I don't think it went to his head in terms of becoming a johnny big balls, but I do think that due to his instant success, he was more closely scrutinised especially with a decent contract and expectation hanging over his head. People in an around the club would begin to look for a return for the investment made, it was just unfortunate that he didn't develop into what we thought he could have been.

Do I think Cull was right to offer him a big contract (also I am assuming he was on a 'decent' wedge compared to Riley for example), too right, as i said previously, he gave the impression that big things were to come.

Can we essentially put his performance fn his first 11 games down to luck or did he have the raw talent to compete, but was never given time to develop?!?

Well lots of young backs have a good start then coaches have time to start watching footage of them and targeting them and so they go through a dip where they are under pressure by other teams and lose form, sometimes they come through it (Chev Walker, Vainikolo), other times they just fade away (Rivett, Karl Pryce).

But in SL there is a limited number of chances a player will get. Penny played 50 Super League games which is a fair crack of the whip, if there had been upward progression in his form he would have probably been kept on by someone, but take out his explosive first half season and the rest is a couple of good games and a lot where he struggled.

He has been training with Sale for a while which helped keep his options open as to which code he continued with

Saw Penny play for Swinton against the under 20s. Once he had been chased down, in the open, for the second time I thought it said it all really.

Penny named on the bench for Sale Jets tonight, along with another of our former wingers, Taylor Welch:
[urlhttp://www.salesharks.com/ClubNewsDetail/article/2656914/name/Jets%20playing%20RGC%201404%20tonight[/url

USA!

I think this is spot on. And as an unashamed fan of penny's it was a real shame....

Take Ben Jones Bishop, a young exciting winger with potential to go on and carve out a good career however he is still Raw, dodgy in defence,and dodgy under the high ball.but he's a decent attacking pacey winger but he hasnt grabbed headlines like Penny did, he hasnt scored the wonder tries penny did.

I'm sure Many people will Say Ben jones Bishop is twice the player Penny ever was and if thats the case, then Why on Friday night When Chris Riley rounded him with all the ease of someone taking candy from a premature baby was nothing said by the commentators about BJB being caught out,or being niave, or being poor at that aspect of the game, and why didnt the Wire fans sing there's only one Ben jones Bishop.....??

Penny for a brief spell was great for the game and great for our club, I hope the Game of Rugby whatever code rewards him well.

Possibly because although BJB sometimes has poor games, he has also had good defensive games, including the more exposed full back role?

It seems to me that fans are remarkably hard on players who they think are destined for greatness and then disappoint. Rivett is similarly disparaged on the Leeds board by a lot of people - not even the fact he scored 4 tries at Wembley seems to matter. Aisncough is similarly trashed on the Wigan board, forgetting how good he looked in his first season.

Penny has an amazing highlights reel - I would have loved to have been there when he scored some of those tries, even against Leeds. I hope most people choose to remember the tries and not the stuff ups. He and Ainscough haven't become greats of the game, but they've given fans some moments of great excitement, which shouldn't be underestimated either.

I can still remember the electric atmosphere in the South Stand when he received the ball and left the Wigan backs for dead as he beat them on the outside. From what i recall we beat them about 34-22 or something like that.

I find it quite sad that there is no place, even in the lower echelons of super league, for players with as much exciting talent as penny just beacause they have some flaws in their game. I am sick of seeing pacy backs from all teams in super league looking for support when they break the line and are in the clear with just the full back to beat. Is trying to beat the last man with pace or a nice step a thing of the past? It wasn't just penny's pace that made him exciting, but his subtle change of pace when the full back attempted to tackle him. He regularly skinned the best (including wellens when he was in his pomp) full backs in the game. Still, he scored some of the best tries i've seen in a warrington shirt and that will stay with me forever.

Good luck to him and I hope he can work his way back into SL eventually