The lads done well ever since he broke into the first team, hopefully Blanch will have to work to get back the wing berth and not just be dropped in.

I agree no disrespect to Blanch, the more young English players the better especially if they have come through our system, for years most other teams have had them but we have lagged behind for all the reasons that have been posted in the past.

Agreed he had a good game. Kear gave him some special praise on BBC radio interview after the game saying he is making the step up very well but he always had great ability to get through To score in the younger ranks.

I am of the opposite opinion here, think we need to be careful with him and use him sparringly when Blanch is available. I know it will go against the grain, but we need to keep him protected a bit if we can, I appreciate "if your good enough, your old enough" but I really do think these young lads need time to develop physically and mentally and the best way to do this is spells in and out of the first team rather than a prolonged run if we can help it. He really does look an outstanding prospect and is playing really really well from the 2 games I have seen and look forward to him playing for us for a long time to come.

Law of averages says that sooner of later he will have a stinker, as all players do, I just think we need to shield him from this as much as we can for now - so his confidence remains in tact.

I am not suggesting Blanch comes back in soon as he is fit, but let him have a couple of games in the alliance first.

I agree Tommy. Morton in a similar fashion to Murphy has shown what he is capable of and looks very impressive. He is definitely one for the future and i've no doubt in time he'll be a starting winger for us. That said, it may not be until 2012 that he becomes a starting winger.

Give him time, a couple of games here or there and with time he'll gain experience, knowledge and most importantly physically and mentally will become able to deal with the demands placed upon full time pro's.

Of course we need to be careful but whilst Morton is playing like this he should be starting in the 1st team. Only a drop in form should see him go back to the academy. I watched him play for the 18s last year and i think this kid is very good in all aspects of wing play and has fantastic athletic ability. IMO he is further on with regards to development at this age than Murphy was. He is good enough so play him. I think we should not do what Noble did to Ainscough last year (ie look to drop him whilst he was in form). All players make mistakes over time. It is up to the likes of Morton to dust himself off from the mistakes he is likely to make in the future and come back better. To not pick him because he may make an error is wrong!

My thoughts exactly, he will have a stinker, that professional sport and how he recovers from that is an important and necessary lesson to learn. At the moment he is playing well and should keep his position on merit. If/When he plays poorly or is looking jaded then perhaps it’s time to give him a break from the first team to re-gather some confidence, if needed, in the u20’s.

yeah credit to the lad hes come in made some really important tackles especially down at Quins 2 try saving tackles. He also knows where the try line is. Impressed with the kid !

Do you not think that is taking unessecery risk? I appreciate what your saying about 'sink or swim' - but I think its too high risk in my opinion. If, and fingers cross it won't, he has a stinker against Saints away and Francis Meli dominates him physically under the high ball - the crowd get on his back and he concedes a bucket load down his wing. How much damage could a scenario like this do to the lads confidence? The other poster cited Ainscough as an example of the dangers of dropping them when in form, but you could thrown Kevin Penny back as an argument for protecting them.

I think we should ease the youngsters in and not put too much pressure on them - but its a nice problems to have.

I understand what you're saying and in some respects I agree, I don’t expect Morton to be on the wing for the entire season, not yet anyway, but I feel mollycoddling him and not allowing him to make mistakes will be more harmful then not. I know there is a fine line, as we saw with Mark Field and how keeping faith with him when he was playing poorly affected his confidence and subsequently his career, but I just don’t think dropping him whilst he’s in good form for fear of a mistake is the way to go.

Kevin Penny was over hyped by the Sky team because of his pace and nothing much more. Morton, in my view, has already shown he has a greater RL ability then Penny and the fact that he’s doing it under the radar bodes well for him. I agree if the pressure and expectation was placed on him to such an extent as it was placed on Penny it may be beneficial to rest him here and there.

Again, agree in part - and you cite Mark Field as a better example than the one I gave with Penny. Suppose we will have to agree to disagree, and hope he doesn't have the "stinker" and its all academic.

Amen to that, but then the club will faced with an entirely different quandary, perpetrated by those up the road!

TBF George and even Murphy are just as likely to have stinkers over the next month as Morton i think. Trinity have to show the trust in the good young uns. Of course they will make mistakes, but so will the full internationals in SL such as Meli who is prone to a blunder or 5. In Oz the conveyor belt of 18 year olds that are placed in the first team and flourish are numerous. Recent names such as Inglis and Folau and even Sam Tomkins in SL spring to mind. One of the problems with SL on the whole is the lack of faith placed in young English players playing in the academies that should be really given a chance in the first team because they are good enough. They are out there.

If i was Dale Morton and i had done everything that was asked of me - put in good performances - trained hard - lived well - listened to my coaching team only to be told that I would be a starting winger for Wakefield in 2012 - then I am affraid i would be off elsewhere and starting in another team. Dale should be told and feel that he is a member of the squad and will be considered for selection each week depending on a number of factors - same goes for all the players.

Bit OTT response to be honest.

Nobody is saying that Dale Morton isn't performing well. Nobody has stated that Dale should not be considered for selection on a game by game basis.

What you seem to be overlooking is that there is a mutual agreement by all previous posters that state Dale is playing well and he's going to be a great player. Previous posters however are concerned about the impact of playing week in week out upon the player physically and mentally considering he is only 19.

We're discussing what we feel would be best for the player to become a top notch winger. We're not discussing whether he trains well or lives well or listens to his coaches. The majority of players, including Luke George, Damien Blanch and Aaron Murphy these being players Dale will compete with more than likely do.

Dale Morton will be given targets and goals to work towards, some short term, others long term. If i was 19 and i was in my first season as a professional RL player, i would be realistic enough to know that i have to prove myself and will have limited game time. Even if i play well, i might be dropped, but that is the nature of the sport and given time, training and mental prep i may prove to be the best winger.

I doubt very much JK would say Dale you'll be starting winger in 2012, but i bet he has some sort of schedule/time line in which he'll expect a young player to develop and improve to become a first 17 player by.

I think we're all in agreement that the last thing we want for Dale is for him to be the next Kevin Penny or Mark Field and to whither away. The lad has talent, it's about how you nuture that talent to ensure Wakefield Trinity get the best out of him and sometimes that means taking a couple of steps backwards so that you can move forward.

Do you believe he is better than Damien Blanch?

Agree in part, if he's playing well and the coaching staff are not concerned about it being too much for him too early, then Blanch or any other player can wait in line.

I see no reason to drop/rest him unless its a touch too early for his developement and thats between JK/PB and Dale.

I'm not sufficiently in the know to understand what would and would not be best for the kid. JK and PB are paid to fo that and my speculation would be sheer ignorance (I know it hasn't stopped me posting before!)

I'm a little curious about the Morton hype. I saw his debut at Warrington, Catalans at home (play off and last week). In these three fixtures he was functional and effectively without errors. Sound performances for a kid on debut and early in his career but nothing to suggest he is yet a serious contender for Blanch's starting slot.

Perhaps he has put in performances in other games that I have not been to to suggest other wise?

I don’t think it’s hype as such, more so an appreciation of a young player who has performed well and not looked out of pace despite his relative inexperience. Blanch is obviously first choice but it wouldn’t do him any harm to have to work to get back into the side and also know there is a very capable and hungry youngster waiting to replacing him should he under perform.

Just something to throw in here as it relates to how the club deal with the issues in this thread.

Morton was superb at Warrington last year and was extremely impressive in Sunday. For me he keeps his place until his form drops or he is tiring physically.

Hopefully with the success of the Academy team we are entering a phase where the production line at the club is generating a crop of SL quality players. My mind moves to Jay Pitts. For me he was going well as a 'stop gap' but found himself dropped to facilitate the return of more senior players. If I recall the overall team performance dropped. Would Pitts still be with us if he were left in the first team?

We need to get this right with Morton (and Murphy) as it may have implications on the Club's continued development!

the ability to transfer up and comming players int superleague and international class players is the area of the game in the uk which needs most attention...


it is not uncommon in the NRL for young players to break into the first team and use that as a springboard to get better and better

Inglis, slater, Falou etc etc are such examples... we should not protect and cossett our young players ... we should develop them... Morton has now proved competent at Super League level... dropping standard will not help his game!!!


just to add

young NRL players who break into the first team and are dropped... very seldom get a second chance!

Was it last year when Kear stated that it had been agreed either by coaches or players (those in leadership positions) that if a player has been out injured and another has come in and performed admirably that the player returning from injury would play reserve footie and have to work and wait for his opportunity.

That said, if Morton continues his current form, then it's possible Blanch may well have to wait his turn!

I dont know what was over the top in my initial post.

I think too much is made of age - individuals mature physicaly and mentaly at different rates. My point is that In terms of his development Dale should be viewed and feel like a member of the first team squad. Is he better than Blanch you ask - I dont think that many in the whole of SL are - that said Dale is better than him now (as Blanch is injured), - perhaps this is one of our strengths under JK as I feel that we have a squad/group of players that are of a very high standard.

Very true, which is why JK & PB need to be careful in how the handle each individual. Some are more developed than others which is why it's hard to assess whether Morton could play 27 rounds of Super League footie. I'm not saying the lad can't handle it, but we've seen it happen with youngsters who are used as stop gaps and fade away. It should always be about the individual development and not always the teams need. That is what franchising is about right?




He is a first team member and as such will be treated as one. That doesn't mean he is immune from being dropped from the 19, or 17 like any other player. The only difference is how you handle the player because it's important not to shatter the lads confidence.



Certainly we are fortunate that under the leadership of Kear we have managed to develop a well rounded squad supplemented with potential top quality youngsters which has helped through our previous injury crisis'. It's definitely not a bad thing to be able to debate the merits of a academy product over a first team player. Five years ago, i certainly didn't think we'd be able to discuss the notion of one of many academy products over an experience pro. We've come a long way, and here's hoping it continues

Agree totally. You should not be wrapping the young players in cotton wool. See what they are made of in both success and adversity. IMO in SL young players on the verge of breaking into first team are shielded and protected too much which could have an adverse affect in the long term. Sorry to use Sean Ainscough of Wigan as an example but i hope he bounces back from being dropped then injured in the academy (i think this was the chain of events) because he looked a real prospect.

if he continues to play well and can keep his first team place on merit then he should stay in the team regardless of his age, in my opinion.

I can understand the fatigue/burn out issues for a young front rower but less of a concern with a winger where confidence is a much bigger issue