6 Youngsters sign Full Time Deals

[THE 18th Man]

http://www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.a ... 380&type=1

sounds very good

am i right in thinking that one of those yougnsters is the 17 year old winger.

dont know alot about them but they sound very promising. doubt Eddie will mention this when he talks about 2 Aussies and a NZ player coming over

[GeoffN]

Good choices, all of them. Been very impressed with them this year, especially Crosby, King & Russell.

Hope they all get good loan/dual reg clubs sorted, they'll do well wherever they go, and they're definitely good prospects for the first team in a year or two.

[cpwigan]

Lots of potential in those 6 players. Good luck to them all.

[Kittwazzer]

What are the chances of a Tomkins treble in 2011?

[cpwigan]

Personally I would love to see all 6 go to Aus for 2 years and then return. Phil Gould commentating on England v Aus (he slated the officiating BTW) said he had dinner with Mo lindsay in 92 and said that if we wanted a better international team we should sent 30 young players out to Aus for 2 years, they return to SL and then send another 30 out and so and so on.

[GeoffN]

What are the chances of a Tomkins treble in 2011?

Given our shortage of cover at that position, chances could be quite good - though I don't think he's ready yet. 2012 maybe.

[stevethegas]

This is excellent news both for Wigan RL and for the game in general.
Historically Rugby League has been poor at developing the game in schools, amateur clubs and in the professional clubs' academies. One reason the Aussies have been so much better is simply the depth of the squads at all levels.
Well from little acorns mighty oaks grow.
It is to be hoped that we can continue to nurture the young talent that is so vital both for club, RL and country. Just hope these new guys + the 3 Australians don't block the first team out and stifle next year's crop!

[Kittwazzer]

This point was raised at tonights meeting and our difficulty in hanging on to all this talent. Topic inevitably turned to the Salary Cap.

It was brought in to prevent Wigan from continuing to buy success. Not happening any more so needs to be reworked before our game loses its stars to Rah Rah!

[cpwigan]

Intense Competition is what British players need

BTW - What has happened to Junior RL? Do teams still put youngsters in an age group above their own? Best development ploy ever IMO. You had it tough for a year or so but when you went back to your own age group it was a walk in the park.

[Kittwazzer]

Rarely happens these days CPW. At around age 13, most youngsters put on growth spurts and a 12 year old who hasn't reached that stage can get some serious knocks. If a team is short on numbers, I have known them pull in a few from the year below to help out.

Last kid I remember playing any length of time a year above was Chris Taylor who IIRC stayed at Under 15s for 2 years at Pats.