two of the young up and coming academy lads sign for wakefield on full time contracts . josh vievers and stuart howarth . both go at the end of the season.

this is a joke isn't it?


Vievers?

nope its true

How close were they to the first team realistically? Lets hope they dont come back to bite us but good luck to them both if its true.

Realistically, I don't think either of those two were going to make it into the first team. When you produce so many, you can't play them all. They were both quite a way down the list.

Heard Vievers mentioned alot on here, Howarth played in pre season didn't he?

Wonder what GMR will say

They'll have a field day. But you've got to trust us on this, with some of the other kids we've got waiting in the wings, these two would have been kicking their heels for a very long time.

At least at Wakey they'll see some first team action.

Couldnt care less to be honest. Theres a reason the people who make the decisions at Wigan are at Wigan and them on GMR are sat spouting rubbish on the radio.

Agreed. I had high hopes for Howarth in particular, a couple of years ago, but he just hasn't come along as I'd hoped. He had a poor game today, playing at standoff.

Veivers is a decent enough player, but we can do a lot better.

It's perhaps fair to say both are Wakefield standard.

Both are over age 20 and not looking close to breaking into the first team in my view so it isn't much of a surprise if true. If your at that age being a back if you've not made first team by now your not likely to. Howarth did play pre season but I don't think he would have done had Joe Mellor been fit.

Having said that I think the pair are good signings for Wakefield. Howarth in particular suits their style of play.

not sure about Howarth but with Vievers being the U20's full back and our need for a full back this season if it was thought he could contribute to the first team wouldn't he have been given a chance given our problems this season?
not really concerned about him going to Wakey + they might be int championship next season!

As Chruncer has stated we cannot play all the players we produce each year. if it turns out to be a mistake we will just have to spend money to bring him/them back into the fold. but how often does that happen?

I'll trust the managements call on these two.

Like Bilko I have to say if your in your 20's and have yet to really break into the first team, particularly when your a back then it's maybe never going to happen.

Good luck to both, but a bit perilous going to Wakey when they may not even be in SL in two years time.

howarth has played his games at half back and loose forward for the u20's this season. judging on that we have good prospects in both of those positions so we cannot keep all of the players.

Id prefer to see Joe Mellor get a go in the halves and we have enough young back rowers already that it would be hard for him to push himself in. good luck to the lads if they do go.

Best of luck lads, no real loss to us, and they need to advance their careers, sounds like a good deal all round.

Rarely do more than 20% of the youth team make it into the first team this is no different to every other year

Like someone has said if you are 20 and not already close the the first team they need to move on, the coaches allocate contracts to current players and bring others in and some leave

Am i right in thinking that once over 20 you cannot play in the under 20's automatically and have to be an over age player (max 3)?

i have just spoke with one of the guys mentioned and he knows nothing about this

Wigan don't give youth a chance. This is disgraceful. This is all down to the signings of Brett Finch, Ryan Hoffman and Jeff Lima. All Wigan do is favour these back door imports. An absolute disgrace. Josh Vievers and Stuart Howarth are obviously Super League quality, but they have to go to another club to get First Team appearances. An utter shambles the Wigan RL club and we should all be ashamed. Players like Pat Richards and Harrison Hansen are wrecking our club and are holding back the lads in our academy...

i couldnt have put it better myself!!!

Was talking to Veivers after the French game, he suggested the squad would be culled significantly and that he was in the firing line with Madge saying he lacked the pace to be a top class SL full back. Was very positive throughout and confident of proving himself elsewhere, if not wanted by Wigan. Good luck to him.

come on jameswk where did you get your info from?

the info came from the under 20`s game today. come from someone who plays in 20`s . no reason not to belive him. probably should have posted it in the rumours thread realy.

Good luck to them.

They can't all get a game at Wigan and personally I'd much rather see any who can't make it at Wigan get another crack at Super League rather than go to Union.

Wish them all the best and hope they go on to prove the coaching staff wrong, can only be good for the game as a whole if they do.

Its nice to give local young uns a chance but you must be having a laugh if you would rather have non established kids in the places of PAT,Harrison etc !!
Wigan have too and are doing it right by mixing youth,overseas and experienced players to get a winning combination. I wouldnt give this seasons achievments up for anything.If they are not good enough in the coaches eyes let them go,we are still bringing "good" youth through aka Sam & Joel T,Davies,Tusson,Marsh,little Faz etc etc etc. But you wont win with a team just because they are local.

It was a P155 take of what fans from other clubs might be saying on GMR. You could tell that from the Hanson inclusion he came through the Wigan academy setup.

Thank feck 4 that.