Quote: vastman "There will always be payers who get away, no club can retain all the players they produce. The fact we are producing so many good ones has to be a positive.
Basically a Coach will have to decide which ones HE thinks will make it and fit his plans. If he gets it right we are all happy and he keeps his job. If he gets it wrong he's out of work.
It was ever thus. Occasionally a team gets it right and retains a whole bunch of young players and it works, Leeds of ten years ago the best example. However it also fails and quite often.
Who got it right will only be evident in a few years time, but for now despite some massive claims on this forum none of the players mentioned are certainties for future success IMHO. These mythical beings appear about once a decade.'"
Spot on.
The only person who's job depends on making the right decisions about these young lads is Richard Agar, so it's safe to assume he's making what he thinks is the best decision at the time he makes it; if the lads he's released go on to form the spine of a future RLWC winning England side, then we'll have something to complain about - until then, as much as their Dads, Uncles and former junior team-mates might tell you otherwise, it's all conjecture.
The irony here of course, is that the same people who bemoan the loss of all our future stars would be the first to call for Agar's head if he retained them to the detriment of a competitive squad for next season, and we ended up sloshing round the bottom of SL again with Cas and Widnes.
Salary cap, limited budgets, the new jr system and the expectations of impatient fans make for a delicate balancing act - I wouldn't fancy it.