Yes, quite a few top clubs were interesting in him after he won the player of the year in the NWC comp. Its looking as though he is on a similar progression to Lewis Dodd just needs to bulk up a bit. I think George Whitby came from rugby union.Originally Posted by Euroboy
Robertson
As well as Harry Robertson, there's two other lads in the Academy with the surname Roberts (Louie & Will)
He's not the Messiah, he's a naughty boy.
Whitby played for Blackbrook for years, think he just played both.
I've posted this before, but I'd say their build is the only similarity. Robertson doesn't have the passing or kicking game Welsby does and for me isn't a classic half or modern fullback. If anyone on here is old enough to remember Brett Mullins the Canberra/Australia fullback/centre/wing, that is who I'd liken him to. In juniors Robertson was never a fan of contact and although he can tackle well, he didn't seem to enjoy that side of the game either. He has no kicking game and doesn't pass the ball well, he's certainly not throwing the kind of passes Welsby is capable of. What he would do in juniors is touch the ball five times and score four tries. He was always tall and once he got through the line he was rarely caught. His Halton team were largely bang average, with him and a couple of others who made scholarship elevating them to the top division. It really was a case of 'how do we stop Harry?'. He's showing no signs of stopping scoring in the academy setup and seems to be joining the line well from fullback if that's where they are playing him. But he's not a modern fullback and I'd think it's likely he'll come through on the wing or centre initially. He could play fullback as a running threat I guess, but it would go against the way the modern game has gone where the fullback is essentially expected to have the skillset of a halfback.
I think part of it is that it is tricky to attract players from the North to London. There is no London weighting so the Broncos either have to pay players through the nose or develop their own.
My point with a University style academy system is that there would be an incentive for players to move out of their parents houses and go play for these teams if they got incentives such as a good education. This could potentially level up a lot of the lob sidedness in the academy system. Obviously this is very pie in the sky at present and would only really happen long term.
I could agree with you but then we would both be wrong.
Last game he has 3 on his back but was at 1. But at that level he will play where he gets the ball in his hands most.
I could agree with you but then we would both be wrong.
Interesting post. I would guess that he probably could get a run on the wing if he makes it to first team and take it from there.
I could agree with you but then we would both be wrong.
I read somewhere he had a spell with Sale Sharks.
Anyone go to the U16s game last night against Wigan? Great win for Saints, 32-12. Wigan are always strong at that age so we must have a decent team too.
I went to the game last year and Wigan were much better, all of that team are now playing Academy this year and so will take some beating.
Saw someone on Twitter saying we're picking up the scraps at that age and that Warrington are far stronger. All the best at Wigan junior clubs are with them apparantly. No idea if true as I've never watched that year. Big shift if that's the case?
Yes to be fair thats what I've been told as well. Warrington are the strongest at this age group. To be fair they've really got their youth set up sorted now after years of being behind Saints and Wigan.
They have, they're much stronger at all age groups than they were historically. They're absolutely dreadful at then bringing them through into SL and need to work on that if they want it to bear any fruit.
You mean they've thrown loads of money at it, dishing out some silly-money contracts to promising youngsters from the region and beyond?
Not the first time we've seen some club decide to go down this path, and it's always been a flash in the pan that has borne little fruit.
Wigan as a town produce probably the most number of quality young players, but with Thatto Heath and Blackbrook especially, a fair number of local St Helens lads progress. well.
Even if Warrington go big on the Academy for the few years, gobbling up all the top talent from the region, I'd still rather us keep our established formula (and with the unique attraction of regular Australia tours) that has served us brilliantly.
He's not the Messiah, he's a naughty boy.
That's something else we'll no longer be unique in having. I think the 16s we're talking about here are going to be the first of an annual Warrington trip to Australia, the itinery I've seen for it is surprisingly similar to the way we used to do things. Almost as if someone has copied our homework
Fair play to them though. If 10 other teams pushed the boat out like this, we'd probably have a far stronger domestic competition and wouldn't be so reliant on overseas players to improve the quality. We'd also be far less damaged by the inevitable movement of some of the most talented to the NRL if we were pumping them out as a nation and the national team would grow ever stronger too.
I agree. I’m never going to complain about a club pumping money into the future of the sport. At the moment some of super league is relying on the production lines of Saints, Wigan and Leeds to prop them up.That's something else we'll no longer be unique in having. I think the 16s we're talking about here are going to be the first of an annual Warrington trip to Australia, the itinery I've seen for it is surprisingly similar to the way we used to do things. Almost as if someone has copied our homework
Fair play to them though. If 10 other teams pushed the boat out like this, we'd probably have a far stronger domestic competition and wouldn't be so reliant on overseas players to improve the quality. We'd also be far less damaged by the inevitable movement of some of the most talented to the NRL if we were pumping them out as a nation and the national team would grow ever stronger too.
Forwards win games. The backs decide by how much.
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