He scored the try that changed the game

I'm amazed at the number of people who are ALREADY writing off Dixon and Ashurst. Look, ANY forward who is competitive at SL level BEFORE he reaches his final growth phase (depending on the player - somewhere between 21 and early 24) is going to be a good SL player.

That final phase - when the player seems to "fill out" almost overnight - is essential and can add anywhere up to a stone and a half to a body frame. For instance, look at Scully before age 23 and after. The difference in power, explosiveness and yardage is practically black and white.

Right now both these kids are performing well. Indeed, they are even weighing in with a respectable number of tries and assists. But just wait till they fill out. The contrast will be prodigious.

Agreed.

In fact, I'm amazed at how quickly some fans write off young players per se. It's like they expect them all to be Murphys overnight.

Agree. Dixon and Ashurst have done OK for me. Sure they're no world beaters yet and maybe they may never reach that stage, but without being given a run in the side and given time to develop they'll never be that.

Another poor result for our u18,s we lost 34-32 against Leeds away. That twice in a row we've conceded 34 points.

Plus point is that josh jones scored 4 trys our England youth captain is a class act. He is still only 16. I think that's 7. Tries in 3 games for him. Very classy centre.

It's always difficult with the junior levels (18's and 20's) because you are never sure of the relative ages of the teams.

For example Saints may have had mainly 16 year olds in their teams whereas Leeds may have had the majority if their team 18 years old.

A couple of weeks ago Wigan played most of their second year lads (U18's) v Salford and and racked up 78 points.

A week later they played most of their 16 year olds and just beat Wire. As we have said many times it's about development at this age but the games do need to be competitive.

Will, that defeat make it difficult for Saints to make the top half of the "split"?