[quote="Stu M":vjvsbuer]I think that's a bit unfair. Last year was a poor environment for any young lads to thrive. With injuries and some hammerings, confidence was low and there weren't enough experienced heads around any of the younger lads to support. Whitby is highly rated but made his debut at home to HKR when they absolutely smashed us and Wellens (not for the first time) got his selections horribly wrong. Vaughan is another who was Lancashire and England Academy captain but struggled at times especially when partnered with Ritson. He needs some size on him and there is still a question mark over whether or not he will play centre or second row. Dagnall is another who whilst he hasn't had his chance yet, looks very promising and has done well for Lancashire and England Academy. I think Rush was wrong with his comments as he gave the impression that we had a Class of 92 and then of course we struggled badly last season. Our recruitment has been poor the last couple of seasons admittedly but over the last 6-8 years we have recruited really well. Overseas signings like Sironen, Matautia, Coote and Paasi have been some of our best and then we got some gems like Batchelor and Bentley from the Championship- (Bentley at Saints was good as has Batchelor bar last season) Even before that we bought Walmsley from the Championship. James Bell has been another good signing so I think more often than not we have got it right. That said we have got it badly wrong for this season with not signing one if not two centres and at least another prop and it looks like McManus has misled us by saying we always spend up to the cap as it looks like Matautia isn't being replaced. Sadly (for us) it looks as though financially we just haven't got the money at the moment. The Covid loans are really hurting us which has affected recruitment[/quote:vjvsbuer] I think the financial situation should be concerning for Saints. I am not signed up to the golden generation though and, even if they all show promise this season I think Saints will come up short. Robertson and Stephens have shown promise but the others have not been tested at SL level. With a plethora of players off contract there looks like there will be a high turnover of players unless the seasoned pros can turn around their form from last season, the problem is where are their replacements going to come from? In addition, failure to secure Lees and Knowles would leave a gaping hole in the pack and the Welsby to the NRL should be of concern. I suppose time will tell.

[quote="Stu M":11i77ylt]Good news with Delaney signing for 4 years, there was definite NRL interest in him. Seems that Knowles and Lees have signed new deals too which will be great news, hopefully announced soon. Get Stephens on a new deal and that’s the cornerstone of a decent pack.[/quote:11i77ylt] Delaney seems to get thrown around like a rag doll when he plays Wigan Stu. Great player to watch with his leg speed and bravery but hasn’t caused any problems. Adding size this off-season or a move to the back row maybe?

No doubting Delaney's guts but the style while dominating at junior level seems to have leveled off against often bigger players. Obviously he's got time to put size on and adapt but I do worry for him the way he plays. Maybe he's not got the help around him no doubting his heart.

Delaney is at a point where his career could go either way. He was dominant in the younger grades and made a great start to his first team career but as the opposition players have got to know his game, they've figured out how to deal with him reasonably comfortably and it's got to a point where he looks like he could damage himself if he doesn't change his running style. If he can do that, then nobody can doubt his commitment and he has talent, so he should kick on. I think Stephens looks a better prospect though. It's very early days for him but he's just awkward to deal with and I don't think he'll be figured out anything like as easily as teams did with Delaney. He needs to work on his fitness but if somebody gave me the option of having Delaney or Stephens at Wigan, I would go with Stephens without a doubt.

[quote="NickyKiss":18w2ue26]Delaney is at a point where his career could go either way. He was dominant in the younger grades and made a great start to his first team career but as the opposition players have got to know his game, they've figured out how to deal with him reasonably comfortably and it's got to a point where he looks like he could damage himself if he doesn't change his running style. If he can do that, then nobody can doubt his commitment and he has talent, so he should kick on. I think Stephens looks a better prospect though. It's very early days for him but he's just awkward to deal with and I don't think he'll be figured out anything like as easily as teams did with Delaney. He needs to work on his fitness but if somebody gave me the option of having Delaney or Stephens at Wigan, I would go with Stephens without a doubt.[/quote:18w2ue26] Very fair that. I agree that Delaney's running style needs working on. He struggled last season but then it came out that he had been struggling with a knee injury and that coincided with the time of the season that we had all the injuries in the forwards. He was absolutely flogged by Wellens and if I recall played about 75 mins in that hammering at Leigh, after being 50/50 for that game due to his knee. He did come back strong towards the end of the season and played well in that play off defeat to Warrington, he seemed to run stronger. He needs some size on him but he's still exceptionally young for a prop forward so lots of time on his side still. Re Stephens, I commented on Red Vee that he looked in really good shape from the pre-season videos that the club had released. His Dad posts on there and confirmed that he has lost 6kg. I think he is in for a really good season. Does need to improve his fitness which will undoubtedly be improved by his weight loss.

Delaney was excellent last year and definitely warrants a new deal, both for performances and to keep him away from any prying eyes. I think his running style was protecting an injury as has been alluded to above, he seemed to have sorted this out by the last games of the season so I've no concerns there. With that said he was massively over-exposed and it would be unfair to expect those performances on a regular basis from someone so young. Ideally both he and Stephens will be battling for that 4th spot in the rotation but it only takes one injury elsewhere for them both to be involved and that is too much to expect of both of them IMO. The problem with Delaney is that he is significantly ahead of where he should be, ideally we would bring in another prop to help with his (and Noah's) transition into the first team but he could rightfully expect to be considered a regular already and is presumably being paid as such. He will hopefully prove me wrong and maintain his standard of performance but I think we could do with another prop regardless.