In a playing capacity, what more experience do you want Graham and Roby to have?

Neither are in their prime yet, and at 24, are still in the stage where they are learning the game.

I think it's a dangerous tactic to expect players that young to have the burden of guiding younger players when they should be concentrating on improving their own games.

Graham Smith was captaining South Africa at 21 in a game where maturity is at more of a premium than RL.

Both Roby andf Graham should have a pretty developed sense of knowledge of RL. They have reppresented Great Britain, participated in a World Cup in a different country and experienced the highs and lows of losing major finals. Guiding the younger players is a principle duty of the coach, a major reason why Potter was brought to Saints for his experience in this regard. I share some of your concern about overall balance of the side and perhaps we would do well to recruit an older head in the forwards at close season.

If graham and roby are still learning the game, then i fear for other teams when they learn it! Graham could quite possibly get a gig at any NRL team now and roby wouldn't be far off.
Graham and roby are now senior players, Cloughy is a bit of a push though. Next year our senior players will possibly be Wello, Graham, Roby, Gidley, Gardner. These are players that the young lads can look to for their experience at domestic and international level.

I'm not saying that young players cannot be captains, but they tend to be surrounded by older heads at the time.



The coach isn't on the pitch though



I just worry that we are losing 3 experienced players and bringing in 1 23 year old and that it will eventually tell.

You expect a 24 year old to know all there is about the game?

Yes, they are ahead of some other players at their age due to the games that they've played, but IMO they should still be concentrating on their own games, which do have flaws.

Yes we will have Wellens and Gidley, but expecting these two to take over the mantle of the likes of Long is at least 2 years early for me.

I see your point but that 23 yr old is an international, as is Scott Moore who is effectively a new signing. We do need experience and i think we are all hoping that comes in the form of 1 and very hopefully 2 experienced props.

How old was Jamie Lyon when he came over?

He's played 8 games, and Moore 1 at international level, and More has a [ilot [/ito learn.

Hopefully you are correct and we do sign a prop.

Jamie Lyon played with a number of experienced players though

They both have alot to learn, but the fact they have both been internationals so young shows they are quality. I'm not really concerned about Long or KC going, which is shocking because i thought we'd be stuffed when they left.

I think we'll see some experience signed up in the front row. Our back row is a real strong point with a lot of experience in. Our backs too are very well experienced wellens, gardner, meli, gidley, soliola & pryce are all guys with a lot of experience.

It keeps coming back to props, though.... It's making me nervous, but, i felt exactly the same when lyon left and we didn't announce Gidley till really late in the day, but the board came up trumps with that one!

I don't doubt their talent and ability

Maybe I'm worrying about nothing, but as OM says that front row does need supplementing

I can't really see what all the fuss is about. In the coming years all SL sides are going to have to do with fewer overseas signings and bring more locally produced talent through the ranks. At the current rate of progress we'll get there first and have a strong side that will continue to challenge for honours.

PK we're losing the massive experience of long and Gilmour for certain and perhaps KC. We will still have a raft of experienced big game international players in Wellens, Gardner, Gidley, Meli, Pryce, Graham, Roby, Puletua, Fa'asavalu, Wilkin. Add Clough and Flannery to that mix with Siosola, and Moore and that's a pretty experienced core. Hargreaves wont let anyone down.
Then there's the young uns who've already acquited themselves admirably this season; Eastmond, Wheeler, Lomax, Dean, Dixon, and Ashurst.
One niggling worry is the number of inuries that Wheeler, Lomax, Eastmond and Frodsham are getting. Which begs the question whether they are yet physically up to SL standard.

We might not have noticed them quite so much this season in our young players had we not been forced to rely upon our young players! Potter has said on the Saints website that he would normally anticipate young players perhaps playing four or five matches in their first season. However, these guys have been thrown in far more often than that. Their skills, strength and fitness levels won't yet be fully up to that of first grade and so that surely makes them more vulnerable to injuries when they are having to play weekly matches? I suppose only time will tell. It would be a great shame if four of our best young players turn out to be dogged by injury as that will no doubt spoil their careers. However, I'm still hoping that it's just a case of either misfortune or having not yet adjusted to the demands of first grade rugby league.