Entry 3: 4th November
One thing another year of international failure has highlighted is the reliance of overseas players in the British game, particularly in the key positions of 1, 6, 7 and 9.
A look at the players who had those shirt numbers for Super League clubs in the UK last year just illustrates my point:
Bradford: Dave Halley (English), Brett Kearney (Australian), Matt Orford (Australian), Heath L'Estrange (Australian)
Castleford: Ryan McGoldrick (Australian), Rangi Chase (NZ), Brent Sherwin (Australian), Ryan Hudson (English)
Crusaders: Clinton Schifcoske (Australian), Michael Witt (Australian), Jarrod Sammut (Australian), Lincoln Withers (Australian)
Harlequins: Chris Melling (English), Luke Dorn (Australian), Danny Orr (English), Chad Randall (Australian)
Huddersfield: Brett Hodgson (Australian), Kevin Brown (English), Danny Brough (Scottish), Luke Robinson (English)
Hull: Jordan Tansey (English), Richard Horne (English), Sean Long (English), Shaun Berrigan (Australian)
Hull Kingston Rovers: Shaun Briscoe (English), Scott Murrell (English), Mick Dobson (Australian), Ben Fisher (Scottish)
Leeds: Brent Webb (NZ), Danny McGuire (English), Rob Burrow (English), Danny Buderus (Australian)
Salford: Karl Fitzpatrick (Irish), Stefan Ratchford (English), Jeremy Smith (NZ), Malcolm Alker (English)
St. Helens: Paul Wellens (English), Leon Pryce (English), Kyle Eastmond (English), James Roby (English)
Wakefield: Matt Blaymire (English), Ben Jeffries (Australian), Sam Obst (Australian), Tevita Leo-Latu (NZ)
Warrington: Richard Mathers (English), Lee Briers (Welsh), Richie Myler (English), Michael Monaghan (Australian)
Wigan: Sam Tomkins (English), Thomas Leuluai (NZ), Paul Deacon (English), Mark Riddell (Australian)
The worrying trend is that out of 52 players in key positions for Super League clubs, only 24 are eligible for the England international side and when you factor in that players like Richard Horne, Sean Long (Hull), Danny McGuire, Rob Burrow (Leeds), Leon Pryce and Kyle Eastmond (St Helens) have sat out huge swathes of the season or picked up term ending problems and the fact that other players (Paul Deacon, Paul Wellens, Danny Orr) are nearer the end of their careers, you can see the problems we have at international level.
What can we do? Well I reckon we need to fast track young halfbacks and team decision makers. Okay I know my list includes Sam Tomkins, Kyle Eastmond and Richie Myler who each have good talents and potentially great ones, but there needs to be more.
Perhaps we could look at mentoring programmes? There must be ways of using some of the experienced former players that are around to really bring the best out of these players. I'm sure the likes of Garry Schofield, Paul Sculthorpe and perhaps now he's hanging the boots up, Keiron Cunningham, they could all become involved in giving these youngsters ago instead of the usual response which is to drop a young player in at the deep end and hope that he does a job.
Particularly in a play-making role, players need time. Earlier in his career John Duffy wasn't given that chance and opportunity at Warrington and also did not play as regularly at Salford. It was only at Leigh where he was able to prosper and perhaps even despite the successes he has had in his career, he would have done even more had he been given more of an opportunity during his early years as a professional.
It is also time to use the good coaches that we have in this country. This past season at Leigh, Ian Millward has to a certain extent took the Centurions stand-off Martyn Ridyard under his wing, turning a good 23 year-old amateur player into a more rounded Championship half-back and while I'm not suggesting that Ridyard is ready for Super League currently, the Championship does have its share of promising talents who could step up to the rigours of Super League and to not use good coaches like Daryl Powell just seems like a waste.
I think the top clubs need to open their eyes and spread their nets. Kyle Briggs at Featherstone has had an excellent season and a player who has flirted with Super League in the past, Anthony Thackeray at Widnes has also grown his game. In fact it is interesting to note that Hull KR for example have allowed 22 year old Chaz I'Anson to leave for Widnes at the same time as recruiting 23 year old Australian Blake Green for next season while Bradford have chosen to completely bypass the young halfbacks at their club like Cain Southernwood in favour of recruiting virtual unknown Marc Herbert from Canberra.
On the positive side I was encouraged to read that just this week Wigan have promoted hooker Logan Tomkins and halfback Sam Powell to their senior group of players. I hope they can both force their way into first team reckoning in the next 18 months.
One thing is for sure, despite the efforts of the current England boys, and there is no doubting their effort, we need to develop our attack and to do that we need the playmakers to be given their chance.
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