Is this Leatherbarrow any good ?

he seems to have been about the academy for ages but never gets a mention.

Is Mellor coming back off loan at Widnes or what? Might as well give him some game time for us against Widnes and Bradford to see how he goes. Even if its just off the bench.

Don't think so , but IMO, it should happen... if only to stop him 'doing a Marsh' to us as happened in the away game!

No! He's 22 now and is only on the academy because he was good friends with a lot of the lads through his St Pats days

Mellor hasn't been called back by Wigan according to Cullen on boots n all and he expects Wigan to play with Lockers in the halves.

Can't help but feel we are missing the chance to blood Mellor.

I think he's already signed for Widnes next year or it's at least agreed in principle. That's what I keep hearing from a Vikings supporting friend.

Mellor simply isn't good enough.

He's not had a future at Wigan for a while now.

Let's get one of those quality young England academy HB's in. We've got a few easy games coming up.

The old line still rings true if your good enough your old enough

Don't agree. They are still not fully developed physically and throwing them in too early could really hinder their progress.

They can't be any smaller than what Sam was when he broke through or what some one like Edwards was.

I think it bring their game on having access to that level.

The game is different to what it was several years ago so it's probably wrong to compare current players to those of old. While Tomkins was very slim he was a little older than Williams and Hampshire when he made his debut and had been a regular in the under 20's before that. Currently Williams and Hampshire have only played a handful of games at under 20's level and were at under 16's level last year, so making another step up is pretty rapid progression even for the most talented of players.

Playing one of them is probably an unnecessary risk right now given that O'Loughlin can play in the halves. I would imagine the club will keep playing them in the under 20's when possible and allow them to go on the tour of Australia before considering them for first team action.

I still think if your good enough your old enough and I don't think Lockers is good enough to be our HB option.

We are now weaker at 7, 6 and 13 which is a worry.

Tomkins is a one off freak! He's still built like a pipe cleaner but has super human strength.

It's unfair to use him as an example of somebody being old enough because they're good enough. We can't forget that Sam had a couple of years ripping the 20's division apart whereas Williams and Hampshire have been rotated between 18's and 20's by the looks of it.

The time doesn't feel quite right.

I couldn't agree more.
I am a big fan of both these young halfbacks, but let's get real. They have just been picked for an Aussie U18 tour and will still be available at that level next year.

They have done well in the u20's despite being so young. Let's nuture them properly and allow them to develop, hopefully into a top class Wigan halfback pair, but I have a feeling that Williams may eventually finish up at 9 and maybe Hampshire at 1.

Jack Murphy was in the 19 man squad for the Leeds game. He must be Wane's thoughts. He's a decent goal kicker for starters.