People were talking about youngster Bailey Pemberton at one time pre lockdown, not seen him play but I believe he is now being developed in the pack and has half back ball handling skills (rugby wise). Another one is Wingfield not seen him play either but is in the full squad.
Converting HBs to BackRows ? seems strange.
While the likes of Jermarie Chatham slip through the net.
Not sure what's happening at Academy level.
It seems either all the football has been coached out of them ala Costello
or are constantly deemed not ready Simm/Dodd.
Developing a cohort of forwards with size and physicality
and exciting outside backs with pace who can make a break(bar Simm), seems to have stalled.
Our championship radar also seems to have been turned off.
Remember Wilkin saying in an interview he gave Wellens the heads up
re Matty Ashton but we were too late. Do we have scouts?
Its quite difficult to predict where a player will end up position wise, we have had quite a few players who were initially half backs and ended up elsewhere.....Cunningham, Wellens, Swift, Moore, Roby come to mind. Our latest trio of youngsters in Simm/Dodd/Welsby are a bit different Simm has played mostly at centre, Dodd at scrum half but Welsby has played every position in the backline and as a loose forward in the Academy.
I should imagine Covid has knocked us back on the scouting issue like every other club.
This seems an odd reading of things to me.
What makes you say that Costello has had the football coached out of him? Isn’t it more likely that he just isn’t that much of a footballer?
Dodd and Simm are 18 and 19 respectively. It’s not as if they’ve been left on the scrap heap.
Understand the question.
More a general point
I don't see similar steady eddie fringe players at the likes of Wigan,Leeds,Wire.
Costello was the championship players of the season in 2018? at fullback.
Now he is Matty Fleming. I suppose if he was never much of a footballer
why keep him so long?
If there is an injury then Costello is dropped in without hesitation.
This contrasts strongly with the approach to Simm.
The season has shown departure of Swift has left a gap. The new rules
mean that the value of pace in the backs has increased.
Should always be in the market for the next Grace or Ashton via the Academy and Championship.
The likes of Jermarie Chatham is a miss IMO.
Think you and the other poster are right players change position as they grow / develop.
A conundrum to deal with is that some young players look great early on as they matured quicker than others. Some catch up late and sometimes overtake the young superstar who based his game on being bigger and bolder than his mates. It's up to the coaching staff to manage these changing dynamics as they progress as sometimes the pecking order needs a tweak. They can only do that if there's genuine interest in their development and this has to come from the top down. This is a problem for us as it stands.
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Amor Bourouh? Taylor/Bailey Pemberton? Jermarie Chatham?
Are these actual real people, or am I being whooshed?
Quack quack