- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Super League is awash with some extremely promising homegrown talent, from the breakaway try-scoring skills of Wigan’s Joe Burgess to the deceptively silky ball skills of Warrington’s Ben Currie.
As I mentioned last week, Marc Sneyd is putting in consistently impressive performances for Castleford during his season-long loan spell from Salford.
Daryl Clark is also touted as a future England international after a string of fine games for the Weldon Road club.
Huddersfield centre Joe Wardle is now a regular in their side and is showing signs of consistency, while it is easy to forget that huge Leeds and England international centre Kallum Watkins is just 23.
Leeds also have the likes of Stevie Ward, Brad Singleton and especially Liam Sutcliffe coming through.
Hull duo Chris Green and Josh Bowden are well thought of at Hull, and Hull KR have a defensively sound centre in 20-year-old Liam Salter plus the towering James Green hitting up in the forwards.
Over in France, Catalan are developing some of the league’s most exciting prospects, who are attracting interest from clubs in England.
Full back Morgan Escare is one of the fastest players around, while Eloi Pellissier has caught the eye thanks to a bunch of gritty performances at hooker.
Down in London the fabulous grassroots work done to develop the game is bearing fruit. Despite losing a host of local players over the past couple of years, London can be proud of the fact they have the likes of Mason Caton-Brown, Olsi Krasniqi, Mike McMeeken and the currently injured Kieran Dixon in their ranks.
St Helens are continually churning out fantastic young players, especially on the edges. Adam Swift is getting a run, the spectacular Tommy Makinson is one of my favourite players and has sublime finishing skills, Josh Jones has been impressive and Jonny Lomax, shifted from five-eighth to fullback last season, is rightfully well thought of.
Chris Annakin, a kid I saw play for Wakefield under-19s a few years ago, is getting a run and is showing real promise. Warrington have put faith in the aforementioned Ben Currie, winger Rhys Evans, Gareth O’Brien and Jaimes Laithwaite, who are all having an impact at the Halliwell Jones. Jacko Owens is looking good for Widnes.
Due to a string of injuries to first team regulars, Wigan have given a lot of young players the opportunity to shine over the past couple of weeks and they have not disappointed.
Ryan Hampshire, George Williams, Jack Hudges, Dominic Crosby, Sam Powell – the list is endless. John Bateman has been a regular since signing from Bradford and has impressed as well.
I could go on and I’m sure there are a couple I’ve missed out. But I think we can all agree that the continued development of these young players is not only good for Super League, but for the international scene.
Try of the week
Joe Burgess scored a fabulous try for Wigan against Salford on Thursday night. Dominic Manfredi evaded three tackles while running laterally before Burgess found space and outpaced everyone to stroll home. He is tall, strong and very fast. He’s exciting.
Class in a glass
Young Warrington back rower Ben Currie is going to be a star. After rounding Richard Owen on the left edge, Currie showed the ball to two defenders before slipping down the line to set up Chris Bridge. It was a terrific piece of skill.
In brief
Wakefield forward Scott Anderson has committed to the club by signing a two-year extension that will now see his contract run out in 2016.
Hull KR have rewarded promising young centre Macauley Hallett with a two-year deal.
Leaderboard (W-D-L)
Is is a case of as you were for the most part as the competition has minimal movers after this week’s round.
Warrington are up to fifth from seventh after hammering Wakefield, and Huddersfield drop one place to sixth. Widnes are in seventh after losing at Castleford.
1 (-) Leeds 11-1-2
————————
2 (-) St Helens 11-0-3
3 (-) Castleford 10-0-4
4 (-) Wigan 10-0-3
5 (7) Warrington 8-0-6
6 (5) Huddersfield 7-2-5
7 (6) Widnes 8-0-5
8 (-) Hull KR 6-2-6
————————
9 (-) Catalan 7-0-7
10 (-) Hull FC 5-0-9
11 (-) Salford 4-1-9
12 (-) Wakefield 4-0-10
————————
13 (-) Bradford* 3-0-11
14 (-) London 0-0-14
*Bradford deducted six points for entering administration.
Injury update
Jake Mullaney is unlikely to play for Salford again this season after undergoing surgery on a torn pectoral muscle. He is expected to be on the sidelines for at least three months.
Player movements
Experienced 36-year-old Lee Gilmour has joined Wakefield from Castleford on a four-week loan deal.
Leeds have signed Newcastle prop Adam Cutherbertson on a four-year contract. The 29-year-old will arrive in England in time for the start of next season.
Wigan have poached ex-Parramatta man Taulima Tautai from Wakefield on a three-year deal from 2015.
Suspension
Paddy Flynn (Widnes) – two games for a Grade C punching offence against Castleford.
Justin Carney (Castleford) – two games for a Grade C punching offence against Widnes.
Ben Westwood (Warrington) – three games for a Grade D dangerous throw against Wakefield.
Chris Annakin (Wakefield) – five games for a Grade D dangerous throw against Warrington.
Over the Moon
Joel Moon was the beneficiary of a poor refereeing decision against Hull FC at Headingley on Friday night.
Ryan Hall dropped the ball in the collision with three Hull defenders but it fell into the path of Moon who scooped it up to score. How that was given, I’ll never know.
Tweet of the week
“17 tackles, 5 hit ups. Done more work in 25 mins than I did in my whole time at London Irish. Ha ha, it’s good to be back.” New Hull forward Setaimata Sa on his return to rugby league.
Beard watch
Well done referee Tim Roby, who is currently sporting a quality piece of facial apparel. It is great to see the officials getting in on the act.
Leigh win 15 on the bounce
Outside of Super League, the Championship leaders Leigh Centurions have won a club record 15 straight games in all competitions.
With the change in format starting next season, we may well find them springing a few surprises when the two leagues split into three groups of eight.
Final thought
We’d like to offer our best wishes to Stephen O’Dwyer, who fell ill at Leigh’s game with Halifax at the weekend. Stephen was taken to hospital and thankfully news emerged he is on the mend. Get well soon, Stephen. All the best.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.