Mrs Barista wrote:Good post. The problem is that all clubs will (if the RFL ever ends it's allowance of quota dispensations etc) have 20 British players in their 25 and 8 homegrown through their own academy. Some clubs like Wigan due to their size and level of investment will be churning out more players than they can realistically accomodate in their first team squad and will be a source of non-homegrown talent that other clubs (and the British sport overall) will benefit from. Others will bring through far fewer, include only a couple of ho egrown players in their 17 and just comply with the basic requirements. Question is whether the RFL think that what Wigan do, in terms of investing in the development of British players that ultimately benefits other clubs is something that should be recognised as part of the licensing system.
I was looking at it slightly differently in that although Wigan academy seem to do some stirling work with the young players, the 1st team (especially lately) seems to overlook them and instead has opted for imports. Ainscough was SL top try scorer in a poor Wigan side early in the season and got dropped for Roberts and can't get a look in now. Tompkins has been 'lucky' that Smith is injured and has stepped up to the mark.
If a team took a punt on Ainscough and turned him into an International then surely they should get the benefit of being recognised as the team who developed him not Wigan who cast him aside.
In effect if wigan get the plaudits for bringing these players through then surely they're just benefitting from being lucky in having a few good players born in their catchment areas.
No offence to Wigan, this is only an example and I'm sure others fall in to this bracket.
