What about this young lad "the next Billy Slater"? Is it Widdop? Maybe a future fullback or just hyped up by the press?

A problem with the junior setups at amateur clubs where the big lads tend to get put in the middle of the pitch so they get their hands on the ball more often?

True, but you'd think that at the top level, a player could significantly improve some of the more basic skills to a better level

Too late by that point.

By the time a player hits the first team at a SL/Championship club the majority of the available training time is taken up by game planning and structure. Professional coaches shouldn't have to be teaching their players the basics of the game.

Sadly too many junior sides are coached by people with a stack of enthusiasm but no real idea of how to teach kids properly. Lazy techniques get covered up by athletic ability through their development and they arrive on scholarships at pro clubs with gaping holes in their games.

Its true. I see plenty of players at my level who are one trick ponies, and that is good enough to be effective. Very little time is spent on improving basic skills.

I've played with and against some great runners who couldn't pass or tackle for $hit

Briscoe maybe 'solid' majority of the times. But he offers nothing in attack, in what is regarded as a strike position in the modern game.