He must have been playing well in the reserves to have been given an opportunity in the first team, so it's beyond me how he wasn't given a deal months ago.

I probably would have re-signed with Wigan if I had the chance but I wasn't getting a chance at the time and there wasn't much contact from them in terms of a new contract so I started to look elsewhere,"

By the looks of this his mind was made up before he played first team this year and possibly before Hock's head explosion.

If that isthe case who would you have dropped in order to accomadate him?.

On the list of young 2nd rows we may have had to release he was well down the pecking order behind Mossop, JT, Farrell and possibly even Tuson. If we knew then what we know now life would be easy, however we dont.

Correct

What did you think of his performances in the reserves?

Genuine question.

We lose a good young'un like Flanagan, yet some are keen that we sign Bailey for another year. I know who'd i'd rather keep. If Noble or Lenegan aren't speaking to him then what's the guy to do? Some things never change...

Perhaps.

He is the more senior of the young 2nd rows I have mentioned hence why he got his chance in the first team; however that is not to say that he has the most potential out of them.

At the time we needed to fill the gap left by our best 2nd rower being banned. It was not a time to blood a rookie, hence why Mossop was brought back from his loan and Flanagan was brought into the team.

He has done a job for us at the back end of the season and is a great prospect.
But be totally honest with yourself, would you have offered him a contract extension before his first team debut?

The few time I had watched him before he came into the first team he was playing very well, tackling hard and making good metres. I don't go to every reserve match, but someone must have seen his potential to give
him a chance in the first team.

How would you rate him against Chris Gerrard, he seems to be somewhat of the forgotten man after captaining England Academy a couple of years ago, has he failed to make the step up to reserves?

So we have no idea as a club how a player will adapt to 1st team rugby, keep him around the place / on loan for 2.5 years, and finally give him a chance against Saints, Leeds and in the semi final and he acquits himself well. We then proceed to pick him before other prospects even though he is leaving at the end of the season.

Why is anyone surprised?

Watched him play a couple of weeks back against saints, he's a great guy, but doesn't seem to be progresing aswell as I thought he would, but there's time he's only young so time will tell.

I made the same point a short time ago that young players could/should get a chance at this sort of age but apparently it is all different now and never happens according to some on here. Making débuts as Farrell and Edwards did at that age are a thing of the past apparently.

Richard Owen from Cas who impressed people at the game on Sunday in this thread [urlhttp://viewtopic.php?t=431221&start=15[/url is only 18.

Dave