www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/20 ... per-league It would of been 10 if we had Greg Bird on board And the four english boys Fielden, Mathers , Loughlin and Hock are nothing special.

www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/20 ... per-league It would of been 10 if we had Greg Bird on board And the four english boys Fielden, Mathers , Loughlin and Hock are nothing special.

Correct we have too many foreigners but what is it with Saints? Their brilliant youth development is a myth IMO. They brought through Wello and KFC then had a 10 yr gap before getting Roby and Graham!!

They are now forced to look at their kids but who is to say they will make it?

No it wouldn't. For Bird to come to Wigan one of the other overseas players would have needed to be released.

I think there are not too many more English players better than Fielden, Lockers and Hock. I will give you mathers though

I don't for a second think they are being forced to bring through the kids, they have been very open in the fact they are making every effort to bring players up through from the academy system.

thats ok then.

indeed - Saints have taken a conscious decision to operate below the salary cap and promote the young players through the squad. We have space on the cap to spend - but have chosen not to.

1 out of four isnt bad

If so that is new for this season. You have never done it before. Your success has always been built on bringing players in from outside for years now. Players like Sculthorpe, Long, Iro, Lyon, Gilmour, Anderson, Wilkin, Gardner, Pryce, Fozzard, Gidley, Meli (the list goes on longer than that as well) have been the cornerstone of your success NOT home grown players. So don't be so smug and it will be interesting to see how you do go with home grown talent as opposed to the way your club has operated for the last 10 years.

Dave

How many "home grown" players were in Saints starting 13 v Leeds in last years Grand Final?

there is a clear distinction between bringing in 8 or 9 English players, and bringing in 9 foreigners.



as for the Grand Final last year, 9 out of the starting 13 were home grown, something which Wigan can only dream of.

Players like Gardner and Wilkin may have been brought in from outside the club - but where would they have been now, had Saints not taken a risk on them as teenagers?

maybe so - but where has anyone said otherwise. Saints have relied on a lot of imports in the past, but if the talent is there now to support a squad with minimal imported players then it can only be a good thing for the game as a whole.

I'd agree with that, our youth systems have been poor for years, however we're now seeing the benefits of investment in that area (starting with Millward and improved dramatically by Anderson) and hopefully we'll see a few a year being able to be brought into the first team squad.

Considering that people on here keep banging on about how good your youth set up is, and have been for years, what's your excuse?

Ouch theres a few home truths in that article...

Home grown as in local?
That's what this debate was about and you know it.