I am afraid. We lost Matty Blythe of course, but that was a 'release', as was Adam Neal, who then wen't to Salford and Lee Mitchell to Cas. I think only Matty is still playing first grade football now. Tyke and Rhys Williams are in Oz but with feeder clubs.

Ben Currie played U16's for Wigan, before we pinched him.

What ever happened to Alex Thompson?