Westerman aiming to outshine Burgess
 |
| Prop Sam Burgess is Super League's hottest talent, according to Bulls assistant coach Basil Richards |
Two of the game's most talked-about youngsters go face-to-face for the first time at Grattan Stadium.
Everyone knows of Sam Burgess'
prodigious talent but on Sunday the Great Britain starlet comes up against the
pretender to his crown, a fellow teenager making waves all of his own in Super League.
Gifted Castleford loose forward Joe Westerman, 18, won National League One Player of the Year on the back of some huge performances that helped Tigers win promotion last season.
And the home-town hero has seamlessly adjusted to life in the big time with some commanding displays that have made spectators rapidly sit up and take note.
Despite just eight Super League games, people are already excitedly catapulting him into England's World Cup squad alongside Bradford pack ace Burgess, who knows all about a meteoric rise to fame.
Bulls assistant Basil Richards is in a great position to compare the abilities of the tyros, having coached Westerman in the England Under-17s team while
working with Burgess on a daily basis at Odsal. He admitted: "It's going to be an exciting prospect on Sunday seeing those two combat each other out there.
"Joe Westerman and Sam are both young kids but very mature and the way they play their football should make it a great contest.
"Joe's certainly making headlines already. I coached him with England Under-17s in 2006 but also in the Yorkshire camps - with Burge - the year before.
"He's a wonderful footballer with a good footballing brain.
"He hasn't got exceptional pace that explodes out the back of the line but is a big, athletic kid and we'll be paying
attention to his threat.
| Joe Westerman and Sam are both young kids but very mature and the way they play their football should make it a great contest | | Basil Richards |
|
"I found him to be a confident young man who reads the game well and if we take our eye off the mark he will prize
openings for Cas with his skills."
Richards has worked in close proximity with a lot of Super League's best young talents, including Wigan hooker Mike McIllotum and St Helens dazzler Kyle Eastmond.
Having seen goal-kicking Westerman bag a hat-trick against Warrington on Easter Monday, he sees no reason why the Cas kid can't live up to his billing and make the trip to Australia.
"Current form suggests he can and I believe Tony Smith is looking for form players," said Richards.
"You have to say the way Westerman's playing he could get in that England team. He's been in all the sides all the way up and so has that experience and I'm sure one day he will put on an England shirt.
"But he'll be the first to admit that first he has to concentrate on getting in the Cas side and he still has a long way to go."
However, Richards concedes the same can't be said of 19-year-old Burgess, the current Super League Young Player of the Year.
"I think Sam is the exception to the rule," he said. "The way I see it is he's already blown the rest away and what he's done so far is amazing.
"They are two different types of footballer. Sam's a big, explosive ball-carrier who possesses good handling too.
"For me, he is out there on his own already and if he is on his game, he will cause Cas more problems than anyone on Sunday."
Start or join a debate on this issue in our online forum - Click here
3:08pm Friday 28th March 2008
Print 
Email this 
CommentPosted by: Adrian, Bradford on 3:57pm Fri 28 Mar 08
He may be world class but we're relying on Burgess way too much this season! Time for some other players to take the strain and put in some hard work!
He may be world class but we're relying on Burgess way too much this season! Time for some other players to take the strain and put in some hard work!
Posted by: Chimaira, bradford on 4:50pm Fri 28 Mar 08
well now we have langley back morrison a couple of weeks off feather actually using his body and the half backs actually clicking the pressure should be off burgess
well now we have langley back morrison a couple of weeks off feather actually using his body and the half backs actually clicking the pressure should be off burgess
Posted by: LeagueJunkie, Lost on 9:25pm Fri 28 Mar 08
Burgess should be playing on the flanks for me.
Burgess should be playing on the flanks for me.
Posted by: LeagueJunkie, Lost on 9:35am Mon 31 Mar 08
[quote][bold]LeagueJunkie[/bold] wrote:
Burgess should be playing on the flanks for me.[/quote] Good call League Junkie, Burg showed exactly what he is capable of doing on the flanks.
Westerman, who's he?
Couldn't live with Burgess at all.
LeagueJunkie wrote:
Burgess should be playing on the flanks for me.
Good call League Junkie, Burg showed exactly what he is capable of doing on the flanks.
Westerman, who's he?
Couldn't live with Burgess at all.
Posted by: Brian, Wibsey on 10:47am Mon 31 Mar 08
He's 18, played less than 10 SL games and is in a side getting murdered. What do you expect him to do?
Westerman's a classy kid who'll be star but let him start shaving first.
He's 18, played less than 10 SL games and is in a side getting murdered. What do you expect him to do?
Westerman's a classy kid who'll be star but let him start shaving first.
Posted by: LeagueJunkie, Lost on 11:15am Mon 31 Mar 08
[quote][bold]Brian[/bold] wrote:
He's 18, played less than 10 SL games and is in a side getting murdered. What do you expect him to do? Westerman's a classy kid who'll be star but let him start shaving first. [/quote] He's been hyped up an awful lot well beyond his ability.
Brian wrote:
He's 18, played less than 10 SL games and is in a side getting murdered. What do you expect him to do? Westerman's a classy kid who'll be star but let him start shaving first.
He's been hyped up an awful lot well beyond his ability.
Posted by: Adrian, Bradford on 11:26am Mon 31 Mar 08
[quote][bold]LeagueJunkie[/bold] wrote:
[quote][bold]Brian[/bold] wrote: He's 18, played less than 10 SL games and is in a side getting murdered. What do you expect him to do? Westerman's a classy kid who'll be star but let him start shaving first. [/quote] He's been hyped up an awful lot well beyond his ability.[/quote] To be honest, he was one of Cas's better players. He was solid as a rock in defence until Burgess got shifted down there. After that it was sheer power all the way.
LeagueJunkie wrote:
Brian wrote: He's 18, played less than 10 SL games and is in a side getting murdered. What do you expect him to do? Westerman's a classy kid who'll be star but let him start shaving first.
He's been hyped up an awful lot well beyond his ability.
To be honest, he was one of Cas's better players. He was solid as a rock in defence until Burgess got shifted down there. After that it was sheer power all the way.
Posted by: LeagueJunkie, Lost on 11:30am Mon 31 Mar 08
[quote][bold]Adrian[/bold] wrote:
[quote][bold]LeagueJunkie[/bold] wrote: [quote][bold]Brian[/bold] wrote: He's 18, played less than 10 SL games and is in a side getting murdered. What do you expect him to do? Westerman's a classy kid who'll be star but let him start shaving first. [/quote] He's been hyped up an awful lot well beyond his ability.[/quote] To be honest, he was one of Cas's better players. He was solid as a rock in defence until Burgess got shifted down there. After that it was sheer power all the way. [/quote] Yeah but he couldn't handle Burgess could he?
He's not a patch on him at LF or SR.
Adrian wrote:
LeagueJunkie wrote: Brian wrote: He's 18, played less than 10 SL games and is in a side getting murdered. What do you expect him to do? Westerman's a classy kid who'll be star but let him start shaving first.
He's been hyped up an awful lot well beyond his ability.
To be honest, he was one of Cas's better players. He was solid as a rock in defence until Burgess got shifted down there. After that it was sheer power all the way.
Yeah but he couldn't handle Burgess could he?
He's not a patch on him at LF or SR.
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
