knockersbumpMKII wrote:It's been 15 years since we had a home grown half break through to become a regular first team half. We've now got a couple of very decent young halves and they'll never get a chance until it's too late and they're surpassed by their peers at other clubs.
Either the youth set up and coaches are not good enough and our home grown halves aren't up to scratch and/or the head coach has no confidence in their abilities even when faced against a championship club in waiting like Wakefield when it would have being a perfect opportunity.
Signing another coffin dodger is just what we do though, facking pointless and doesn't work.
Agree we have to have a policy of actively promoting from the youth system or not bother with it at all.
Our half backs are a good example. We haven't had much success in this area for nearly a decade and have paid over the odds for some underwhelming overseas players. It would be nice to see a local player get a chance to breakthrough. However, opportunities are always going to be difficult as any Coach is always going to be under pressure to win.
Due to several indifferent seasons, we have become an impatient set of fans demanding improvement. Most young players will always need time to adapt to the senior game.
So what do we want? Take Abdul as a prime example. He had several promising games last season. Gets his first chance of the season at Widnes. Had an indifferent game, along with many others and seems to have taken most of the flak in the players meeting and hasn't been mentioned in anyone's squad since.
It will be interesting to see when he comes into the Coaches/Fans reckoning again. It also heaps more pressure on the next youngster to play in the first team. If you don't have a good game, you can go back to Academy and 'we'll call you'.
So what do we want, Youth to be given a chance, or hope the next signing makes the difference we all crave?