We can add Lama Tasi to that list , agree we don't seem to have a strategy for identifying what we need
more likely to get someone in and try to make them fit , case in point would be Jason Clark started to watch
him in the NRL when i knew we had signed him , played behind a big pack 3 Burgess ,John Sutton ,Ben Te'o
Dave Tyrrell etc , always started on the bench , played 10/15 mins at end of first half tacked everything in sight
then did 10/15 mins start of second half and that was usually it barring injuries , that was his role , we have him
starting at loose or sometimes as a fourth prop , not really what we needed , no lack of effort from him but we
aren't using him in the way he was used when he won the title with Souths , same with a few others , would
love to know who makes the final decisions on players and why.

Hearing on the grapevine that our head groundsman will be finishing soon, Melvyn Jones.
So gonna need to sign a replacement which should account for any spare cap sloshing about.
Wonder if KF will be arranging interviews down under

Considering we seem to get blighted every season with imports who just come for the money ,i would throw the young lads in who will at least show some commitment. Let's have a s#!+ or bust season & seriously blood a few of our promising kids before they move elsewhere or get fed up altogether with the lack of opportunities within the game in general & lose interest in RL.

Hallelujah, brother.

After watching last night, when it comes to late season play off rugby, we're currently as close to winning the GF, as we were with Cullen in 03..

#### imports and using up our quota (as we seem obliged to do), blood the youngsters, or we'll lose them, without barely using them

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You make an interesting point and the Salford game was a great opportunity for me to see the next generation in action. Based on that game, who you would you like to see blooded?

For me

Ellis Robson
Ellis Longstaff
Nathan (name escapes me, v tall lad played on the wing)
Josh Thewliss
Riley Dean
Eribe Doro

All seemed to me that they were ready for some game time. I may have missed a couple of other lads.
I guess for every Ben Currie there's a Sam Wilde, for every Joe Philbin there's a Ben Evans, but saints and Wigan seem to have faith in their production line, so why can't we?

Woah woah woah, Ben Evans was doing great before he got horribly injured by saints

They should all be penciled in for game time.

During the fixture congestion it was good to see a lot of games on sky and also with the build up sides using their younger players more. So how do we create that need to rotate 16 sides in the league but fit into the same timeframe as the current regular season ?? Would it not create more sky money as they could show a lot more games ??

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Yep......and then faded, gone. Didn't retire, ended up in the championship. Matty Lees had a bad injury last year and won the GF. Simon Grix had more time off than on the pitch at one point but still made first team when fit.

Did Ben Evans drop in ability or did we just cast him off?

From what i saw he just never really got the chance again, but before that he was playing really well. Shame really he just disappeared like Ben Harrison. Who was seemingly just quietly shoced out the club. It was very bizzarre.

He got that awful hamstring rip, when he got his leg pulled out in a tackle v saints, in 2015, I think it took forever and ever to heal, and eventually we let him go, he went to London and then maybe toulouse, ive lost track.

He was a real bright spark at the start of 2015, and as I've mentioned on here when its bee complained about, smith and the club were hoping he would be fit for 2016, he wasn't and thats why cox and Bailey were brought in as cheap reserves to fill a gap for him and also dodds.

The problem with this is if we had a season where we played mostly young players and finished 10th, the fans would still say the same thing - Price is taking us nowhere, get rid of Price, Briers, KF, we need a clear out. Look how Price got panned for playing Ashton at fullback in the cup semi against Salford - which was a good example of showing faith in youth.

It's easy to say that you want to see young players given a chance, but after a few losses they get panned. Keanan Brand was written off after one game. Remember when Steve Anderson was here and guys like Steve Maden, Dave Alstead, Jon Hill were given a shot in the first team. They got slagged off along with everyone else when we were losing.

The point about Wigan having faith in their production line isn’t quite clear cut. I suspect they produce far more SL players than any other team, but they let an awful lot go. In recent times we have signed 2 that became internationals in K Brown and J Hughes as examples. Any we have let go have hardly come back to bite us.

I fear that a golden opportunity, for this particular ship to sail, has been totally missed during the 2020 season.

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They don't half let an awful lot go, but they still produce and integrate a heck of a lot into their first team. I don't think Jack Hughes or Kev Brown have come back to bite Wigan on their arris, they've both moved on to teams that haven't won a grand final. I suspect the pies aren't angry because Mr Hughes isn't in their team.

I think it's a culture thing, we're chasing that first GF and will do it by hook or by crook. Saints, Wigan etc have the luxury of having that in the bag, so can address their production line a bit more, give more youngsters more chances in big games, almost a case of "we didn't win it this year, we probably will next year" vs our "we've GOT to win it soon".

Not knocking any of their efforts for us, but they were not what I'd consider international quality while in the P&B. Having said that, we need to strive to produce our own, and it won't happen unless there is adequate first team game time.