I know people are doubting the u16s but as one of the scouts who helped get them to trinity I am confident these lads have got a lot of talent.it might not show up as much this season ,but it will in the near future.these lads chose to come to trinity above other so called big teams due to the hard work put in by ryan Hudson and his team.i also agree its about time we looked after our young lads and blooded them better and gave them more opportunity to show what they can do but our track record on this has not been good for a long time,i remember the colts team that won 3 out of 4 trophies on offer with only a couple of the team getting 1st team chances,and I know raz wants to see more homegrown talent coming through.

sorted

I think every single Wakefield fan out there would agree 100% with that!

Things have already been set up and a lot of hard work in the last year or so has gone on to try and go that way in the future.....

Two huge things need to happen this season first though to continue that good work on.....

1) Survival at all costs.....if that means a few overseas playing ahead of homegrown then so be it....

2) Back the club on the terraces.......No good stopping supporting the team if a young lad is dropped for another player....if fans cant appreciate the direction the club has taken in the last 6 months or so then what is the point??

The problem is "survival at all costs" will be this year and next year and the year after that and so on.

Its certainly not an easy road and i don't know the answer to points raised in this thread.

That looks a strong and exciting squad.... Wish I could see the game!

I think the majority are agreed on this, survival, survival, survival etc... I'm sure a lot of us cut our teeth watching Bell, Thompson & Conway, but times have changed. It is imperative we remain in super league & there is a lot of money on the table next year onwards. Which at a well run club & MC/KH appear to be more than capable, could we directed towards a well run youth set up. Got to be in super league though

Not so called star youngsters Upton, a star team that had proved themselves the best u 18s in the country, then it was up to a good coach to do something with them ,pick out lads that could be turned into star players,that's what such as wane does at Wigan, if you think developing young players is giving them short spells out of position in a weakened side against against top teams,taking em off slightest mistake or dropping them until we have another difficult game to give and I quote you our so called stars a rest you haven't in my opinion got a clue

And yet ironically Wane says he will drop Bateman whether he plays well or not.
No one seems to criticise him for it.

We have a good squad. We had a thread recently showing how good the second string is (for a second string)
We are using that squad this week. Simple as that.

I like Wildie on the bench but it's not like the team is weaker.
I'm looking forward to the game.

Sts should still be favourites but it's a good chance for us.

If you read the reason he said he wouldn't play him all the time it was to protect him and not over play him but you should know the points I was making nothing like what your trying to say but I guess pop tart your not interested if someone is critical of the club

Try scorer - I fully respect your opinion, you're not everyone's cup of tea on here but I do respect what you have to say....you're clearly passionate and speak from the heart about the youth and have undoubted knowledge and experience in that field....

I watched a lot of that academy winning side, home and away....probably about 75% (if not more of the matches that season) they were a superbly coached side....well drilled, played as a unit....ground down the opposition in a lot of games and took teams apart 2nd half....just like the best teams do.....there was no apparent weakness.....great going forward with ball in hand and an excellent all round defensive unit....

We may well have missed a trick not having 6 or 7 of that team now strutting their stuff in the team.....we would all love to see that I'm sure.....as a team who has mainly struggled in our time in Super League you have to concede it's much harder for a club like us, than one like Wigan to nurture the young talent through to first grade......I've seen you say before about a game where Tom Harrington made absolute mincemeat of Kallum Watkins.....Harrington was a superb strike player in that side, big, strong and athletic....mainly used from the bench if I remember correctly? Where is Tom now though, because that game means nothing now....Kallum Watkins is arguably the most exciting young centre in the competition and a certainty for a long GB career......Cain Southernwood, Will Colleran, Danny Cowling, Adam Slater, etc...etc.....where are they now....all excellent in that side but looking nowhere near Super League players now....

What really winds me up at present though is people coming on here saying they wont support the team anymore because of things that have happened years ago......it's a nonsense if you ask me.....Agar will give youngsters a chance....unfortunately this year more than most he is under pressure to get results.....the new regime have already been on record as saying they would love nothing more than to be playing out of Newmarket with a side packed full of local talent.....some small steps have already been taken by trying to get the better youngsters to sign....hopefully we can learn from mistakes in the past....people taking their bat and ball home and turning their back on the club will only hold us back even more though....

Well, let's hope the 3 above show more than Walshaw, Wildie and Trout have when they break into the first team. None of our youngsters over the past 3 years have, in my opinion, being good enough for Super League. Maybe Walshaw could do with more of a chance in the centres but he is well down the pecking order at second row. I don't doubt we have youth players who are outstanding at U16s e.t.c My point was they seem to stagnate at 18, 19 onwards. Look at the likes of Ryan Hampshire, Lomax, Lineham, Burgess, they've all broken into their respective first teams this season and it is already clear (and probably was beforehand) that they were super league material. None of our boys have come close to showing that.

I think you're aiming your criticism in the wrong direction, it was John Kear who had the opportunity of blooding the youngsters from the Grand Final winning team not Agar. Under JKs watch the lads from the U18s lost ground on their peers mainlydue to lack of any kind of infrastructure to help the lads develop further.