I don't know how you have the nerve to criticise other clubs home produced talent when your own club currently is is one of the worse clubs in super league to produce there own, even worse is to give up on them and scavenge other clubs on the other hand there club are good at bidding wars and paying over the odds.

If we had a league comp of home product players only its very likely the wire would be relegated.

I was being sarcastic towards the bitter Weirdness fan because Widdop isn’t past it neither!

I don’t disagree with you, but you made it out like throwing money at it and having few youth team players in a squad doesn’t work. When it has, for many clubs in the past.

You are right though as it has come to light since Tony Smith left, and Steve Price has come in, that Tony Smith used to just drive back to Yorkshire where he lived after he’d done his job with the first team and didn’t spend much time at all overseeing the youth side of the club. I believe since Price came in he was surprised at the lack of culture of the youth team playing the same way as the first team and the pathway to get into the first team hadn’t been positive at Wire. For a club that once brought Iestyn Harris and Paul Shorpe within a few years of each other, a town the size of Warrington and a town that has no professional football team, isn’t good.

If we can keep hold of Price for a good amount of time I can see that changing. Our youth sides have always been there or there abouts at youth level over the years. It’s just that pathway hasn’t been as good as at other clubs.

But let’s not pretend “throwing absurd amount of money at it” (there’s absolutely nowt absurd about it at all by the way!) doesn’t work.

Leeds and Wigan yes.

Maybe he joined Warrington over Saints to win trophies and play in major finals.

The last 10 years:-

Warrington:-
9 major finals
5 trophies

Saints:-
4 major finals
3 trophies

It's a good job for you Ben Flower handed you that Grand Final win.

But have won less over the last 10 years, correct?

Doesn't matter, they're winning the youth production league constantly (which begs the question why they'd need to sign Jack Owens at any point). I know Real Madrid fans want to trade in their 13 European Cups for Crewe Alexandra's youth production line.

That is absolutely comical, you say that as though Wire have 13 of rugby’s equivalent of the European Cup when you have a grand total of zero and have won no major trophies for 7 years. You aren’t winning the youth production league and you aren’t winning anything else either.

And over the last 20 years Saints have won more, your point is?

Would have loved Gaz at Huddersfield but we do have Frawley and Gaskell who would just edge it to the starting line up I think so we're all set.

Still no SL titles though

Guffaw

I think my point is quite clear. You suggested Widdop chose Wire over Saints for purely financial reasons. I'm merely pointing out that maybe, just maybe he could have picked Wire over Saints to become more successful as in recent years Wire have won and played in more finals than Saints.

Have you grasped it now?

Good thread this.

Nostalgia is a wonderful thing.

I was hoping that wasn’t your point because it’s a daft one. It’s debatable as to whether 10 years could be described as ‘recent years’, I’d say that 5 years is. In that time we’ve won more than you so yes I’d say he has joined purely for financial reasons. Then again we couldn’t have been in for him so I suppose it’s irrelevant anyway.