Re: Rumours and signings v8 : Wed Oct 12, 2011 1:56 pm  

pk wrote:

senior or thomas - who would you rather have?

If Carmont retires end of next season we could have both

Re: Rumours and signings v8 : Wed Oct 12, 2011 1:57 pm  

pk wrote:

senior or thomas - who would you rather have?

Playing - Senior
Recruiting/Talent Spotting from RU - Thomas
Taking up space on the salary cap - Neither tbh

[DaveO]

Re: Rumours and signings v8 : Wed Oct 12, 2011 2:32 pm  

Father Ted wrote:

This is very good news, we have to start looking further than Pats, Judes, Blackbrook and I R Bridge etc, good as they are

Why?

We already look as far afield as Cumbria and have recently recruited some young lads from up there.

The law of averages will mean we are just as likely to unearth potential first team players from the hundreds of lads playing junior RL in the heartlands as we are from the hundreds playing junior RU in South Wales.

One other thing to bare in mind is junior RU is a very amateur run kind of thing. It is just enthusiastic parents coaching their kids for the most part with the junior clubs and senior clubs not really connected by anything other than the name and the fact they share facilities.

IL is right about one thing. The flair is coached out of them by the time they are 14. As you move up the junior age groups the game becomes more and more forward dominated with set pieces introduced like line outs and contested scrums.

Watching the junior RL final before the Challenge Cup final was great. Plenty of talent who know the game on show. I don't really understand the new found obsession with South Wales.

[Pemps]

Re: Rumours and signings v8 : Wed Oct 12, 2011 2:39 pm  

DaveO wrote:

Why?

We already look as far afield as Cumbria and have recently recruited some young lads from up there.

The law of averages will mean we are just as likely to unearth potential first team players from the hundreds of lads playing junior RL in the heartlands as we are from the hundreds playing junior RU in South Wales.

One other thing to bare in mind is junior RU is a very amateur run kind of thing. It is just enthusiastic parents coaching their kids for the most part with the junior clubs and senior clubs not really connected by anything other than the name and the fact they share facilities.

IL is right about one thing. The flair is coached out of them by the time they are 14. As you move up the junior age groups the game becomes more and more forward dominated with set pieces introduced like line outs and contested scrums.

Watching the junior RL final before the Challenge Cup final was great. Plenty of talent who know the game on show. I don't really understand the new found obsession with South Wales.

Are you being serious Dave? Surely the wider we cast our net, the more we can potentially catch. I'm not sure why this seems to bother you so much

Are you xenophobic?

Re: Rumours and signings v8 : Wed Oct 12, 2011 3:31 pm  

Pemps wrote:

Are you being serious Dave? Surely the wider we cast our net, the more we can potentially catch. I'm not sure why this seems to bother you so much

Are you xenophobic? :wink:

Saw them play at Whelley ex-servicemen's club in the early 90s.

[DaveO]

Re: Rumours and signings v8 : Wed Oct 12, 2011 3:43 pm  

Pemps wrote:

Are you being serious Dave? Surely the wider we cast our net, the more we can potentially catch. I'm not sure why this seems to bother you so much

Did you read my post? I don't think people understand that junior RU really is nothing special. I am asking why be bothered with South Wales at all when there are literally hundreds of junior RL players and having had my son play RU due to lack of any RL round here (and against Welsh sides) I do know about about it.

If we want to tap up RU talent there is far more right on the door step in England.

Are you xenophobic?

Of course. I am out with my long bow every night in Chester on the look out for any Welsh who I can still legally shoot if they are in the town after dusk.

Re: Rumours and signings v8 : Wed Oct 12, 2011 3:47 pm  

DaveO wrote:

Did you read my post? I don't think people understand that junior RU really is nothing special. I am asking why be bothered with South Wales at all when there are literally hundreds of junior RL players and having had my son play RU due to lack of any RL round here (and against Welsh sides) I do know about about it.

If we want to tap up RU talent there is far more right on the door step in England.

Of course. I am out with my long bow every night in Chester on the look out for any Welsh who I can still legally shoot if they are in the town after dusk.

well weve signed a couple of welsh lads for the academy.. one them scores 4 tries for wales when they played the english.. hes coming very highly rated.

Re: Rumours and signings v8 : Wed Oct 12, 2011 3:49 pm  

DaveO wrote:

Why?

We already look as far afield as Cumbria and have recently recruited some young lads from up there.

The law of averages will mean we are just as likely to unearth potential first team players from the hundreds of lads playing junior RL in the heartlands as we are from the hundreds playing junior RU in South Wales.

One other thing to bare in mind is junior RU is a very amateur run kind of thing. It is just enthusiastic parents coaching their kids for the most part with the junior clubs and senior clubs not really connected by anything other than the name and the fact they share facilities.

IL is right about one thing. The flair is coached out of them by the time they are 14. As you move up the junior age groups the game becomes more and more forward dominated with set pieces introduced like line outs and contested scrums.

Watching the junior RL final before the Challenge Cup final was great. Plenty of talent who know the game on show. I don't really understand the new found obsession with South Wales.

Neither do I. If we can't retain local talent how do we expect to prevent a welsh lad from being poached as soon as he shows sufficient talent? Same goes for Irish potential as mentioned recently by IL. The Irish RU clubs are stronger than the English ones IMO.

Re: Rumours and signings v8 : Wed Oct 12, 2011 3:52 pm  

DaveO wrote:

Did you read my post? I don't think people understand that junior RU really is nothing special. I am asking why be bothered with South Wales at all when there are literally hundreds of junior RL players and having had my son play RU due to lack of any RL round here (and against Welsh sides) I do know about about it.

If we want to tap up RU talent there is far more right on the door step in England.

Of course. I am out with my long bow every night in Chester on the look out for any Welsh who I can still legally shoot if they are in the town after dusk.

South Wales junior teams are some of the hardest and fearsome opponents you would ever wish to play against. A trip to South Wales was always an intimidating prospect when I played within a Union Clubs Academy. The talent down there is frightening and the mentality is very much suited to rugby league over union.

There will be some real gems bobbing about in South Wales and it is well worth widening the net to another real hotbed of rugby talent (regardless of the code).

Re: Rumours and signings v8 : Wed Oct 12, 2011 3:56 pm  

jonh wrote:

South Wales junior teams are some of the hardest and fearsome opponents you would ever wish to play against. A trip to South Wales was always an intimidating prospect when I played within a Union Clubs Academy. The talent down there is frightening and the mentality is very much suited to rugby league over union.

There will be some real gems bobbing about in South Wales and it is well worth widening the net to another real hotbed of rugby talent (regardless of the code).

Couldnt agree more.

It was the same for us , wales team always seem to be mentaly and physicaly tough encounters