Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Oct 15, 2020 11:59 am  

lothlorian wrote:

Well I've just been posting on a social media forum about the Moles post on twitter that French was going home and Hastings to rugby union. I didn't twig at first who the reply came from but a female poster wrote that French was homesick and wanted to go home but the Hastings leaving rumours are nonsense. After a short discussion turns out this poster was Jackson's mum. I'm not sure how more reliable source there can be than the players mum but it certainly look a like he's staying

The club needs to get a lot more savvy/strict with social media. Half the time it's our own supporters stirring the pot as well.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:38 pm  

Grimmy wrote:

The club needs to get a lot more savvy/strict with social media. Half the time it's our own supporters stirring the pot as well.

In what way? Strict and savvy are two different ball parks when it comes to social media and PR.

Obviously it seems like the club's approach is to always the last to comment on anything. They need to control/own the conversation when they can. Imo Too often not being proactive has built up either frustrations or resentments with fans. A few examples:

French - if he's only considering leaving and hasn't made up his mind then the club or particularly Lam should just say that. Something like " We love Bevan and there's a contract on the table should he want it, we understand however the pull of family life is also strong for him. We've set a deadline and won't speak about it until it's resolved" etc. If he's decided to leave then they should announce it and at the same time flip the story with the positive of Field coming in.

Burgess - he was obviously struggling with his hip. Everyone could see it and the lack of communication lead to speculation and finger pointing from fans, which wasn't fair on GB. The club eventually took the right option to announce that he's suffering and asked for time and support from the fans. That one snippet in the press has pretty much killed the chatter on this subject.

Hastings - the club could have been more proactive to control the conversation in the summer. Imo all the will he, won't he stuff could have been ended with a simple statement from the club. Hastings rep is now tarnished with some and it could have been avoided.

The sad fact of life is that social media is there. You may hate it & not want to engage with it, but you can't hide your head in the sand.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:44 pm  

sergeant pepper wrote:

In what way? Strict and savvy are two different ball parks when it comes to social media and PR.

Obviously it seems like the club's approach is to always the last to comment on anything. They need to control/own the conversation when they can. Imo Too often not being proactive has built up either frustrations or resentments with fans. A few examples:

French - if he's only considering leaving and hasn't made up his mind then the club or particularly Lam should just say that. Something like " We love Bevan and there's a contract on the table should he want it, we understand however the pull of family life is also strong for him. We've set a deadline and won't speak about it until it's resolved" etc. If he's decided to leave then they should announce it and at the same time flip the story with the positive of Field coming in.

Burgess - he was obviously struggling with his hip. Everyone could see it and the lack of communication lead to speculation and finger pointing from fans, which wasn't fair on GB. The club eventually took the right option to announce that he's suffering and asked for time and support from the fans. That one snippet in the press has pretty much killed the chatter on this subject.

Hastings - the club could have been more proactive to control the conversation in the summer. Imo all the will he, won't he stuff could have been ended with a simple statement from the club. Hastings rep is now tarnished with some and it could have been avoided.

The sad fact of life is that social media is there. You may hate it & not want to engage with it, but you can't hide your head in the sand.

I should have been more specific. I don't mean the club's own social media. I mean they should train players about its use (if they don't already) and implement rules around what players can share if they are going to present themselves as members of Wigan Warriors on there and accept 'adds' from fans who they haven't met.

Unfortunately some of our own fans will try to stir up controversy on there, and will be only too happy to spread anything that is said, even if it is negative for the club. Personally I only have players on my social media who I actually know, and don't really get the point in trying to interact with those who I don't. Players are now accustomed to the idea that you don't really say anything of consequence in interviews for this reason. We need the same standards on social media now IMO if players are going to have random fans on there. Even innocent comments between players get misconstrued and spread by people who don't know the context.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Oct 15, 2020 3:01 pm  

Just get rid of social media, problem solved

(yes, i know we cant do that but my god i HATE it)

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Oct 15, 2020 4:27 pm  

sergeant pepper wrote:

In what way? Strict and savvy are two different ball parks when it comes to social media and PR.

Obviously it seems like the club's approach is to always the last to comment on anything. They need to control/own the conversation when they can. Imo Too often not being proactive has built up either frustrations or resentments with fans. A few examples:

French - if he's only considering leaving and hasn't made up his mind then the club or particularly Lam should just say that. Something like " We love Bevan and there's a contract on the table should he want it, we understand however the pull of family life is also strong for him. We've set a deadline and won't speak about it until it's resolved" etc. If he's decided to leave then they should announce it and at the same time flip the story with the positive of Field coming in.

Burgess - he was obviously struggling with his hip. Everyone could see it and the lack of communication lead to speculation and finger pointing from fans, which wasn't fair on GB. The club eventually took the right option to announce that he's suffering and asked for time and support from the fans. That one snippet in the press has pretty much killed the chatter on this subject.

Hastings - the club could have been more proactive to control the conversation in the summer. Imo all the will he, won't he stuff could have been ended with a simple statement from the club. Hastings rep is now tarnished with some and it could have been avoided.

The sad fact of life is that social media is there. You may hate it & not want to engage with it, but you can't hide your head in the sand.

Jackson Hastings could have put that rumour to bed himself. Especially, as he was the direct cause of most of those rumours. I don't mind seeing fair criticism levelled at the club, but that one is pretty ridiculous.

That said, I wouldn't have minded seeing them challenge JH, either in public or private, when he was in the midst of spreading that misinformation. Much as I wouldn't have minded seeing them challenge Shaun Edwards when he also started f###ing about.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Oct 15, 2020 4:42 pm  

Cruncher wrote:

Jackson Hastings could have put that rumour to bed himself. Especially, as he was the direct cause of most of those rumours. I don't mind seeing fair criticism levelled at the club, but that one is pretty ridiculous.

That said, I wouldn't have minded seeing them challenge JH, either in public or private, when he was in the midst of spreading that misinformation. Much as I wouldn't have minded seeing them challenge Shaun Edwards when he also started f###ing about.

Yeah he definitely could have, but he didn't and it rumbled on instead and some reputational damage was done. All I'm saying is that, from a clubs POV, just take the initiative and control the chat. If there's rumours going around about one of your star players not turning up, then you be proactive and nip it in the bud. By all means stand up to him in private (I hope they did), but smooth it over with a vanilla PR piece to the fans. They shouldn't have to do it, but it wouldn't have harmed anyone if they did type thing.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Oct 15, 2020 5:54 pm  

Imagine if Hastings stays, Field comes in, Burgess gets fit and we appoint Watson as coach. What odds do you reckon? 100/1?

People at the club read these forums, they know what the fans want (or some of us anyway, not speaking for everyone) Burgess ever being fit is the difficult one. If Lam leaves i can't see anyone else we would even approach to be honest, here or in Australia. I know its taking a chance with Watson but surely it's one worth taking. At some point soon in the future Saints, Wire and Leeds will be looking for a new head coach and i would bet he will be right at the top of the list for all of them. Personal opinion is he will elevate his coaching ability to new levels. Let's not forget where Salford where when he took them over. A drop goal from relegation. He has stabilised them and made them incredibly tough to beat and well drilled on a shoestring budget.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Oct 15, 2020 6:21 pm  

Pie_Eyter wrote:

Imagine if Hastings stays, Field comes in, Burgess gets fit and we appoint Watson as coach. What odds do you reckon? 100/1?

People at the club read these forums, they know what the fans want (or some of us anyway, not speaking for everyone) Burgess ever being fit is the difficult one. If Lam leaves i can't see anyone else we would even approach to be honest, here or in Australia. I know its taking a chance with Watson but surely it's one worth taking. At some point soon in the future Saints, Wire and Leeds will be looking for a new head coach and i would bet he will be right at the top of the list for all of them. Personal opinion is he will elevate his coaching ability to new levels. Let's not forget where Salford where when he took them over. A drop goal from relegation. He has stabilised them and made them incredibly tough to beat and well drilled on a shoestring budget.

I agree re Watson (also hope Hastings stays too).

In regards to Watson I wonder how many times he realistically wants to keep going to the well. He's obviously done an A+ job, but is this current "success" sustainable and if so for how long? In just over 12 months they've been to a GF and Wembley, where do they go from there and how long will the shine of this period last I.e now he's got a taste of it, will he want more?

Nothing in sport is ever a guarantee, but anyone can see that being at a Wigan, Saints or Leeds equals a fair to good shot at regular finals. If he backs himself and wants the challenge then the opportunities are endless. That for me that beats the pull of "playing for your home club".

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Oct 15, 2020 9:37 pm  

Grimmy wrote:

I should have been more specific. I don't mean the club's own social media. I mean they should train players about its use (if they don't already) and implement rules around what players can share if they are going to present themselves as members of Wigan Warriors on there and accept 'adds' from fans who they haven't met.

Unfortunately some of our own fans will try to stir up controversy on there, and will be only too happy to spread anything that is said, even if it is negative for the club. Personally I only have players on my social media who I actually know, and don't really get the point in trying to interact with those who I don't. Players are now accustomed to the idea that you don't really say anything of consequence in interviews for this reason. We need the same standards on social media now IMO if players are going to have random fans on there. Even innocent comments between players get misconstrued and spread by people who don't know the context.

Good points. Interesting evening to read this, I must admit.
We’ve currently got Oliver Gildart in a childish Twitter spat with someone who he’s now taking the Micky out for his haircut. nice lad JH has got involved and to be frank, it’s got a bit tasteless.
Simple answer is don’t get involved. When OG gets a certain tweet, block the poster and move on. Don’t engage in what has become a public ridiculing of this Twitter user by employees of Wigan RLFC. Doesn’t someone at Wigan have the job of banging this type of drum?

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Oct 16, 2020 7:46 am  

If Watson has any sense, he will stay at his beloved Salford where he was a respected player and is a coach, revered by Salford supporters.

Why come to a club where some would start calling him names, if Wigan were not winning every game by a big score and all the team not playing like Harlem Globetrotters