He did enough in 2020 to win a Challenge Cup Medal.

Ricky bibey has 2 of them

Andy Farrell’s dad. You’d think he’d be able to spot a good player wouldn’t you?

Livett was offered a 3 yr contract with Hull KR in April of this year, but Salford being nearer home and as you say the economics for a young lad paying out rent / bills / and other expenditure out of his low wage was a no brainer when Ian Watson came in for him in May. This contract was a done deal back then and with regards to not much game time for HKR, TS explained in his interviews he needed to roate the players that were staying not leaving..hence Livett not much on the scene, same as Brierley and a few others. Alot of the youngsters over the years, such as johnson, wilde, moran, smith... all these were exceptional players in the U19s and Briers raved about them as a team... they jump to SL and are used as and when required and given no explanations when they are dropped. No player welfare what so ever is involved. Lets hope all these lads kick on and get the chance they all deserves elsewhere as we all know our club isnt the best or blooding the young..

You've got me thinking who I'd class as our best signings over the last 3 years.



Cooper

Austin

Hiku (skillwise, not blaming anyone for the home sick card)

Goodwin

Charnley

Ashton?



Widdop and GI are huge names to we have signed too, performances aside. Wonder if this is the scouting team or commercial teams who sanction/initiate these signings.



I'll say that Cooper & Charnley were known to be decent. Ashton score 10 billion tries in 20 games for Swinton so credit to getting that acquisition done rather than scouting (maybe a little harsh)

Where are Johnson, Wilde, Smith & Moran now?



Were they exceptional players? Or were they good for their age group? It's one thing a player looking good in a group consisting of players between the age of 17-20, it's a whole different aspect them proving themselves against players aged 17 - 37.

I think Blake Austin has to be a good signing. He needs a playmaker with him. Is being asked to create with the ball & virtually do all the kicking. He is a runner. His form (when he first came with all the tries & top of man of steel until injury) ... was as good as can be expected from any signing. Not many/no half-backs are outstanding every game and I think we expect so much from him.

wilde (and going back a page) and paul noone are good comparisons for livett, noone was a very popular figure, but if you were to go back, he wasn't very good at anything in particular, he wasn't blessed with pace, he wasn't a devastating tackler, didn't have great hands ,i spoke to cull pre season 2007, he said jumped at the chance to sign vinnie anderson, so we'd have some passing in the back row.

An excellent post. Add to this that improvement doesn’t follow a set trajectory, so some players peak will be as an 18 year old while others will keep improving.

The players we let go are far more noticeable than say Wigan/Saints as they have a bigger pool. Can’t see many Saints fans complaining about Costello or Ashworth leaving for example.

You are correct Peter Farrell is one of the Warrington scouts.



However Johnson was signed on the recommendation of the England Academy coach at the time. (Lee Briers).



Briers selected Johnson as the player of the series after the England v France games and persuaded Wire to pay a transfer for him, in Johnson`s move from Castleford.

No doubt they will deduct it from Briers next wage!

This is one of the big problems with hype - it's always based on players being good against teenagers or amateur teams. You hear how such and such a junior team was packed with stars and then comments from well meaning family or friends who say I remember playing with him in the junior clubs and you could see he was a class act etc.



It all counts for nothing till they play with pros. The more games they play, the more the truth is revealed. Some players will have a good start when nobody knows them but then when other SL coaches and players have video tape on them and start sussing out their weaknesses the challenge gets harder. So you get a lot of players who come out with hype around them, or have a handful of good games early on, and then things start getting harder and they can't adapt. I have respect for guys like Riley and Cooper, who had some difficult times early on and had people doubting whether they would make it, but came through their first challenging spell (in Riley's case because of form and for Cooper a difficult comeback from injury) and established themselves. Also sometimes they players who are able to handle the pros are not the ones who were most hyped - Toby King didn't have a big fanfare around him when he arrived but he has done a lot better than those who did.



With some of our players that haven't made it, people have said well its because of poor coaching at Warrington, players can't develop, but if that was true they'd go on to other clubs and fulfil their potential, but that never happens. They just go off to lower SL clubs or the Championship. Meanwhile guys like Briers, Westwood, Bridge, Grix, who all signed for us before being formed as SL players, all developed in to top players, under the same coaching that supposedly ruined others.



When a player has 30 to 50 SL games under their belt, you pretty much know what a player is. It's rare that a player who is average at the 50 games mark turns into a great player by their 100th game. Holding out hope that guys like Livett or Patton are going to be great players is kidding yourself. They will have SL careers but not at the top clubs.