Really surprised at the number of overseas born players in the full 2016 Widnes squad with as many as 10 by my count (Hanbury, Thompson, Runciman, Ah Van, Manuokafoua, Houston, Cahill, Sa, Leuluai and Heremaia). That compares with our 4 (Gidley, Sims, Sandow and Dodds) if you don't count Jullien.

In a a squad of 33, they have 12 who have been part of their Academy compared with 16 for us. Can only see Gerrard and Whitley featuring in their regular 17 but Rhys and Ben Evans, Ben Currie, Brad Dwyer, James Laithwaite, Kevin Penny, Ben Harrison, Gene Ormsby and Joe Philbin could arguably be regarded as first team players with Toby King, Jack Johnson, Sam Wilde and Dec Patton not too far away. It just confirms that, after a slow start, our youth and Academy structures are in a good place and the future looks quite promising.

And your point is..?What a Moby.

Read the last sentence again, think you'll find the hidden meaning eventually.

Your academy only produces average players?

My point was pretty obvious to anyone with half a brain... Oh wait.

Not being familiar with teenage insults, what's a Moby ?

Think big whale (I think)!

It is encouraging to have a squad which is predominantly home grown. Just had a look at the 2009 squad and only 8 came through the academy.



I hope now that the home grown players develop into Super League stars. Arguably we have and still are recruiting our best players from elsewhere. I don't know if we've really produced star players since Harris and Scully.

What slow start, if you'd been bothered to get involved with them, you would know they've had a good youth and academy system in place for a few years now.

Well this thread has been an interesting exercise. What I thought was a fairly positive view of the make up of our squad compared with Widnes with encouraging signs of improving our club trained contingent. I was expecting some grief from Widnes fans but no a Halifax fan with a reputation for being an idiot comes on and now we have a Wakefield fan.

The slow start referred to goes back to the start of the Halliwell Jones era not just a few years when we had the likes of Dean Gaskell, Gary Hulse and Jamie Durbin who unfortunately were not going to make the grade we were aspiring to reach. I think we only have Ben Harrison and perhaps Kevin Penny in the squad now whereas we could have at least 6 in a couple of years who can make the 17.

I am not sure what bothering to get involved means but I watch around 6 Academy games a year when I can and am familiar with most of the players and have had a season ticket for over 50 years so think my opinion is S good as anyone else's.

I note that Wakefield have lost 3 of their last years Academy to Warrington, Bradford and Hull KR so I may have hit a nerve. Anyway, try putting your brain in to gear next time you come on.

I thought it was a positive post and it is encouraging. I also agree our youth set up has not in the past delivered high amounts of quality players and this may be changing. There are some posters on here which seem to like causing arguments or unrest for the sake of it. They must have unresolved issues that trouble them. I just ignore them.