Quote: Bulliac "Not a fair comparison at all imo.
Some young players bound into first team at 17 or 18 and look the part, both physically and mentally right from the off, Sam Burgess and Leon Pryce are perfect examples. Others, Jamie Peacock is a textbook example, take much longer to make in inroads into first team rugby - Jamie was around 22 before he became anything like a 'regular', and he didn't turn out too shabby, IIRC.
You have to allow both types to develop at the pace which suits them or risk losing some real top class players.'"
I'm fully aware it's an unfair comparison, but that doesn't stop people making it.
And whilst you're right that you risk losing some top class players by cutting them early, there's the flip side of that where you risk paying someone for years who never develops and you've wasted money that could have been spent elsewhere.