BIGAL1 wrote:IMO if they don't take Davey and Wildie then they don't value them and they have no future at Wakey, seems to me the youngsters won't ever get a foot hold when we import Smith and the likes.
The club will be using the "dual reg it'll benefit players" line and we'll still be buying in for ever and a day.
The problem Wildie and Davey have IMO is the positions they can play are limited (Wildie Half back or Hooker and Davey Hooker only), and are the pivotal positions in the team, so rightly or wrongly Agar has determined the need for more experienced players in those positions (bar John who they obviously believe has that bit extra to his game).
Davey hasn't really been helped by Kears apparent unwillingness to pick him last season when we were running with a much weaker squad and he didn't get a chance to prove himself. FWIW, I have always liked Davey and think the distribution from dummy half has always been quicker when he has played in the past and felt he deserved to play more last year.
However, I think Wildie has more of a shout for 1st team this season, as if one of Ellis or Aiton are injured, he would appear to be the front runner to step in.
As far as the way the youth are treated, if 23 players are going and that doesn't include a few senior players (eg Southern and Wilkes), then to my mind that must mean there are some of the young lads on the trip. I agree that this may be a bad sign for Davey, but doesn't mean the club are ignoring youth altogether.
We would all like to see the youth come through, but there are undoubtedly going to be players who don't make it for one reason or another.
The 1873 hasn't been going long enough yet IMO to determine what benefit it will be - hopefully we will see the fruits of this scheme in the next 12 months with the retention of players (that would previously have gone elsewhere), and attracting some of the best up and coming youth to the club.