Is that any different from what we have done anyway?

Wood, Riley, Harrison, Cooper, McCarthy, Blythe, Evans, O'Brien, Williams, Currie - all of these have come through our Academy and been given their chance in the first team. Then there are guys like Penny, Pickersgill, Mitchell and going back further, Noone, Sibbit, Hulse, Alstead and Mark Gleeson, all of whom played significant time in the first team.

Some of these players were not up to being in a top side and you could also say some of the current ones that are being given a chance are not up to being in a top side either, but at least they are getting their chances. You cannot accuse Warrington of only seeing promoting academy players as a last resort - if anything we tend to promote too many and would benefit from being more ruthless, there are some lads who get their chance at Warrington that would be filtered out sooner at a club like Leeds or Saints.

As for the finished article, it comes in two forms:
- high promise that has come through other clubs Academies, that just needs polishing (Westwood, Grix, Hill, Atkins, Ratchford, Myler)
- established top class players (Morley, King, Hicks, the Monaghans, Hodgson, Waterhouse).

All successful sides that win trophies have a balance of the three types of player - promoted academy products, high promise from other clubs, established top class players. Go back and look at every successful side - Wigan in the 80s and 90s, Bradford/Saints in the 2000s, Leeds in the past 10 years, they all fit that bill and so do we under Tony Smith. We are not underpromoting home grown players compared to them.

But you will not win trophies without those finished article players.

Fans like the idea of a team full of home grown products but it will not win trophies. Even Man United when they brought through Giggs, Beckham, Scholes, Nevilles etc would have not been successful without the likes of Cantona, Schmeichel, Keane.

The alternative reality in the past few years would have been that rather than sign those finished article players we could have stuck with Sibbit, Noone, Penny, Pickersgill and so on instead. We would have won nothing.

True. Well if you include it in our area, that would make 10 U19's from a total of 31.

I was given the figure of 7% of the players who start with the Academy ever playing first team.

7% is that a general figure or at Wire?

It's the RFL's figures gathered from all SL clubs over the past few years. As a rule of thumb, only two SL standard players will emerge from each intake of U15 / U16's.

I would imagine that figure is considerably less in top class Football.

Thats because the places in the first team were mainly sewn up by the likes of:

Hodgson
Hicks
King
Atkins
Bridge
J Monaghan
Briers
Myler
Ratchford
Hill
M Monaghan
Higham
Morley
Carvell
Westwood
Waterhouse
Grix

all of these players were brought in to the club from outside

Which ones of those were mistakes and were taking the place of a Warrington lad that could have been worthy of a SL place?

Who comes from Telford?

Quote: The All New Chester Wire "Who comes from Telford?'" Joe Furlong. www.midlandsrugbyleague.co.uk/ar ... rs-starlet

Quote: The All New Chester Wire "Who comes from Telford?'" Joe Furlong. www.midlandsrugbyleague.co.uk/ar ... rs-starlet

I think he is the first we have signed from the Midlands, ex team Telford Rangers. Can play half or hooker apparently, but I think he was played off the bench at hooker in the two matches he has played to date.

Maybe he's better than Brad Dwyer...