You're contradicting yourself. You rightly comment that Jones and Percival are different players. Exactly. Players are all different. But then you assume that because he is a teenager he is physically incapable of playing back to back even though he had Ablett in his pocket most of the night last week. Either players are all unique or they are not. Percival could be perfectly capable of fronting up at 18. Some blokes at 18 are big, some aren't especially big but they are strong. Others are not. Look at Jamie Foster. I don't think it will matter how old he gets, he will be a skinny git. Yet he has played lots of games, even when he was a teenager (granted, with Gidley on his inside to start with).

Percival was superb last week. He should have been given the chance to back it up. If he went to pieces then fair enough give him a spell at Rochdale or whatever but to not even be given the chance is pathetic.

Can you please point out the contradiction? I'm struggling to find it.

Percival isn't fully developed, that's plainly obvious looking at his build, Jones was. Just because he played well last week doesn't mean his body can take the strains and pressures of such a high intensity game week in, week out. I don't mean this condescending but as you've not played the game it's hard to fully comprehend the wears and tears on the body, especially at that level. There isn't anybody who understands properly without playing, no matter how much knowledge they have of the game, physios and medical staff excluded of course. There will be a lot of discussion between both the coaching staff and the medical staff in reference to whether Percival is ready at this point to back up against two of the best teams in SL. The staff have decided that at the moment it's a no and they know far more about the game than either you or I.

You mention if he went to pieces fair enough, play him at Rochdale for a bit. That would completely destroy his confidence at this point, it's much smarter to keep him on the high from Leeds then drop him in against Salford or Wakefield to continue that form.

I will spell it out for you. You say not all players are the same and yet you say that [ibecause he is a kid[/i he should be treated gently. So on the one hand you are saying teenagers are different but on the other you are saying they should all be treated the same.

You have no idea whether Percival is developed enough or not. Have you felt his muscles? Burrow is titchy in all respects but plays the man's game. Leeds' fullback is a skinny git too but he plays. It is strength that is important; not size.

And you have no idea whether his body could take it or not. Wheeler's clearly can't and he is definitely fully developed and into his 20s. You are just speculating.


There you go again, making assumptions! You have no idea whether him being unable to back up would destroy his confidence at all. It could have completely the opposite effect.

I think the best way with youngsters, if possible, is to dip them in and out.
Noble did it well with Sam Tomkins when everyone wanted him to play every week. You may remember David Moyes doing the same with Wayne Rooney. Mick Potter was also good at this when he introduced the likes of Wheeler, Lomax and Eastmond.
It's not just the physical test, it's the mental strain. First team rugby will be a sharp learning curve and introducing them gradually will benefit the player.

Steady on, Purple Aki.

I didn't say that at all, I said because he's not fully developed he should be cautiously treated, not because he's young. Most lads at that age aren't fully developed therefore need to be handled carefully, there are of course exceptions, like Josh Jones.



No, I'm not Purple Aki.

Sorry but you're wrong, looking at his build you can see he's not developed fully. I'm not saying that because he's not big, just because you can clearly see there's more to go on his frame. The same can be said with Gaskell.

When muscles aren't fully developed they are more prone to injury. no matter how strong you are. It isn't a case of whether he's big or strong enough, it's whether his body can take the strain. Even the strongest can get injured.



Re read the post, there was a lengthy point about the medical staff having conversations and htey clearly have decided it's best for him not to back up. That's not me speculating anythings, that's a decision made by the coaching staff and medical staff who know far more about this than you do.



So you're saying getting steam rollered tonight by Ryan Atkins would give him a boost?

I'm not saying he would get steam rollered before you insinuate that.

Rumbled

Purple Aki, is he still wandering about with his bag???

Banned from St Helens I believe.

I'm not one to be agreeing with the purple one, especially on matters of young men's muscles, but I'm going to take you on here.
Over the past few years we've seen stocky lads like Lomax, Eastmond and wheeler come through and reall struggle with injury. The skinny lads, however - Gaskell, foster, s Tomkins and Rambo Roby seem a lot more resilient to muscular injuries.

It's squeaky bum time and not because Purple Aki is knocking about.

Again, if you look at their build now to then they're not all that different. Being smaller doesn't necessarily mean not fully developed. I'd exclude Gaskell from that list though, he's picked up a few knocks.

If you look at Percival's build, he's got more to put on. I'd suggest he'll end up around 88-90Kg over the next couple of years. It's the same as lads who are around 16 shouldn't be lifting heavy in the gym, their muscles just aren't prepared for it (in general).

Anyway, this is mainly speculation from both sides so we may as well just leave it here as we'll never know. I'd expect Percival to be back in the next couple of weeks though.

I think Percival will feature against both Wakefield and Salford, then maybe drop out again for the Wigan game.

After his interview last night I got that one wrong,very wrong.
If we can sort out the halves he'll do the job.

www.saintsrlfc.com/news/page/2863 The thoughts from NB at the end of this article confirm what I was trying to say.

www.saintsrlfc.com/news/page/2863 The thoughts from NB at the end of this article confirm what I was trying to say.