I would be excited by signing Widdop for 2020 but would temper it slightly by recognising he will be 31 when he starts playing for us so there is risk. We've had players before of that age who have been very good. Jonathan Davies and Chris Hicks were 31 in their first season for us and Brett Hodgson was 33. But we've also had lots of players who we've signed on the basis of their form 2-3 years before they arrived and they haven't been the same for us: Rauhihi, Asotasi, Nikau, Swann, Brown. The peak-decline point kicks in for different players at different points but is usually between 30 and 33 so signing anyone within that range on big money is a risk. He does have a good reputation as a professional with no off-field markers to think he'll be an early decliner so hopefully that means we aren't taking too much of a gamble. I think if by 2020 we have a solid team who have largely been together for 3-4 years, who have at least been in the mix for trophies in 3 out of the preceding 4 seasons, then we won't be seeing Widdop to be a one-man superstar to drag us up but bringing an extra edge on and off the field to that could take a good team to being champion material, kind of like how Juventus hope a late-career Cristiano Ronaldo will take them the final step to being European champions.
