but he could have played a couple today, and then played another couple next week. don't think people are moaning about blooding youngsters, it's more about throwing too many in at once and ending up throwing what should on paper have been a win.

That destiny is still in our hands at this point of the season. As disappointing as today was there are lessons to learn that will stand us in good stead later in the season and some positive signs for the future.

Well I reckon at least five of them won't be around next season.

Is losing to Widnes really the future Wigan fans aspire to?

That's true, but a lot of those players will have to get used to playing alongside each other at some point and will have to be ready for first team rugby very soon.

If Wane wants to be strong throughout the season he has to find out what the youngsters can do as soon as possible. I'd rather he takes a massive risk in one or two games to see how they cope under pressure as opposed to relying on them after a few brief appearances and finding out that they can't cut it.

At this early stage defeats don't matter so much. If you're going to make mistakes and if you need to learn a few things the first few games if the best time to do it. If the team is good enough we will beat the likes of Saints, Leeds, Warrington, Huddersfield etc. once the season is really in full swing, and those wins should get us in the top 4. If we aren't good enough to beat them we won't win.

I can see how bringing young players through from the academy must be alien to a Warrington fan like yourself but please try and see the bigger picture here.

Well you had the younger O'Brien up against Mellor today; which one of the two looked better equipment for Super League?

surely putting 2 youngsters in would benefit them more than throwing 5 in at once. isn't it better to drip feed 1 or 2 at a time into an experienced team, and preferably at the dw stadium. isn't the theory supposed to be they will learn from the experienced pro's. 5 in one game away from home is just too much.

I accept the need to develop the squad but I truly believe we need to put our strongest side out for every game. These are professional athletes who are 6 weeks into a season. I remember not long ago Wane saying how he wanted to win every game and this simply isn't the way to do it. Even if we'd scraped a win is be disappointed with today's performance. 2 debuts with Sam and lockers on the bench would have given us a bit of strike and leadership if it started to go wrong! It went wrong!!

I've been having this discussion on another forum and it seems people have their own opinions on what will or will not work. I think the only way to see whether blooding these players quickly was the right thing to do is wait and see how they cope the next time they are given a chance.

Obviously Mellor stood out to me more because I was watching the Wigan players. Didn't even know O'Brien had played until It was mentioned on the radio on the way home. He might have had a decent game but he didn't do anything special enough for a opposition fan to notice.

To sort of answer your question though, I was quite impressed with Mellor, he scored a good try and was jinking around the way Sam Tomkins does, set up a few clean breaks with good off-loads and was there in support play most of the time, if we had injures in the halfs, I reckon Mellor will slot in well in super league

Mellor and Gelling should have played today imo, as the coaching staff need to see if they can step up next year and replace the outgoing Tommy and Carmont.

We have seen time and time again Sam kill off the so-called lesser teams almost single handedly and definitely should have played. I've only seen Russell play a handful of times but he does look prone to errors defensively, I think blooding him in with a few wing appearances would probably be the best approach, and with him only being 18 there'll be plenty of opportunites.

Bottom line is we have a talented group of youngsters coming through and Wane has made a mistake by trying to play too many of them at once rather than drip feed them 1/2 at a time. I can't see him making the same mistake again. We need to get over this week with a big performance against London next week to prepare for Wire the week after. Not all doom and gloom it's all down to how the players respond.

O'Brien has a good kicking game with field kicking and attempts at goal.
No one doubts his ability but Warrington should be spelling someone as good as him into their first team on a regular basis.
Wane just over did the "introducing youngsters" theory today and paid the price.

We have always had players out of contract at the end every season and I have never yet seen the club deal with that by doing what Wane did today as long as I have been watching Wigan.

There are plenty of games in the season to give younger players a game without leaving five first team players out.

There was no reason to do it. Certainly not the fact we have those players above out of contract.

You are actually implying Wane will do this again which fills me with dread. It is just not the right way to do it. These young players need to play alongside the established pros not instead of them. He won't learn anything watching them get beat (which they will) if he does this again. He needs to evolve the team not replace it.

In any case it is totally unrealistic to expect the experience in the list above to be replaced entirely by the young players in the squad in 2013 so I fail to see the connection between the two sets of players. If we lose Finch and Tommy the young players we have won't be good enough to replace them both and the idea they will be if we drop five first team players to give them games is unrealistic. We will have to recruit form outside for at least one half back slot if Sam remains at full back.

The club does need to be mindful of who is out of contract and I am sure it is but it needs to get the balance right about promoting young players and recruiting experienced players from outside.

We produce a lot of young players and its just a fact some will leave because they do not get the opportunity.

However none of this which is all pretty obvious and nothing new requires five first team players to be rested.

To be fair Warrington play a half-back same age as Mellor every week plus Ratchford has played every week as well. That's two young British half-backs in the 17 already so it makes sense O'Brien getting game time at Widnes especially as he returns from injury.

How did Mullaley go for Widnes? Looks a good youngster.