Board index ‹ Super League ‹ Warrington Wolves ‹ The over 30s

Shouldnt we as a sport be concerned about the number of 30+ year olds who are able to hold down a place in a first team squad. Is this an indication that the game is stagnating or even worse, dying?

I realise that as professionals they tend to look after themselves more than in the past - but nevertheless I would expect teams to have a fair distribution of ages rather than being top end weighted as appears to be the case at present.

[wolfinwidnes]

yey another one of these threads

over 30's

hodgson
morley
briers
m monas
carvell
waterhouse
westwood
woody
higham
solomona
j monas

highlighted are players that would still get into any side and are integral to bringing through the younger players

and you can take a few out of that group as forwards mature and at their peak between 28-33 arguably

25-30

bridge
atkins
grix


under 25

riley
harrison
myler
ratchford
cooper
blythe
tyke
hill
rhys evans
gareth o'brien
rhys williams
currie
dwyer

i have only counted players that have played SL this year with us but you could also add to the under 25's

laithwaite
mitchell
broughton
burke
d bridge
b evans
mendieka
g riley
saltonstall
helewell
shaw

so if anything i would say that we are bottom heavy

You have watched Logan's Run one time too many.

A rubbish argument this age thing in a couple of years people will probably start arguing we don't have enough experienced players.

getdownmonkeyman wrote:

You have watched Logan's Run one time too many.

F***, I just made a Logan's Run reference on the other thread.

Well done for digging that information out Wolfie. I think what stands out for me is a point I was making on the Catalans Summary thread. Have a look at the middle age group- we have only 3 players in that category. I think that is my concern rather than the number of 30 plus players by itself.

Now drill down and look at the implications. Brad Dwyer looks very promising, but you would prefer that he had perhaps played another couple of years, because we can not be certain when Monas and Higham are likely to leave through injury or retirement.

GOB is looking promising, but again another couple of years would be much better before Briers departs.

Looking at our young forwards, only Currie has had exposure at 1st team level. He is only 17 and will again need time to make the grade. But Morley and Solo will probably leave this year.

I am not saying our younger players can not do a job in the team at this stage, clearly they can. But there is a big difference between competing in SL and winning silverware. Our standout players are Briers, Hodgson, Monaghen and up until a year or so, Morley. All these players except possibly Monaghen will be gone very soon. What we need are people like Hill who has the experience, and has demonstrated the ability, to replace them. These are the players that are likely to be around 25 yrs old, have a number of years experience, and have demonstrated the ability. This is the age gap that I think we have in the team.

So it doesn't matter how many older players we have by itself, it's about younger players who can step into their shoes when they leave AND still allow us to compete for silverware.

Age is merely a number

If they're worth a contract, they get one
I they're in form, they play.

Yes, we do have some "mature" players, but, hey-ho, those "mature" players won LLS last year, are currently 2nd in the leage, and have the "easier" of the CCSF's, this weekend.

Yes, they're going to have to be replaced, someday, and I dare say, Mssrs Smith, Moran et al, have allready sat down and discussed this.


Gentlemen, rest your sphincters. It'll be OK. Don't panic.

[wolfinwidnes]

Winslade's Offload wrote:

Well done for digging that information out Wolfie. I think what stands out for me is a point I was making on the Catalans Summary thread. Have a look at the middle age group- we have only 3 players in that category. I think that is my concern rather than the number of 30 plus players by itself.

Now drill down and look at the implications. Brad Dwyer looks very promising, but you would prefer that he had perhaps played another couple of years, because we can not be certain when Monas and Higham are likely to leave through injury or retirement.

GOB is looking promising, but again another couple of years would be much better before Briers departs.

Looking at our young forwards, only Currie has had exposure at 1st team level. He is only 17 and will again need time to make the grade. But Morley and Solo will probably leave this year.

I am not saying our younger players can not do a job in the team at this stage, clearly they can. But there is a big difference between competing in SL and winning silverware. Our standout players are Briers, Hodgson, Monaghen and up until a year or so, Morley. All these players except possibly Monaghen will be gone very soon. What we need are people like Hill who has the experience, and has demonstrated the ability, to replace them. These are the players that are likely to be around 25 yrs old, have a number of years experience, and have demonstrated the ability. This is the age gap that I think we have in the team.

So it doesn't matter how many older players we have by itself, it's about younger players who can step into their shoes when they leave AND still allow us to compete for silverware.

fair point but also quite a few of the players in the under 25s will be in the 25-30 bracket next year

lefty goldblatt wrote:

Age is merely a number

If they're worth a contract, they get one
I they're in form, they play.

Yes, we do have some "mature" players, but, hey-ho, those "mature" players won LLS last year, are currently 2nd in the leage, and have the "easier" of the CCSF's, this weekend.

Yes, they're going to have to be replaced, someday, and I dare say, Mssrs Smith, Moran et al, have allready sat down and discussed this.


Gentlemen, rest your sphincters. It'll be OK. Don't panic.

This

silver2 wrote:

Shouldnt we as a sport be concerned about the number of 30+ year olds who are able to hold down a place in a first team squad. Is this an indication that the game is stagnating or even worse, dying?

I think league is dead on its booty, they need to look at something like a hybrid game merging with union or will league even exist in 5 or 10 years?