You're right. I don't want to see the 14 try scoring 21 try assisting George Williams back either.

I wonder if Oli be as keen if George isn't there to hold his hand.

On a more serious note, I can't help but wonder if other clubs would still be able to outbid us even with the extra space we'd accrue from those contracts you mention ending.

It would seem unlike the prudent IL to get drawn into an auction that gets silly. Not for one player.

But hope springs eternal.

We can also use the George Burgess marquee money,he must have been a right tidy sum to leave Australia

I remember all the people that thought he was rubbish and saying he wouldn't make it in the NRL and them having to back track and come up with ludicrous excuses when he proved them wrong.
They just can't accept they were wrong, sutton same story

Didn't say he was rubbish nor did I say he didn't rack up some tries. However he was inconsistent and playing well within himself, perhaps with one eye on Australia. I enjoy watching players who maximise their talents, not those who fade in and out of games because the average standard of the league allows it. He looks to be much more talkative on the field now and seems to have developed his organisational skills and long kicking game. If he brings all of that over to Wigan and plays to his potential most weeks then we have a great player.

He is better now with the Raiders but I would still want the 2019 version as our marquee. We should be all over this if there is anything in these rumours, and I'm sure we will be.

I completely sympathise with people who said that George tended to drift in and out of games during his final years with Wigan. I honestly believe that he did, but that this was because he was allowed to. Maybe it was one of Waney's few errors.

At Canberra that hasn't been the case. Stuart is a sergeant-major coach who's proved that he won't hesitate to swing the axe. Maybe George previously felt that he was indispensable.

If he came back home would he feel the same way? It would be down to the current coaching staff to prove otherwise.

But I'd do almost anything to see him in a Wigan shirt again. He is and has always been a fantastic halfback talent.

You reckon that was his issue at times here? IMO it was more that he tried to do too much at times, resulting in him occasionally running up his own backside. I think that's part of what works at Canberra. He has a strong partner in Wighton who commands a lot of ball, so he can choose his moments to inject himself into the attack.

From an article in the Manchester Evening News:

“We’re in constant communication with George and making sure he’s OK," Stuart said to the Sydney Morning Herald

“It could now be a case of George have family come out for the final year of his contract. We want him to be comfortable and we will explore anything we can do to make life easier for the final year of his deal.

“George is a big part of this club and we don’t want him going anywhere.”

As with most things, the truth is somewhere in the middle. Both William's and Sutton were very good player for us. I'd gladly and gleefully have them both back.

Let's not however dismiss some of the issues that people had with them. Both have the ability to be great players imo, but they also seemed to coast a little during their time with us. Sutton in particular, could have been anything he wanted to be, but why did it take going to the NRL to find that next level? I look at someone like Philbin and see a guy who, whilst not as being as talented as Sutton, has a GB cap and that's down to him finding a way to be the best version of himself as a player.

Williams and Sutton were poles apart as Wigan players for me. Williams was one of our best and one of the best players in the league and even in his worst season he racked up loads of try’s and assists. Sutton was a good young player for us and prop is a tough position for a youngster but he left plenty in the tank in his time here, both from a playing perspective and in terms of his physical shape.

I think Williams looks a little more rounded now but he left as a very good player and would come back as one. Sutton left as an inconsistent young prop, who was starting to get himself in better physical shape but if he were to come back (which he won’t) he’d be coming back a far better player. If people called Sutton a poor player before he went then they were wrong but if they were frustrated that he wasn’t as good for Wigan as he could’ve been, then they were bang on for my money.

Maybe it's the high opinion that I had/have of Williams that I still thought he could have been even better during his time at Wigan. Undoubtedly he produced the goods for us tho.

Hopefully we get him back!