thats where its difficult though and what i think Stu was alluding to. Its all well and good bringing 1 or 2 into a side thats playing well and having 15 seasoned pros to look after them v bringing in 6 or 7 (i know different to drip feeding too )where they are potentially risking their futures due to the physical differences from age 16-18 and not being able to compete physically / getting battered by full time pros

i know sometimes circumstances (injuries) dictate that players are thrown in too early, but i dont think Saints are in that position injury wise that they need to risk wholesale changes this season. They also have a couple of fringe players that it appears Wellens doesnt want to play (Ritson and potentially Bennison). I know Bennison has had games on the wing, but the change last week was quickly reverted by Wellens and he was brought off to put Welsby back at FB.

One of my Saints supporting mates appears to be a real fan of Ritson, posting on FB quite regularly that he should be playing. I'm in the jury out on him as yes he's fast, but i dont think he is a smart rugby player from what i've seen of him, and Wellens probably doesnt trust him to be playing every week. There's no doubt initially it was good piece of business from Saints, getting him on loan but to turn that into a permanent signing IMO was an error or he would be playing every game. He's also not a kid (2icon_cool.gif so should be getting regular 1st team rugby somewhere

That's often the problem when a player is stepping up from a level where they have obvious physical advantages. I suppose it depends to a large degree on attitude. I think Junior is showing that at the moment. I haven't seen Stephens play so can't comment on him individually but I think that goes for most young players regardless of size. Attitude is everything.

Quote: Zig "I am not sure that he is mobile enough or that his size will be a major asset when playing first team. He reminds me of Samy Kibula. Obviously, the lad may prove me wrong. Good luck to him.'" That’s interesting about his mobility because in this article Derek Traynor, who knows him better than anyone, talks about this speed being a strength of his. Admittedly I’ve only seen him at Castleford the other week but he certainly looked like he could move a bit for a big lad too. https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/ne ... -st-helens Now you’ve probably seen much more of him than I have but he doesn’t sound like there’s any concerns internally about his mobility.

Quote: Zig "I am not sure that he is mobile enough or that his size will be a major asset when playing first team. He reminds me of Samy Kibula. Obviously, the lad may prove me wrong. Good luck to him.'" That’s interesting about his mobility because in this article Derek Traynor, who knows him better than anyone, talks about this speed being a strength of his. Admittedly I’ve only seen him at Castleford the other week but he certainly looked like he could move a bit for a big lad too. https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/ne ... -st-helens Now you’ve probably seen much more of him than I have but he doesn’t sound like there’s any concerns internally about his mobility.

I’ve seen Stephen’s once against Wigans academy and we couldn’t deal with him tbh. Will that translate to the first team? Who knows but it’s not going to give him any less of a chance having that sort of physical presence.

What I will say though is that big lads have dominated at academy level before and not been able to translate it to first team rugby. The most devastating academy performances I can recall were from Ryan Bailey at Leeds and he never managed it. I’m not saying he had a bad career, far from it but he was killing teams at that level, going over, through or round players for fun but in the first team he ended up making a career more as a grafter and wind up merchant.

I found this interesting from the Academy coach in relation to what we've been discussing.

“Whether they all go on and reach that potential remains to be seen, But I believe this current crop of young players is as good as we’ve ever had.”

That seems a lot more nuanced and balanced than what Rush has said or what some fans seem to think is an almost foregone conclusion that they will come through and succeed at this level.