I can't see the influx from the U20s being as great as some perceive. Half a dozen of the U20s who played in the playoffs, were eligible for the U18s. I would be surprised if more than three made an appearance.

After 8 or 9 pints it is quite common for a lot of e to be waffled ....it is the curse of the evil ale....

Well, the seven we promoted from the 2008 academy side I mentioned were all 18 when they were promoted. Of them only one has totally fallen by the wayside and probably three of them have truly impressed: Foster, Lomax and Dixon. The others are good but have not had the same resounding impact as those three. I think out of any side you will probably only get two or three who will seriously have a chance of making it over time but it is definitely worth seeing how those who have potential fare at first grade level. You could be very pleasantly surprised. Most Saints fans wrote Jamie Foster off, for example, because he's a skinny runt. But man he's tough, can read a game beautifully, has quick hands and boy can he catch a bomb. Just finding a couple of gems is well worth the effort and I'm sure Warrington has some gems in their youth teams, assuming we haven't nicked them.

im sure all ex wire players say that.

Ok, but who would u bring in then?

Of course Leeds didn't choke at the CC final. Warrington were just lucky. Leeds were desperate to win the Challenge Cup and so were their fans. They were just beaten by a far better side on the day.

Best laugh I've had in ages. Didn't know the schools were off.

I would have liked to see a top class Loose Forward join for 2011.

I am worried about our ageing team. It may be OK for now but the 2012 and 2013 seasons will see some wholesale changes required for big name departures. To name a few...

Morley
Briers
King
Hicks

I admittedely used to worry about this too but when you see the likes of Steve Menzies who is 36 and would still compete in any of the top 4 sides. Hodgson, Hicks, Morley are all ultra fit, and I am starting to believe more and more that with the way players train, eat, and generally look after their bodies nowadays means we shouldnt be worrying too much about players who are 32/33 like we did 10-20 years ago.

It's all a bit of a myth really, just like those folk who seriously think that 100,000 miles is "too high mileage" on a car. In some cases (i.e a snall engined car), but most modern day engines won't flinch at doing twice that.

Morley and Briers will be big losses, no doubt about that.

King isn't as much of a key figure for you imo, yes he's a quality player, but is Bridge + Atkins in the centres that much of a step down? I don't think it is really.

Same with Hicks, quality finisher yes, but he's a winger. Just like us with Pat, he undoubtedly improves the side, but could be fairly easily replaced and we'd still be a good side.

Briers will ultimately be the hardest to replace imo. Morley is quality but there are more top quality props about than half backs.

I'd class losing Hicks as a "big loss". He's one of the top wingers in Super League and him and Richards are the best finishers in the league.

But what I'm saying is that even without Hicks or Richards, both our sides would still have been near the top this year. They are both quality but they aren't irreplaceable.

Your team isn't going to fall apart if Hicks left, however without Briers I can see you struggling unless you adequately replace him.

Fair point - although I would argue that had you hadn't of had Richards this year then you wouldn't of won the minor premiership.

Rhys Evans will replace Hicks, I'd imagen. The Briers one is the one I fear.

I agree about Richards. But what i'm saying is that we'd still have probably finished in the top 3.

Roberts was a massive loss for us when he got injured after his early season form, but we brought in a fairly average player (imo) in Goulding and he scored a hat full of tries on the back of the rest of the side. Roberts was replaceable even though he was the best player in the league at that point.