Were not a successfull club. We arent going to keep all the players we want until we are the type of club where young lads aspire to play in order to be part of something successfull and not just because its their local side.

Unfortunately in order to be successfull we need these young players so theres almost a chicken and egg situation there.

If true about the club having an emergency meeting then Im glad this issue is being taking seriously.

We are still a long way behind the top sides in our academy set up but we are defintely making progress. We have a huge amount of catching up to do. Bastian and the rest of youth development at the club and around the town need time.

The point that jumped out at me in Boyd's post was "attitude." Its there in the Saints first team and obviously part of the culture of the club. That cant be developed over night.

On a sidenote, does anybody else not feel this is a little unfair on us as a club? I mean, we've invested time and money training these lads for years, we've improved them as players had them on scholarships, only for them to just shift clubs and that's the end of it?

I just think it's a little unfair that we're bringing these lads through, only for them to F us off and move to our rivals. We obviously can't force them into things, but do we gain any kind of compensation or anything for this?

It is disappointing when good prospects are signed by other clubs. But don't forget we've had Academy players leave us and go to other clubs, just as we have signed players from other clubs Academies.

Without mentioning any names, as that would be unfair, I spoke to a relative of a lad who left Warrington for AN Other Super League club a couple of years ago and he said that he chose said club as their first team coach actually met them, sat down in conference with them, outlining where the club aims to go, where they expect the player to go and how they will go about getting the player to develop and realise his potential.
Warrington, apparently, just wanted to talk terms of a deal.

Let's not forget, though, either, that some young lads do get disillusioned with the way Service Area and Scholarship squads have been ran in the past. A bit like the thread about talents and attitudes, a lot of players were signed from junior clubs based upon their performances at club level, especially those who were physically superior in size to other kids. How many have come through to a regular first team place, though?
There is either a problem with recruitment or the coaching they recieved, as they haven't been developed into first team players. Perhaps these young players don't want to be part of a scheme that they don't believe will develop them for whatever reason.

Spot on.

Aaaa

dougie who?
we are talking promise not the finished article,there have been plenty of young 16yr olds in the past who were going to be the next big thing,they flit usually under peer pressure from club to club and amount to nothing.
if you are good enough you are old enough, but the ones that prove to be are usually at their chosen club and stick with it through their formative years.

the thing is these boys should be free to play for whom they choose.and they should go to the best possible club to help their development.i know one of the boys who have been discussed and i know for a fact he did not leave the warrington scholarship without a lot of thought,he was nott influenced by anyone in any way and made his own decisions.maybe in the future IF he makes the grade he may play for his home town team.

It's fair enough that these lads have their choice of where to go. They are making choices about their education, in rugby terms, which is going to influence their careers, so they have to judge what place feels right for them.

Most SL academies have a good track record of bringing through SL standard players, but if you're talking about bringing through top standard British players then over the last ten years or so they have basically come through three SL academies: Leeds, Saints and Bradford. These are the big three in terms of junior development and any lad going there knows he's going to get the best grounding he can get.

There's also an element I think for a players long term career, that if he comes through the ranks at one of those clubs it will do his CV no harm in the long run. It's like when graduates looking for finance jobs get on the grad schemes of big firms like KPMG, Deloitte etc, even if they leave afterwards, their CV is always impressive because employers see them as having had their formal training in a top professional environment. Clubs will always see lads who have been through Saints academy as lads who have had a good education in the game and they will have something about them.

Like wires09 says, it doesn't mean that players who leave Warrington's books to join another clubs academy, are turning their backs on Warrington for life. I bet people weren't happy when Richie Mathers left Warrington for Leeds Academy in 1998 or whenever, cursing that we'd let a real talent slip through our fingers. That fact is completely irrelevant now although it's done us no harm that Mathers has had his education at Leeds.

I'm Sure followers of the Wigan Kids were just as, if not more dissmayed when Scott Leatherbarrow came to Warrington......

I remember one of the Vice presidents crowing over his capture saying he was going to be the next big thing.....

I doubt Wigan give a toss now they have Sam Tomkins.

we cant afford to cry over young boys leaving the club yes its a bit odd given Bastian being incharge, but maybe it says something about their character anyway......

we can attract Matt King, Andrew johns, Alan Langer,...etc etc ,this club isnt exactly a lepper colony.

Whats happened to Leatherbarrow now, not heard anything of him this year?

Wheres the Dougie bit from? Isnt his name Lewis?

Fantastic player anyway, Big loss for you guys. Ive covered alot of his big games this year, NWC, Cup and League and also national Cup and SA to boot. He stood out in every game. Man of the Match in both National and NWC cup Finals

What amateur club was Leatherbarrow at ? What's his favoured position ?

St pats....

he was also an England youth player and on Wigans Scholarship

He's a half back played in the Christmas Friendly I believe.....

Wigan St. Patricks - scrum half

Always thought Scott was going to turn into a decent SL player having watched him for a while at youth level and was gutted when he left for Warrington. But he looked very out of his depth in the pre-season friendly against us at the start of the year and a long way from first team standard - at the minute I think we may have got the better deal when Joe Mellor came to us at the same time.