I can see both arguements here. The standard in the conference has imporved greatly over the years and i think sending younger players on loan there is a good move. There is very little standard in the reserves which hampers players development.
At the same time the conference is split into two, full time teams and part time teams. Truth is baring some miricle Gateshead will always be one the smaller teams who are struggling proberly why players have said no.
Also if the two players are Worthington and Lomax. Worthington is a few olders and had a few more clubs than Lomax so he probery thinks he can get into a league one side or league two team.
For Lomax its different, apart from his loan spell at Dale he has only ever played at Latics. Lets not forget he was very lucky to be resigned by Shez due to injuries, however he has seen what has happened to Matty Barlow, Carlos Roca, Chris Rowney, players who have gone into Non League and never made it back into the football league.
Hence why he stay in the reserves keep his hopes alive.