Its been a big season for them..... limited recruitment has given them a chance to get lots of game time (which we all wanted)... how do you think they have done?

for me, they have been...

Ben Evans - before his injury he ran the ball and and tackled with vigor... at times he looked a real SL player. Once he is fit again im expecting decent things.
laithwaite - Excellent in patches... bit of a ropey start, but he matured and put in some excellent displays.... thoroughly deserves more game time in the first team.
Rhys Evans - hasnt really kicked on. years ago he was hyped as the next big thing. people were worried about fighting off union. He does nothing wrong, but he still has alot to live up to.
Ormsby - steady. nothing spectacular. Looks like a stop gap to me
Currie - still doesn't look to have kicked on. Maybe he needs to find his position and put some weight on. Looks to have the skills needed to make it... needs to improve though for me.
GOB - had plenty of game time.... not really done much wrong... but he is a HB and he hasnt made himself a regular... maybe playing off the back of this flacid pack isnt helping him...maybe its the right player at the wrong time... expecting him to be moved on.
Dwyer - n/a
Russell - i really dont know what to make of him... he seems to be a bit confused as to what he is meant to be doing. TS has showed alot of faith in him.. like i said on another thread... lets see how he goes next season before making judgements.
Riley/Bridge - meh

its been good to see so many playing for the first team.... im been left feeling a little dissapointed at alot of them though.

I agree with that analysis.

I think on the whole they have done OK. They haven't been completely exposed and shown out of their depth, they look well drilled and committed and are holding their own in a team competing at the upper end of the table.

I don't see any real stars amongst them. None of them grab me and say this kid is going to be a Warrington first teamer for a decade or more and win trophies for us like Paul Wood did or Chris Riley. Some of them might have a decent career in SL but their next move will be to a lower club.

The biggest problem is some of them carry unfair and ridiculous hype from sections of our fan base who claim that they are going to be world beaters: Rhys Evans, Currie and GOB have all been saddled with this tag at some point.

In the case of Evans, Currie, O'Brien & Dwyer in particular they could be forgiven for addressing criticism of going backwards, or not kicking on with "Well what do you expect?"

None of them have been played consistently in their true positions on a regular basis and have been shifted around to accomodate more senior players who themselves at times this season have looked to be going backwards rapidly.

See this is the problem when you want young players to do well but you have to make excuses for them. We had it with Penny, he could have been the new Offiah, but he suffered from playing outside a garbage centre in King, then Cullen treated him disgracefully by dropping him when he wasn't playing well, then Lowes treated him disgracefully by dropping him too, then probably his coaches at London, Widnes and Wakefield treated him disgracefully as well.

Moving positions a bit and being rotated or dropped is part of the game for the senior players as well and quality young players deal with that. Remember Iestyn Harris coming through, put him on the wing, centre, loose forward, he was class wherever he was on the pitch. Simon Grix as well, he wasn't one of our youngsters, but when he was emerging he played centre, stand-off and loose forward and he was polished from the start, you could see he could shine at this level.

Im not writing them off yet though because some players take a few years to come through, that was the case with Riley and Cooper but in both cases you could see evidence of progress year by year....if they are standing still that's concerning.

First time we started hearing about Currie people were saying 'the next sculthorpe'..... no pressure then.

i think currie's problem(not actually his problem) is that he's got the ian sibbit finger of versatility, i've been annoyed that we've played him at centre so much this year, i understand covering injuries but he'sa young back row forward, learning his trade now at the highest level.

Lets let him continue learning and not saddle him with the issue of having to learn to play a different position, just in case.

Ben Currie and Ben Evans are the two for me.

There have been times when they've both made me think "yep, Super League quality players in the making" but, as has been said, Currie is second row one week-centre the next-the odd time at loose or not in the team. BEvans picked up an injury at a bad time as i thought he was really settling in.

The other players are, in my opinion, just okay (REvans Ormsby Laithwaite) to not good enough (O'Brien Riley). Or i've not seen nearly enough of them to comment (Dwyer Bridge).

Important to remember that whilst every now and then you get a Sculthorpe or a Harris come through who reach the first team and are immediately a class act, for the majority of players who have ever become an established super league player there is a period of say 1-3 years where they improve and gradually establish themselves. Included in this are some of the very best players such as Peacock. I think all of the players mentioned above have shown enough to suggest that if they continue to improve, they have the potential to be super league players for a long time to come, however there are lots of players who have been in he same position (i.e. very solid youngesters who have come in to the first team and looked fairly steady) and haven't quite managed to kick on to do this e.g. Blythe, McCarthey, Alstead, Sibbit, Gaskell etc

I'm happy that so many have been given a chance tbh, not so long ago we were thought to be like Salford are now and were reminded of it often.

Now that we're investing in youth, people are mad that we aren't buying a load of players. Give the youth time and a chance. How many greats nowadays looked nuts, or at best average, when they first started?

Currie is the first youngster to appear in the first team when I've immediately thought "yep, they're top class material and a first teamer for years to come" since Ben Harrison.

Whilst I'm a little disappointed he hasn't shown a massive improvement this season, it should be remembered that he had a serious illness towards the end of last season.

I'm still fairly confident we're looking at a future international (England/GB).

Currie, Laithwaite and B Evans have stood out for me, just wish B Evans and Laithwaite could stay injury free for a really good spell

Has anyone thought that the reason they are moving around is for them to get the experience. I have been thinking about this and i was critical of Smith for not giving players a prolonged spell in the first team, but as it stands now, the players that we are talking about have been in and around the first team for a few years now and gaining valuable experience.
I think we are possibly judging these players to harshly and to early for there Warrington development. Take Currie for example, how many top class second row forwards are there under 21 in england? Because we are a top 4 side we dont have to throw these players in from day 1 and it might take a couple f years for them to be physically and mentally ready for the first team. to be ready to play in a top 4 side??

www.zerotackle.com/nrl/storm-add ... ter-14479/ This a link to a young promising talent being signed in Australia, he is 23 years old and only just being signed into the NRL from a feeder club? Are we expecting our stars to be stars to early??

www.zerotackle.com/nrl/storm-add ... ter-14479/ This a link to a young promising talent being signed in Australia, he is 23 years old and only just being signed into the NRL from a feeder club? Are we expecting our stars to be stars to early??

Is the problem the fact that we now have to sign players to contracts or release before they turn 20? Is 19/20 too early especially for forwards?

We have been a club that has brought through a lot of players from our own Academy for a long time. It's been a myth that we never gave our best Academy players a chance. When people criticise us for that what they mean is that unlike Wigan, Leeds, Saints and others, we have not really produced top quality players.

If you go back to the Cullen era there was Riley, Mark Gleeson, Hulse, Harrison, Pickersgill, Kevin Penny, Mitchell, Blythe plus Gaskell and Bracek signed from Saints academy. Back in DvDV day and there was Roper, Wood, Noone, Highton, Sibbit, Stenhouse, Campbell, Cowell, Alstead, Stevens, Duffy. Go back a few years before that and it was Harris, Sculthorpe, Lee Penny and Hilton.

We have been a club that has given young players a chance for a long while. I can't think of many players that were in our academy but left because they weren't getting enough opportunities and went on to be successful players in SL elsewhere.

I have to say though that since Harris and Scully there have only been four real good ones: Wood, Riley, Harrison and Cooper.