...I'd take Jacob Lillyman though.

Some of our recruitment has been bad and some has been good (Flower, Taylor, Clubb). The thing that stands out like a sore thumb for me is that the Wigan club simply do not produce top class props.

It's a topic that I've often thought about creating a thread on - who was the last great prop to be produced through the Wigan junior system?

Brian McTigue?
Ken Gee?

'Origin forward' Jacob Lilyman...

Hey, I'd have bitten Frank Pritchard's hand off!

For a while we didn't seem to produce any and since we've seen guys like Prescott, Mossop and Crosby come through who are all good(all their day) but not great props. I really like the looks of Sutton buying worry that he seems a bit on the slow side to really develop in to anything better then those three guys.

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SP, that is quite a question you pose there, I thought Itchey Arsenal's answer was being a bit frivolous until I had a good think and said to myself he may be right.
I went to a football only school in Atherton but they had a maths teacher who as well as being passionate about RL was also a linesman whose name was Fred Howker. One day he came in class and produced a bundle of tickets and said they were for the Leigh v Wigan match at the coming weekend, as always out for nowt I took one.
That is when I saw the great Ken Gee and I was hooked on RL from that day on, when I started going to Central Park a couple of years later (my Wigan supporting neighbour talked me into it) was the time Brian Mac came onto the scene. The first couple of years watching him he was in the second row and some older fans said that he spent a few years in the A team after starting at centre (I cant find proof of that).

I know I have strayed off the beaten track but it made me think what a good question SP posed, I can name a lot of great props who have played for Wigan in close on 60 years since but they weren't raised by Wigan.
Maybe someone like Rouges can help with something like this, but then the question would arise asking if these forgotten players were great.

My response was tongue in cheek so to speak but as I typed it I struggled to think of of a really top prop that had come through the system in recent years. I've watched us since 67 on regular basis and though I can recollect a couple of props who came through system none of them had any longevity.
One of my regrets is that I never got to see Brian Mc in his pomp. I think he retired through a bad injury early on in the 67/68 season.
At the moment our squad of props seems to be based on depth rather than quality. I rate Flowers highly and Clubb is pretty decent but doesn't do enough minutes for me. Sutton could be the answer but I just wish he had a bit more aggression but maybe that will come with time.
Though I bemoan the quality of our centres I keep coming back to our lack of go forward from our props which I think this season will come to haunt us as in past few seasons our pace has got us out of holes and that may prove to a little more difficult to achieve this season.
im sure Rouges will correct us both and will probably end up embarrassing our collective memories!

For a 20 year old I think Sutton is pretty aggressive, certainly in defence where he has battered a couple of people but he just looks a bit sluggish to me. I look at the very top end props the country has produced over the years and think of guys like Graham, Sam Burgess, Hill, Peacock etc. Aside from Peacock towards the end all have been much quicker and lighter on their feet.

Either way I really want to see Sutton get more minutes this year.

I did hesitate before I typed aggression re Sutton and maybe your assertion that he is sluggish may be more accurate but I do agree that I also hope he gets more time this season. Not sure why he played so few minutes pre season?

2 x cc winner Ricky Bibey (random guess that he came through our academy and at the train station so too lazy to check)

He seems to have played less minutes ever since he signed a new deal last year. Maybe Wane saw a drop in intensity in training or maybe they were giving him more games to try and convince him to stay whilst thinking that he's not quite ready.

Hopefully they're just protecting him a little. He's a better option then Tautai currently so we'll hopefully see him take a bench spot against Catalans ahead of him.