Because the OP is a Saint Fan

2 of the lads and their families are Saints fans, the others are avid Warrington fans.

I think you've made this one up. If Cunningham had been on Warrington's books it would have been brought up over and over again with Saints fans laughing at us for years. He would have been in the youth team at the same time Harris and Scully were coming through.

I thought Cunningham was picked up from his junior club by Paul Wellens' Dad who was a scout for Saints at the time. Never heard of him being on the books of any other club.

This is what usually happens with these threads. It's disillusioned kids who got released and either them or their mates or families come on complaining about Warrington's youth system. We have been hearing it for years. There's seven Challenge Cup medals in the hands of lads who have come through Warrington's academy, which is more than there are in the hands of lads from Wigan or Leeds.

Well, he's been playing in the first team for weeks and has been making encouraging progress. But he's buggered it up by going off to Cas. That will either make or break him I should think!

Andy Dixon is a gem. Wire let a very good one go there.

Thing is, Warrington and Sintellins are only six miles apart. If one club isn't providing the opportunity at that time for a particular kid then it's really very easy for them to just look up the road and see an alternative if it's available to them. Most of the kids disappear into the ether anyway from what I can see.

the question is how are warrington letting them slip away?

is it just poor foresight by Warrington Scouts?

Is it stubborn players, who value something that Warrington can't (or more likely won't) give them (money etc)?

Something else or a mix?

Is there a problem at all?

Thats not the case this time, Warrington had these lads on Scholorship and they had been offered a place for next season but have chosen to go to Saints instead.

What lads have we got on the Warrington scholarship that have a good chance of breaking into the first team in years to come?

I can't blame them. If I was their shoes I would find it hard to turn down an offer to join the most successful side in the Super League era. Plus with their new stadium on the way they could always trot out "I've joined St Helens as they are a club on the up and going places".

Signing other teams' players? Ye gods, whatever next...?

As anbody seen Joseph Ryan or Kane Ditchfield play ? Ive seen a couple of videos of Ryan and he is a massive unit.

One player you have on Scholarship in your u16's is Zak Dewihurst. His from Yorkshire and he played very well in your u15 scholarship games. His a big boned black lad with a giant afro and he also plays for England at junior level. Excellent player imo.

You have other like Declan Patton and Ryan Manelly who i like the look of.

I think the reason alot of Warrington players sign forms with Saints is because we guarantee them a trip to Australia. We take our youngsters every 2 years to play against Australias finest and its all payed for by charity event like bag packing.

Whats he like Declan Patton? Heard stuff about him. Is he U15s?

That's fair enough then, it's their careers so the lads are entitled to make the choices which suit them best.

It's funny how when young players make the decision to leave the club and go to Saints, everybody points the finger at the club and says "what are we doing wrong, we must be doing something wrong if players are leaving to go to Saints". They don't blame the kids involved.

But when Nick Fozzard signed for Saints or Iestyn Harris signed for Leeds, everybody said they were judases and booed them every time they played us.....

Moved up to U16's this year for Latchford.

His a very good Scrum half and the lads got that cocky attitude a half back needs. He punched a Orrell player straight in the face the other week in the first game of the season which resulted in the ref abandoning the game. Good goalkicker aswell.

Your U15 scholarship only lost narrowly against both Wigan and Saints last season despite losing so many players. Saints ended unbeated. The year before at service area level, Warringon won St Helens 50 - 0!

Both Warrington and St Helens have very successful youth polices, however I think it is highly more likely that a youngster will get his chance at St Helens easier than at Warrington.

I am sure parents and players will appreciate this. St Helens are definetly more ready to give youth a chance! Personally I think Warrington will continue to concentrate on estabilshed good senior players. Maybe you get short term game? maybe it is because you have the cash to do it? but I do think local British youth gain with St Helens policy.... Any thoughts?

I wouldn't have said that was the case in recent years. I can think of a lot of lads who got their chance at Warrington - Mark Gleeson, Gary Hulse, Dave Alstead, Jamie Stenhouse, Dean Gaskell, Steve Pickersgill, Andy Bracek, these lads had a lot of first team games between them that they wouldn't have got at Saints. The honest answer is those lads were not good enough to have got the amount of games they got in SL, if they had been at Saints. The only one we brought through who I think would have been a long term first teamer at Saints, is Paul Wood.

If youngsters got their chance more easily at St Helens than at Warrington then Lee Briers wouldn't have joined Warrington.

The difference between us and Saints was not that Warrington aren't willing to give young players a chance, the Cullen era especially was good for that, Cullen brought a lot of lads through to the first team and gave them their chances, Harrison, Riley and Cooper have gone on to make it, others fell away. The real difference between us and Saints was that they have had top quality players come through their Academy and we haven't (Roby, Graham, Eastmond...and going back further, Wellens, Cunningham). Last time we produced anybody in that category was in the mid 90s with Harris and Scully.