Former Great Britain halfback Garry Schofield has launched a scathing attack on two Super League coaches for their handling of young halfbacks.
Schofield aimed his criticism at Keiron Cunningham and Tony Smith, the coaches of St Helens and Warrington respectively, after they dropped Danny Richardson and Declan Patton for their matches last weekend.
Both clubs subsequently lost, leaving the two powerhouses languishing in the bottom four of Super League.
Writing for his regular League Express column, ‘Pulling No Punches’, Schofield fumed about the lack of trust given to both players.
“The scapegoating of young playmakers shows the lack of confidence the game collectively has in them,” he said.
“Wigan’s George Williams is a young man currently exuding enormous amounts of confidence, and that’s because Shaun Wane stuck by him when he was young. Tony Smith and Keiron Cunningham need to take a leaf out of his book.
“In a play-off era, the regular weekly rounds don’t carry so much importance, especially this early in the season, so there’s no need to make knee-jerk decisions like this.”
To read the full column, buy the latest edition of League Express, available in stores now or online at totalrl.com/le.
