Quote: PrinterThe "I made a point on the Leeds board earlier this week that the key issue could be age. Myler was 23/24 the first year when Briers retired, was too much expected too soon? Luke Gale won a MOS at 29, where was he at 23/24? McGuire was successful at that age in 2007 but he was a supporting HB running in tries, he had Sinfield by his side and wasn't the more complete game managing HB he showed in GF wins of 2015 & 2017 even though he'd made impacts in GF's before then.
Not just a Warrington problem but is the game here too quick to write off a HB if he isn't the complete article before 24/25? Sinfield and McGuire were still winning GF's at 34/35. Lee Briers was 27 in 2005, look at what he did after that age.'"
I'm not sure halfbacks get written off early over here. Myler and McGuire have both been first choice SL halfbacks every season since they were 19. Whatever questions Myler had over him he still was first choice in his position.
The interesting question is, why are Aussie halfbacks able to come in and lead top level teams from a young age, when English players don't seem to have anything like the same ability to run a team at the same age and take much longer to mature. Mitchell Pearce was NSW halfback from the age of 19; Todd Carney, Cooper Cronk and Michael Morgan were first choice halfbacks from the age of 20-21; Jonathan Thurston was Queensland halfback from 22. You even see when young Aussie halfbacks get put in front of the media to do interviews, they are much more articulate and confident and you can see why they can command respect of their older teammates, whereas the English lads just shrug and grunt and reel out cliches about completing us sets and that.
The Aussie system also found a way to keep guys that took a bit longer to develop. Daly Cherry-Evans didn't make his first grade debut till age 22, but he was player of the year in the Queensland Cup for Manly's feeder team and then was in the Kangaroo side at the end of his rookie NRL season. James Maloney didn't become an NRL regular till age 24 but he had been proving himself in the NSW cup competition.
I know it doesn't help that we have closed the reserve team but SL reserve team would be nothing like the breeding ground for a young halfback that the Queensland or NSW cups are.