I hope that you’re right, but this doesn’t ring true with things I’ve heard. Even the club themselves are making an issue of the fact they are mainly concentrating on bringing in young players.
"One of the things we are actively seeking to do is sign quality young players and develop them further and enhance their potential within our environment. We're looking towards building something really strong at the Vikings and it's important that we get the foundations right first, so securing young British players such as Ben Davies will definitely stand us in good stead for both our immediate and long-term future." "Once again, Lloyd falls into our remit of signing quality young British athletes.”These are just two examples of hundreds of statements from the club, over the last few seasons, that have been pushing forward this notion.
It is clear what the intention actually is. When you look at the policy put in place by PC, of signing mainly up-and-coming players of the ages 25 and under, there is a clear continuation of this in players signed thus far. We do still bring in older players, but have failed to get the balance right and failed to bring in enough quality to compete with the best teams in this league. We have been distinctly average as a result.
Only 2 of the 18 players recruited or retained for Super League are over 25. I believe that several of those players also lack genuine Super League quality also. I don’t doubt that the club would buy Pat Richards, should he become available, but that is irrelevant. It is the over all balance of experience and quality that needs to be addressed. I’m not talking about recruiting a bunch of old men either.
The current policy has failed. If they can’t make it work in the Championship, I see no chance of it working in Super League. It is a policy that has been put in place by PC and is continuing under Betts. Therefore, I believe, that the coaches hands are tied to a policy, which was laid down 3 years ago. This is a policy that the club itself has announced as a stated aim. It wants to sign mostly young players and develop them. That is a very risky policy imo, and would require a truly gifted coach to pull off. Denis Betts is not that coach, but he is probably one of the few who would be willing to have his hands tied by such a policy. A coach, whom has a reputation to uphold, would never do so imo. This is why we have Denis Betts and why it is very doubtful that any proven coach would ever come here.
I would like to see the club bring in more proven quality. Yes, I know it’s difficult in our position, but some decent players have already been snapped up by other Super League clubs and our quota spots are being taken by some decidedly average players (not all) and some of the players we’ve kept on haven’t even looked that good in this league. Having a good percentage of players with potential is a good thing, but building a squad full of players which seem to have ‘potential’, by the law of averages alone is doomed to failure.
As Joey said, we haven’t finished recruitment yet. So, I will see where that brings us in a few months before I can truly understand the direction the club is going. Hopefully, by September, we’ll be able to announce some players who are already proven and experienced in the areas where we are looking very weak at the moment. But, from what I’m being told, barring one or two players, this may not happen.
I hope you are right and I am wrong, but a worrying pattern has developed over the last few years, which has led to failure and mediocrity. By the way we have recruited so far, this pattern doesn’t seem to be changing.
