Couldn't agree more. I know a lot of my mates had scholarships with football teams as 13/14 year olds and got released becasue they were "too small". Considering I was fairly small at 13 and am now 6ft1, I just can't understand the logic, Surely you want your talented teenagers before big ones that don't have the skill sets...

Your point about Junior coaches is a massive part of it Vasty. At a young age, it can make or break a young kid, no matter what the skill or potential.

I'd also agree about the comparison with Aussies in terms of attitude to size over skill. The general attitude to fitness and strength is different anyway so the small kid in Oz is not quite the same as the small pale computer nerd you can get in UK.

I would controvertially add to your comment about going to RU. Not in all cases but in my experience the RU youth set up is better at bringing kids through with good community type set up. That might be a money thing and it might be something to do with the game as you can more easily carry less able players in RU in my opinion so less stress about it.
It's not that they are better in all aspects but we could learn from both Oz and RU on these things.

we do have a fondness for Huby but that's only natural considering he's been at the club 11 years, and a few years ago he was playing out of his skin. He's a decent player who would do a job in the lower echelons of SL.

Shenton only really got found out playing for England which I agree he was not good enough. I don't think he did TOO badly for Saints else they'd have released him (his contract wasn't renewed which is fair enough i guess)

Milner isn't Clark, true dat.

Clark has been going for 3 years and is still here so we must be doing our utmost to keep him (which wa smy point) but he's certain to leave to bigger and better things, we've kept him up to now so credit to whoever's done that

And I aren't overly sure about Eden's very early career, he was at cas at 16/17 though

I don't agree about Shenton. He had a major injury/health scare that knocked him back in my opinion. I think he was international class without being the best international.

Huby I'm thinking will only have half his salary counting on salary cap now (10 year rule?). Of course that only helps those who are paying up to the cap.

Hmm... IMO I don't think he has a good enough passing game to be what you'd call a world class centre, though I maintain he didn't flop at saints cause when fit he played every week for 2 years.

Huby yeah, he will only have 50% against the cap. This, coupled on his playing ability 2 years ago when Stevo was in the league express saying he should play for England (I disagreed BTW) would suggest it's false to say "nobody ever has wanted or will ever want Huby in their team".

I purely think that's a snipe from someone who's seen him play twice a year for a rival club, more than an infomred judgment.

I do differenciate between international class and world class though. It's semantics of course but imho he is worthy of a place in an international team, without ever beingrated above some of the other internationals he plays against.
Small difference i know but that's where I put Shenton. He's better than most/many in Super League.

I'll accept that some Cas players are often over-hyped by Cas fans, but isn't that what fans do? On the flip side opposition fans under-hype players - hence your dislike and refusal to applaud anything Cas related.
I personally don't see or hear anyone stating Milner is international quality, just another SL standard player coming off the conveyor belt, along with the likes of Jordy Thompson, joe westerman, daz clark, Liam Watts, greg Eden, Joe Arundel, Oliver Holmes, James Clare & Richie Owen (awaits predictable and probably justified put down of Richie!) not to mention the the others from the town and surrounding area that were picked up as juniors by other "bigger" clubs.
To suggest that no-one wants/ wanted Huby is just plain wrong as saints made an offer the first time we were relegated for both shenny and huby (which both players turned down) and its being reported currently that Paul Anderson is an admirer of huby's.

The problem for Huby is he doesn't look the part physically.
When I've watched him he seems to be as fit and as skillful as any other but I'm certain he is judged partly on his shape.
He is one that the Cas fans pick out more often than not and as they watch him regularly I'd imagine they are the best judge.
Not being an international is not the same as not being the best at a club or that other clubs wouldn't want him.

Also, am I alone in thinking that although Clarke is flashy and clearly has skills, if I had to choose I'd keep Milner. I like the way he plays and I think manages the team better.

Clarke is the real deal of the two, he runs fast and hard, makes good decisions and his distribution is excellent.

Milner is more of a Cunningham whereas Clarke is a Roby, if you will...

Huby has got a very... lets say, natural build, He occasionally plays 80 minutes for us though which is invaluable, so (forgive me for making this comparison) but a club like ours woud take that over a Paleaasina, Poore, Morley etc who plays 25 minutes a game.

Then again, Sam Thaiday isn't perfectly ripped in shape but he's a relatively decent laker.....

yeah fair enough, I can abide by that point. I'm a harsh critic in that I compare our centres to Australias. His passing is frustratingly wayward at times, though there's no way he flopped at saints and was "figured out as over-rated".

Shenton had 2 problems at saints, Gidley and Lyon. Walking in their shoes he never was able to convince the faithful he could follow in that sequence. I always liked him and wanted him to do well, but he never seemed to really be able to create anything, and poor passing cost us occasionally.

I think that that would be the legacy he left at saints ... Except turner has come in, who we all expected to be dire, and has done fantastically well for us so far, in an arguably worse saints team (I can see turner pushing for an international spot should saints have a good season)

there aren't many Jamie Lyon's though. That's what I mean, the Saint's fans and club iteself didn't wat rid of him as such, it just didn't work out due to injury really. He got intot he england side through Saints, so he must have been doing somehing right

Got in England side probably because he played for Saints. Would he have got in playing for Cas.

He played for England while at Cas but your point still stands. He had to do it at Sts to be regarded rather than at Cas.