The homegrown stat which underlines why Wigan Warriors & St Helens are Super League’s flag bearers

It’s been the case for some time, but Friday night’s derby between Wigan Warriors & St Helens evidenced exactly why the pair are Super League’s flag bearers for producing top quality homegrown talent.

Of the 34 players involved in the Round 17 clash, 20 came through their respective clubs’ academy.

That figure rises to 21 if you tweak the category slightly to just ‘Wigan & Saints academy products on show’ to allow Saints academy product Luke Thompson – who took to the field and shone for Wigan – into the group.

Both sides are plagued by injuries to key players at the moment, including a raft of overseas talent, but the 20,152 spectators at The Brick Community Stadium – and the thousands watching on elsewhere via Sky Sports – were treated to an absolute thriller.

Hosts Wigan edged it, taking a 16-12 victory which leaves them six points clear of Saints and in pole position to retain the League Leaders’ Shield.

But result aside, it was a tremendous evening for the English game on the whole, with the future of both clubs looking incredibly bright.

Below is a list of the academy products on show…

Wigan (9): Zach Eckersley, Liam Marshall, Jack Farrimond, Harry Smith, Ethan Havard, Junior Nsemba, Liam Farrell, Liam Byrne, Harvie Hill

St Helens (12): Harry Robertson, Mark Percival, Ben Davies, Jack Welsby, Jonny Lomax, George Delaney, Matty Lees, Sam Royle, Jake Burns, Jonny Vaughan, Noah Stephens, Luke Thompson*

*Playing for Wigan

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Wigan Warriors duo praise academy talent on show in Friday night’s derby against St Helens

The two young stars who came away from Friday night’s game with the most plaudits were both full-backs.

Teenager Harry Robertson was thrust in for his senior debut by Saints head coach Paul Wellens, and played the full 80 minutes with an assured showing as the visitors shuffled their pack with Lewis Dodd dropped and Jack Welsby moved into the halves.

20-year-old Zach Eckersley meanwhile – named Sky’s man of the match – slotted in at 1 for Wigan after, according to injured superstar Bevan French, just 10 minutes of practice there.

French tore his hamstring in the Warriors’ captain’s run, and will now be out for eight weeks, but Eckersley produced another fine display, coming up with the winning try.

And the Oldham-born ace reserved praise for opposite number Robertson post-match, praising the 18-year-old as he told LoveRugbyLeague: “Obviously Saints came to play, and they had Harry at full-back.

“I think he played really well and should be proud of himself. It was his debut, and he played well.

“It was a good night for the sport and obviously the two clubs are good at bringing players through, which is good for the game.”

Cherry & Whites team-mate Havard echoed the same sentiments. Still only 23 himself, the prop now has 87 senior appearances to his name at club level.

Speaking to LoveRugbyLeague, he said: “It’s good to be growing some good players and it’s nice to see some players coming through the ranks.

“These are players that have trained at first-team level for a while, and are now coming through and taking their opportunity, just like Zach did tonight.”

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