Wires71 wrote:
I know you don't need an answer. But you did ask questions and to clarify
1. I don't have a narrative or a gotcha. The discussion point was to highlight the hype we attach to our young players with over blown assessments of their ability or potential.
2. How this assessment means we turn on the coaching staff when they don't play the young player because we think they are good enough.
3. This isn't the judgement of just our set of coaches. Presumably every recruitment department in the league has taken a look and not made a move to sign the player.
4. My view. King - yes. Charnley - no. Hill - yes. Cooper - yes. Clark - no.
5. I wish the lad well and was rooting for him to make it at Warrington.
It must be my misinterpretation of your post then, and I’m sorry if that is the case. I think if anything, the fall from an exciting young product who featured a few times under Price, showing promise and gaining Knights caps, to bouncing around and on loan deals until his contract expires is a sorry reflection of the club. We all question why players from the academy don’t produce as often to top first team players at Warrington, and the handling of Longstaff is another example of what could be wrong. The same with Dean, Thewlis, Wrench etc. in recent years. They are the easy scapegoat to drop.
It’s truly frustrating to watch. And I dread to think who will be on the right wing on Sunday in the same spirit. With Minikin, Russell, Wrench and Thewlis all ultimately fighting for that place (assuming he picks Matautia, Ratchford and Ashton in the rest of the back line), the one player almost certain not to get picked is Wrench. Then likely Minikin 3rd choice. Do we then pick a brilliant young player in Thewlis, or go with Russell?
Are we set to be having the same conversation about Wrench in 2 years, if we kick him around the reserves, loans etc. and then reflect that actually he wasn’t that good after all when he lands at a championship club who lure him in with the promise of getting picked every week. And the cycle starts again.