Quote ="Enicomb"Are you really that stupid? How about you look at the reserves league table: wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/in ... age_id=875 I think you'll find we've won 12 from 12, whereas your kids have only managed 8 from 10.'" our young lads have spent considerable time in the first team, or on loan at other clubs. if the Saints reserve team had been able to call upon Smith, Eastmond, Tyrer, Wheeler and Ashurt on a regular basis they would be much higher up the league.

Quote ="Enicomb"Are you really that stupid? How about you look at the reserves league table: wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/in ... age_id=875 I think you'll find we've won 12 from 12, whereas your kids have only managed 8 from 10.'" our young lads have spent considerable time in the first team, or on loan at other clubs. if the Saints reserve team had been able to call upon Smith, Eastmond, Tyrer, Wheeler and Ashurt on a regular basis they would be much higher up the league.

Being top of the academy table means little. We're talking about a competition toward which SL clubs are not 100% committed 100% of the time and containing a wildly disparate spread of talent, ages and attitudes. I've lost count of the number of "New" Murphys, Vollenhovens, Bostons, and Karaliuses which have amounted to nothing (indeed, it often works counterintuitively with kids of average ability maturing into top-tier talent - Wellens, Roby etc.), just as I've lost count of the number of championship-winning academy sides which have failed to provide the next generation of SL players (the much vaunted Hull academy that produced Dean Busby achieved zip). The truth is there's a big black hole sat between academy and first grade which consumes the majority of players. And it's never had enough to eat.

As long as it didn't lose to Celtic I'd be happy.

go on then name this team and then we can begin compare to two

Wow you lot really are deluded. You actually think your reserves who have won only 8 from 10 are better than Wigans who have won 12 from 12.

As for the guy who said about first teamers playing in the reserves and then named Mathers (who is and signed as first chose full back) Tim Smith (who can't defend for toffee and has played more games in the first team) and Karl Pryce (who is bloody awful and lazy).

Oh and let's not forget Ainscough and Tomkins have played more first team games. You also name Eastmond, whose played what 4 first team games this season? Same with the others you mention too, only Wheeler seems to get regular spots.

You may have the better first team but as far as youngsters go, ours are better; yours just look good because they're breaking into a successful team. We'll see how well you go once you lose Long and Cunningham.

This isn't about "reserves" it's about "youth", very different, when wigan, as said before play Smith, Pryce, Phelps et al. in their "reserves". Saints very rarely play senior players in the reserves.

Let's not go overboard, whilst our youth teams are doing very well, so are theirs.

We just have a coach who is willing to risk them in the first team more often.

Veivers
Ainscough
Marsh
Thornley
Charnley
Pryce
Tomkins
O'Carroll
McIlorum
Prescott
Hansen
Mossop
Tomkins

Farrell
Davies
Flanagan
Tuson

What's up petal? Embarrassed that the team you posted would get whooped?



I would be if I were you.

Adding Karl Pryce shows that you're clutching at straws. Classing a Bradford and Union reject as your own youth !!

Nice try though.

Mark Flanagan would win the game single handedly for Wigan . . . he has had first team experience at Halifax

Frightening side that.

I am still waiting for Y2K - the year of the Warrior as well as 'the New Breed' to come to fruition.

Wigan fans are the new Wires... Is Paul Darbyshire the next Paul Sculthorpe yet?

Veivers v Lomax
Ainscough v Amrstrong
Marsh v Dean
Thornley v Foster
Charnley v Baines
Pryce v Wheeler
Tomkins v Eastmond
O'Carroll v Graham
McIlorum v Roby
Prescott v Emmitt
Hansen v Clough
Mossop v Dixon
Tomkins v Ashurst

Farrell v Thompson
Davies v Yates
Flanagan v Magennis
Tuson v Frodsham

Anyone fancy having a pop at splitting the two?

It's more frightening than the Saints team that was put up, in particular the back line.

Especially the back line? You mean ours that have 5 players with first team experience to your 3, 1 of which is a Bradford reject?

Ok.

From what I have seen on more than enough occasions to judge the only Saints players in the 1-7 who are better than the Wigan backline are Lomax and Wheeler. I would take the Wigan backline anyday over the Saints one, as proven in the last u21s encounter. If you was there you would have known this, the league table also doesn't lie. Our 18's are also top at the moment of their league, are you going to tell me that the Saints 18's are also better? Even though the league table suggests otherwise.

you lot have been saying this for years:

"lets see how you cope without...

Bobby Goulding
Paul Newlove
Chris Joynt
Tommy Martyn
Paul Sculthorpe
Jamie Lyon
...."

plus any other number of names. now its Long and KC, in a couple of years it will be "lets see how you cope without Pryce and Wilkin", then it will be "lets see how you cope without Roby and Graham".

We always cope.

Well done, but we're talking young local talent, which for us would include the likes of Lomax, Graham, Roby, Clough, Frodsham - all of whom didn't play in the reserve GF loss.

After all Wigan's bleating about Saints putting players in from the first team squad to boost the reserve grand final side, we didn't. Wigan, however, played Goulding, McIlorum and O'Carroll who were regular first teamers and a couple were going to the World Cup

Suppose you can't blame them - we did finish top of both academy leagues last season after all. We were winning at half time too.

Wigan's youngsters may well be winning at reserve team level - bolstered as it has been at certain points by the likes of Smith, Mathers, Pryce, Goulding who have played first team for years - but Saints academy has produced the last 3 MoS winners. I know which one I'd rather have.

If we put all our home grown players up against all Wigan's it would be a massacre. Name a home grown, on the books wigan team that could live with:

Wellens
Armstrong
Dean
Wheeler
Lomax
Eastmond
Matty Smith
Graham
Cunningham
Frodsham
Clough
Ashurt
Roby

Moore
Emmitt
Dixon
Ellis

England international on the bench

I wondered how long it would take for someone to roll that out. Long and Cunningham are far more influential than any of those players.

Yep, every saints player is made to look great by the others.

More influential than back to back MoS winner, Saints and GB captain Paul Sculthorpe?

Long is so critical to Saints at the moment that we take him off at half time so Eastmond can play and are letting him go to Hull.