Ste Bannister

Looked very comfortable in the back row at Saints. Then decided he'd sooner get drunk than play professional rugby. His chance came before his maturity, unfortunately for him.

Dave Wilson at kr made his debut in 2006 looked like a quality player then threw his career down the drain to much sha&ing birds and drinking

i never understood how leroy rivett fell from grace so quickly

More to do with Justin not seeing him as a SL player and offering a contract that would have put him on the streets. As it happens he is just about to go play in Australia and hopefully resurect his career over there.

As for Leroy Rivett, I think the addage of "there is no substitute for pace" comes in to this one, his younger days he flew, later on he lost his pace and that meant he had to expand his game which meant he wasn't the player coaches wanted him to be so left him trying to find a club that would have him.

Unfortunately I think in Dave Wilson, Ste Bannister and Leroy Rivetts cases life away from the game was more attractive than working hard at getting better which ultimately cost them their top flight careers but sometimes I feel clubs give up too easily as in Dave's case, had he been given that opportunity and read the riot act from day one of 2007, he maybe would have dropped his social life and become a quality player. I guess we'll never know for sure but I wish him all the best down under.

Adam Bibey - Widnes paid a fee for him and Neil Kelly described him as one of the top forward prospects in the country

When I was doing a bit of googling I noticed this academy team from 2003 which beat the Aussie Institute of Sport team.

England Academy
Ian Hardman (St Helens) Try: 1
Lee Smith (Leeds)
Matthew Cook (Bradford) Sin Bin: 1
Karl Pyrce (Bradford) Try: 1
Danny Speakman (Wigan) Try: 1
Scott Murrell (Hull Kingston Rovers) Try: 1
James Coyle (Wigan)
Craig Huby (Castleford) Goals: 4
John Gallagher (Leeds)
James Graham (St Helens)
Jason Golden (Harlequins RL)
Harrison Hansen (Wigan) Try: 1
Carl Ablett (Leeds)
Subs:
Simon Grix (Warrington)
Brett Ferres (Castleford)
Adam Bibey (Widnes)
Andy Bracek (Barrow)

Bit of a mixed bag in terms of successes and failures really.

I think you'll find in dave wilsons case he was given every opportunity to have a full time contract and be a star but it was daves own fault for turning it down and doing what he did I know this because I know dave Wilson and he openly admits it so it wasn't a case of Justin not seeing him as a super league player as Justin held him in high regard

I felt sorry for Hardman because he had the skill and a slight bit of pace about him but he was just not good enough to break into a first choice at any SL club.

John Gallagher has now retired due to work commitments which is a shame because he was a good player for the Championship.

Ste Tyrer? Pushed too early IMO, likewise Tommy Lee.

Ah right, wondered what happened to him, great prospect in our promotion season like you say.

Always feel sorry for Ian Hardman. IMO he's one of the best loan signings we've ever had, did an incredible job in helping us survive in 2007, but then needless to say his days were numbered once we signed Shaun Briscoe. If we hadn't I'd have been more then happy for Hardman to be given the slot in 2008 onwards.

I remember Andy Smith, he was a great passer of the ball and had a good defense but never had that turn of pace to break the line

James Coyle for Wigan.

Richie Myler.

Jordan Tansey www.hullfc.com/hullfc/contents/

Jordan Tansey www.hullfc.com/hullfc/contents/

From the original post, Crabtree was training with Wigan's first team squad when he got a bad knee injury which set him back badly. He captained an Academy tour to Australia which included a lot of current SL players.

There were a huge number of talented players in my age group, arguably more talented than current SL players at the time, who got a lot of money for signing on and thought they had made it before they were even close.

Kris Smith at Leeds - had bags of ability but picked up a couple of horrible injuries that he never really recovered properly from.

Still, he's probably the only name that'll get mentioned on this thread currently seeing to a Minogue