Recently several posters have mentioned Sammy Kibula as a potential for a run out next year. I just wonder how he will be used. He is huge so prop would seem obvious but he has pace, a pass and a step like a back. As a result in the U19s he has played throughout the pack as well as in the backs. The big worry is his stamina because he is such a big lad.

Hes a prospect for sure though ready for first team Sl action? not so sure on that one.

I would imagine that some of the prospects will be going out on loan.

He's probably behind the likes of Wells, Hamlin, Field, Davies, Barnes and Partington in the pecking order and those are just the younger guys. There should be enough depth in the squad that he doesn't have to feature this year and he can get some games out on loan or dual reg. He's probably too young for the first team and still has some work to do on parts of his game.

It’ll be interesting to see how he’ll cope when he can’t physically dominate the opposition anymore. I’ve seen plenty of these huge lads just fade away once they get near the first team because they’ve had it too easy and when they can’t walk through teams anymore, they’re limited as to what they can bring.

I sincerely hope this lad can avoid that and go on to cut out a great career.

Well he has been with the first team squad at the Welsh training camp so he is certainly within the first team squad (plans?) - just hope he can develop - a prop with decent handling skills would be a significant upgrade on what we have now! Will need time though as props rarely get tot heir best until later in their careers.

It''s harder for young forwards to step up than young backs IMO. With that in mind, I think a loan spell to a League 1 or lower end Championship club would probably be the best move for him. See how he gets on playing against grown men.

Kibula is still only 18 years of age, so has another year at academy level as have Barnes and Partington. It's a great position for Wigan to be in but they need to be drip fed into senior rugby. For all three of them an odd first team game would be good along with a few games at Championship level. Having three of them coming through is ideal as the workload/experience can be shared in the short term.
A few of the more "mature" posters may remember John Wood who played for Widnes and then came to Wigan. He was an outstanding young prop forward but played too many games too soon and burnt out quickly. It's something we need to be wary of with these three young Wigan players.

Everyone said that about James Graham but he’s still one of the best props in the world at 32. Conditioning and recovery is infinitely better now than it was in the 70s/80s.
Stu Fielden did 80 minute games consistently for about 12 years and retired at 34.

Graham only really started playing first team when he was 20.He only played 8 games in the two seasons preceding. I suspect Fielden would probably be the same, and it's more or less what I was wanting for those three young Wigan props.
I'm still hoping Joe Bretherton can put in an injury free season to see what he can do.

Andy Farrell won a challenge cup medal a month before his 18th birthday and made his International debut at age 18 v NZ. If you are good enough, you're old enough.

That's a bit of a stretch. 5 or 6 years maybe but it cost him dearly later in his career. He finished up a shadow of his former self, racking up 11 appearances in his last three years as a pro before retiring at 33. Aside from that, Fielden and Farrell were freaks, I'm struggling to see the benefit of comparisons with Sammy Kibula, he's a good academy player.