One of the necessities of a great sport is a conveyor belt of youth ,gradually improving until the players reach the maturity of top level players & can then enter first teams either with their own clubs or at competitors. Without reserve grades the stars of the future will never be sufficient in number or quality to produce actual quality on the pitch. We are probably looking at the last batches of quick fix superstars who could come into teams to, hopefully, win the one that matters. Not every remedy can be bought & without reserves & academies the top players of the future will not be produced as the game goes down the pan.

I mean last year he had a few chances, whilst he didn't do anything terrible I'm not sure he did enough to be banging on the door for more opportunities. This year he hasn't had a go which is unfortunate for him because he could have developed a by since we last saw him.

I'm relatively happy with how they are coming on, Ashton and thewliss have both fitted into the side seamlessly and do not look out of place. Wrench and longstaff look next in line to be pushing on the door. Lineham looks to be on his way out so either thewliss or Ashton if extended can take starting soon in the wing. But we would be short of cover if Ashton goes. We have king n matautia at centre so it's unlikely wrench will be more than cover for the next season at least if he can continue to impress then he may get a gig on loan for next season when we go to 14 sides. And get the game time, the club should try and get him to the best club they can on loan. Longstaff could probably move onto the bench if j Clark goes so again will get minutes. Dorro n Robson have probably been the least impressive of our younger players in pushing for more chances. However they're young and still growing and developing strength n power so I'm not as concerned, but certainly not worried they're not getting picked they are way off the possible replacements .

Powell is coming in at a good time in being able to make some swift changes due to so many contracts expiring,, I think we will have made enquiries about tom Johnstone and if available he will replace lineham if not we will announce Ashton's extension. So being optimistic if there's no word on Ashton there's still hope for Johnston. For young players to develop they need quality and experience to guide them on and off the pitch. .

Sita on the wing was not really a suprise he's the only recognised winger available in the squad.,. Not a second row adapting to centre now moved to the wing just because he is young.. sita was the obvious call and the right one , as mentioned earliers it's about being able to come in and for the team to not feel the impact in a negative way bit tsee an improvement if anything.

A lot of fans fall in love with young players when in reality they know very little about them. They will hear some good reports from youth team games or sometimes the hype comes from family and friends and teammates who will assure us that this kid was dominating junior rugby but that's nothing like being able to handle Super League. They like the hope that a young unknown talent presents and hope we'll hit the lottery of the next Harris and Sculthorpe.

We've had players come through with a huge reputation that we'd been hearing about for years so the hype builds. Steve Pickersgill, GO'B, Rhys Evans, Harvey Livett. Then when they don't live up to the hype, it gets blamed on the coaches. As PY said earlier in the thread, who are the players that left us because of not getting opportunities that got picked up by other clubs and made it elsewhere? Really good players who slip through the net end up starring elsewhere, like Lee Briers and Chris Bridge did with us. Our alumni end up being mediocre players in lower table or lower league clubs. The usual excuse from their supporters is that the Warrington coach 'ruined them' through dropping them at some point, but being in and out of the side is usual for young players who are trying to break into the team and aren't setting the world on fire. You can't give a player a perma-place ahead of established first teamers, if he isn't performing. The irony here is that Price took a lot of flak for playing Ashton ahead of Ratchford in that cup semi against Salford.

The other issue that is inconsistent is that on the one hand we talk up our squad as being this superstar roster that should be winning Grand Finals if only we had better coaching, but on the other we complain that young players aren't getting a chance. Well this is what comes with having a squad of superstars....its like Chelsea won the Champions League and their fans complain about all the young talent that leaves because it doesn't get a shot. Personally I think our squad is overrated on this forum, and I would be up for some churn in the roster, move out some established names and take a punt on some more young players and new signings, but I usually get push back on here by people listing all the 'internationals' we have. I would say keep the ones who are successful established internationals but maybe look at moving on some of those who just have a few international caps and weren't much cop at international level...

To me it seems like Warrington have slowly clocked on to the importance of the youth system. There's clearly a lot more effort going into it than there used to be, but breaking into Warrington's 13 must now be harder than anywhere else in Super League. You are probably the only side left in the competition that will look to replace every outgoing regular with an external signing. That could work both ways, either it'll mean only the very best come through and you produce greats, or a lot will go elsewhere or give up younger as they see it as a closed shop.

Culture is another area that the top clubs in Super League have all had an edge over Warrington in. I'm not talking about corporate mission statements or motivational slogans on the wall. The top sides don't just recruit based on talent, they recruit character and the right type of people. There are times when you wonder why a big club hasn't gone after a certain player and it's not the talent that's the issue, it'll be their character. Again though, it does seem like maybe they are onto this as well given who has left or not being renewed recently.

Yep, can’t argue with character and attitude being a good basis for recruitment, your club wouldn’t dream of signing anyone who fell below the highest standards in that regard.
On a totally unrelated topic, what is Ben Barba doing these days?

Does he not still do afternoon tea with gelling Monaghan n gleeson ?

Well our performances against Saints must have been totally out of character. You'll have to hope we revert back to type one day.

I would say they are totally in character, brilliant when they want but also terrible too at times and average for the majority.

Well just looked at the Squad for the Wakefield match and you’ve got to say Mr Price certainly keeps us posters on here on our toes.

I don’t miss many first team games and would like to watch the Academy more but Morgan Burgess and Tom Whitehead has certainly caught me by surprise. Sometimes I just can’t understand the thinking behind it.
You would think Nathan Roebuck or Jacob Gannon would get named before these 2 young lads. Price has said the squad is fit and healthy and even though they may not play it’s certainly a surprise.
Maybe Walter can give us his thoughts on these 2 players.

I take it all back, can we give fewer youngsters a chance, looks like we might lose. Price OUT!