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http://www.therfl.co.uk/news/article/20493

Fantastic and well done etc to all 7

BUT at the RFL

England Academy Head coach Dave Elliott MMM from memory a Cumbrian lad that did not get very far at Wire as a player and coaching wise? what has he done?

“We’ll expect what we always expect from Australia”, said Elliott. “They’re going to bring over some big, strong, athletic lads who’ll have plenty of experience from playing Toyota Cup rugby Down Under and it will be a tough battle for us as usual.

Big and athletic is an understatement. The Aussie youngsters tend to actually lose weight as they become pros. 115 - 130K is trhe norm for Aus front rowers at 16 to 18. So what has Elliot done? Hardly selected a prop in his squad. The back rowers / centres are all big, tall, fast but Elliott forgot something damn skillful. I thought we had moved away in 1982 from saying the aussies are just big and athletic.

The Aussies halves / fullbacks are very fast and skillful.

“All the clubs are doing a great job of developing young players and they have been able to bring players on at their natural progression rate. There will always be players who can adapt and progress quicker than others and clubs have done a good job at identifying each players needs this year.”

No Elliott. Not ALL clubs are doing a great job. Indeed, few are. The ones that do are the minority not the majority.

While the Australian side will no doubt be full of skilled players, the prospect of playing a Test game during the British winter is likely to be an experience many of the Schoolboy’s have never previously experienced and Elliott believes that could be an advantage for the English side.

“It’s always nice playing at places such as The Galpharm or DW stadium,” said Elliott. “But we thought it would be good for our guys to get Test match experience in different venues. Castleford’s ground creates a great atmosphere and Barrow especially will be a test of elements as well as a test of skills and it will be great to see a Test game played in Cumbria, but with the games being played in December, the conditions could prove tough for the Australian’s and we’ll have to exploit that.”

Heaven help us. The man in charge of our national academy team is relying on the British winter to beat the Aussies. Odd how he then selects few props but stupid to even believe the weather will make a difference. It never has, it never will. To justify taking games to sub standard grounds like Cas and Barrowdeemed unsuitable by the RFL as an experience is pathetic.

I give up with the RFL

Strange.......

We're always being told that its Stains and the Whinos who provide all the youth nowadays!!!!!!!

How this for a great marketing ploy. You select 12 players from Wigan and Warrington and then do not play a single game anywhere in Lancashire.

Just a minor point. Are the Evans brothers not Welsh, and was 1 of them not in the 40 man welsh squad named before the european tournament for qualification for next yrs 4 nations. Is this the way we improve the future England team and the Welsh improve theirs

You are correct TC. Ben and Rhys were spotted by Wire as 13 year olds. The club relocated the entire family and placed the boys with Burtonwood

cpwigan wrote:http://www.therfl.co.uk/news/article/20493

Fantastic and well done etc to all 7

BUT at the RFL

England Academy Head coach Dave Elliott MMM from memory a Cumbrian lad that did not get very far at Wire as a player and coaching wise? what has he done?
“We’ll expect what we always expect from Australia”, said Elliott. “They’re going to bring over some big, strong, athletic lads who’ll have plenty of experience from playing Toyota Cup rugby Down Under and it will be a tough battle for us as usual.

Big and athletic is an understatement. The Aussie youngsters tend to actually lose weight as they become pros. 115 - 130K is trhe norm for Aus front rowers at 16 to 18. So what has Elliot done? Hardly selected a prop in his squad. The back rowers / centres are all big, tall, fast but Elliott forgot something damn skillful. I thought we had moved away in 1982 from saying the aussies are just big and athletic.

The Aussies halves / fullbacks are very fast and skillful.

“All the clubs are doing a great job of developing young players and they have been able to bring players on at their natural progression rate. There will always be players who can adapt and progress quicker than others and clubs have done a good job at identifying each players needs this year.”

No Elliott. Not ALL clubs are doing a great job. Indeed, few are. The ones that do are the minority not the majority.

While the Australian side will no doubt be full of skilled players, the prospect of playing a Test game during the British winter is likely to be an experience many of the Schoolboy’s have never previously experienced and Elliott believes that could be an advantage for the English side.

“It’s always nice playing at places such as The Galpharm or DW stadium,” said Elliott. “But we thought it would be good for our guys to get Test match experience in different venues. Castleford’s ground creates a great atmosphere and Barrow especially will be a test of elements as well as a test of skills and it will be great to see a Test game played in Cumbria, but with the games being played in December, the conditions could prove tough for the Australian’s and we’ll have to exploit that.”

Heaven help us. The man in charge of our national academy team is relying on the British winter to beat the Aussies. Odd how he then selects few props but stupid to even believe the weather will make a difference. It never has, it never will. To justify taking games to sub standard grounds like Cas and Barrowdeemed unsuitable by the RFL as an experience is pathetic.

I give up with the RFL

From what my old man said of Dave Elliot, he always tried his best to get decent amateur players from Cumbria down to Warrington.
If you remember, one lad I mentioned to watch some months ago, he was tracked by Dave Elliot who even promised to drive the lad down to Warrington free of charge for training. The player couldnt be bothered in the end, but the offer of transport was always there from Dave Elliot.

He might be a lovely man PM but can he coach? On the basis of his comments and selections I fear not. The Aussies are frighteningly big and he hasn't selected any true props IMO. The Aus juniors if full of polynesian heritage players;

Plenty of them are 16 and 17 but have been playing in the U20 Toyota Cup competition. Added to their sheer size, many are fast and agile/balanced.

Up v a much bigger, stronger and possibly faster opposition and he wants it to rain.

If the academy side is not up to facing these blokes,then the future is in bad shape :conf:
This is NOT a Toyota Cup side - It's a Secondary School side.

cpwigan wrote:He might be a lovely man PM but can he coach? On the basis of his comments and selections I fear not. The Aussies are frighteningly big and he hasn't selected any true props IMO. The Aus juniors if full of polynesian heritage players;

Plenty of them are 16 and 17 but have been playing in the U20 Toyota Cup competition. Added to their sheer size, many are fast and agile/balanced.

Up v a much bigger, stronger and possibly faster opposition and he wants it to rain.

His coaching ability I cannot comment on CP, as I have never seen him or been advised on his abilities.
My sole impression from my father was that he was prepared to put himself out to help young local players.

cherry.pie wrote:[
Forster, Krasniqi, Burke and Ben Evans will be props. They might not be huge but to be fair they've stood out at this level and might as well get picked.
They're nowhere near the size of Matt Groat and David Klemmer but if they're the best we have you can't really do much else.

They are all second rowers though, at least the Burgess twins and Alex Gerrard would have added some size and go-forward to match the opposite props.