I’ve seen Stephen’s once against Wigans academy and we couldn’t deal with him tbh. Will that translate to the first team? Who knows but it’s not going to give him any less of a chance having that sort of physical presence.

What I will say though is that big lads have dominated at academy level before and not been able to translate it to first team rugby. The most devastating academy performances I can recall were from Ryan Bailey at Leeds and he never managed it. I’m not saying he had a bad career, far from it but he was killing teams at that level, going over, through or round players for fun but in the first team he ended up making a career more as a grafter and wind up merchant.

I found this interesting from the Academy coach in relation to what we've been discussing.

“Whether they all go on and reach that potential remains to be seen, But I believe this current crop of young players is as good as we’ve ever had.”

That seems a lot more nuanced and balanced than what Rush has said or what some fans seem to think is an almost foregone conclusion that they will come through and succeed at this level.

I think there's been a lot of outside noise about this crop of players (Stu has named them all) that won't be beneficial to them. The club have previous in getting these transitions right though, and you can see already the likes of Stephens and Vaughan (the two most physically ready) in and around first team environments. Saints have some work to do to successfully integrate them all and the hype around them won't help but it will be an interesting couple of years seeing them all come through and hopefully replace the older guard.

It will be interesting but they will need some of the older players to help them. At this rate some of those experienced heads will be in care homes. Joking apart, these lads need some exposure this season if they are to transition seamlessly there is only so much experience playing on loan can give you. What still amazes me is that we still go on about how we need to protect young players, tell that to the greats like Murphy, Farrell and Gregory who were hardly out of school and yet holding down regular first team places.

Many think (including a number of TV commentators/) that Tommy Makinson is the best winger that SL has seen, but is that true? No doubt our friends over Billinge Hill will be fighting his corner but, I am not sure that the facts support crowning Tommy as the best. Ryan Hall will equal Danny McGuire's super league try scoring record if he scores one try against London, that will give him 247 in 362 appearances (0.68 tries per game). Ryan is followed closely by former Wigan wingman Josh Charnley who has, at present, recorded 238 touchdowns in 288 games (0.83). Both wingers have spent time away from Super League - Ryan for two seasons (2019/2020) and Josh (2017). Tommy has managed to score 183 tries in 294 appearances (0.62) according to the Rugby League Project. However, both players are older than Tommy and have played in SL longer. I am sure other posters will be able to introduce additional facts and arguments, let the discussion begin.

Surprised Saints fans are crying blue murder about the no try (which clearly wasn't) when they are adamant that Wardle's was definitely not a try against Penrith. Funny old world. Loving hearing their fans booing every decision, desperate acts from a team on the slide

You mentioned facts.fact is he won the golden boot. I know you can’t give any saints players any credit ever but tell me how many Wigan wingers have ever won the golden boot?

Unlicky lmao

[quotAeYou mentioned facts.fact is he won the golden boot. I know you can’t give any saints players any credit ever but tell me how many Wigan wingers have ever won the golden boot?

Unlicky lmao[/qdFa
Three have
Farrell
Hanley
Kenny

I only saw the first half but Percival was lucky not to see red for me. Clear contact to the head very similar to his Salford red card and how the Mbye 'try' didn't go upstairs is beyond me. lost it into the Leeds man before grounding.


But its all a conspiracy against them isnt it?

WTF has that got to do with the conversation you tool? If you look back at my previous posts you will recall what I said about Murphy, you obviously have a mental issue and therefore I pity you.

You can be daft sometimes.
I also think that you mean "unlucky" lmao,unless you did mean Unlicky-Licky My Ar*e Off,which would explain a lot.

To be honest I don't remember any of those 3 spending much time on the wing.

Hanley spent time on the wing, scoring lots of tries there.
From Wiki:

He scored a remarkable 55 tries in only 37 appearances, an achievement made even more remarkable as he switched between the positions of wing, centre and stand-off.

The discussion is not about a single season it is about which player has performed best during the SL era.