Quote: El Diablo "It isn't just that though. Why are there so few 20 year old props? I would suggest that the reason is the stress that the collisions that are the bread and butter role of a prop forward (even in an age where RL players are getting increasingly homogenous, that biff-up-the-middle role still exists) put a huge strain on the body and most people don't finish the main musculo-skeletal development until their early 20s. So even if you're good enough and apparently able to do it at 19, it might not be a good idea to do it too often. You don't have to watch loads of Championship and junior grade RL to see that the Championship is a level of physicality down in terms of speed of impact, and junior grades a level further back.
There is a long term game to be played here. What you're advocating amounts, to my mind, to impatience.'"
You can suggest it all you like. The last few years will tell us, if you are good enough elsewhere then you get the shirt.
The best props this country has produced, bar Peacock, started their careers at a young age, younger than Singleton.
Experience does not come with age, it comes with playing time.
Stating a prop does not reach is peak until 28, is a nonsense statement, if you have player A who started at 18, and player B who started at 26.
Where would the Burgess's have been now had they not debuted at a young age. Coincidentally, three of them leaving Leeds due to a belief of lack of opportunities.
Did James Graham have to earn his spurs in the Championship until he was over 20 to play in super league?
Yes, some players do not develop until late. Usually they have already been playing in a different position, and that extra body mass involves them switching positions. Even Ian Kirke was a centre when we signed him. A lot of props in this game do not start out as props.