Re: Manly game with Wane and Hampson : Thu Feb 24, 2022 1:03 pm  

Stu M wrote:

Trust me he's not always rated him. Lomax I agree with, he loves him but he has had reservations about Walmsley in relation to his defence.

That's right Stu. When Wigan went to watch Walmsley at Dewsbury the recommendations were not to sign him due to his poor lateral movement in defensive situations.

Similarly they sent Regan Grace home after one day because he couldn't catch.

Just shows how you get somethings wrong.

Re: Manly game with Wane and Hampson : Thu Feb 24, 2022 1:11 pm  

Wane will pick the best players, the end.

If he’s allowed to in ‘all’ games is a question to be asked of other people.

Re: Manly game with Wane and Hampson : Thu Feb 24, 2022 1:17 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

That's right Stu. When Wigan went to watch Walmsley at Dewsbury the recommendations were not to sign him due to his poor lateral movement in defensive situations.

I wonder, if it's the same person (not saying it's Wane btw) who thought Hopkins, Tautai, Clarke, Singleton, Lauaki, Pettybourne would be decent options?

Re: Manly game with Wane and Hampson : Thu Feb 24, 2022 1:36 pm  

Stu M wrote:

It was probably daft of me to reference Walmsley in my post, clearly he will be picked as he's the best prop in the comp by a distance.

Its just my opinion thats all, I feel there is a conflict of interest when a club member of staff is the International coach. Wane hates Saints as much as any Wigan fan does and I've no issues with that, however his role as England manager brings him into direct communication and conversations with Saints. I just hope his feelings play no part in any of his decisions. Again its only my opinion.

I get what you're saying Stu but I'm similarly pro Wigan and anti Saints (I think hate is a strong word btw) at club level. However, if I was picking an England side today it would contain many Saints players and, probably, the majority of the ones you would pick. I certainly wouldn't pick a Wigan player if there was a better option elsewhere. I'm just a fan. I would hope that a National coach as professional and honourable as Wane... and say what you like about him he is certainly those... would be equally capable of doing the same.

Re: Manly game with Wane and Hampson : Thu Feb 24, 2022 1:52 pm  

Phuzzy wrote:

I get what you're saying Stu but I'm similarly pro Wigan and anti Saints (I think hate is a strong word btw) at club level. However, if I was picking an England side today it would contain many Saints players and, probably, the majority of the ones you would pick. I certainly wouldn't pick a Wigan player if there was a better option elsewhere. I'm just a fan. I would hope that a National coach as professional and honourable as Wane... and say what you like about him he is certainly those... would be equally capable of doing the same.

Fair comments.

Re: Manly game with Wane and Hampson : Thu Feb 24, 2022 2:03 pm  

Anybody who thinks Wane won’t pick Makinson, Lomax, Walmsley and Knowles as an absolute minimum in his England squad wants their bumps feeling. He may well pick another 2 or 3 on top of that (I’d pick Welsby, Dodds and Batchelor in a 25 man squad as well).

He’ll try and pick many of them in the All Stars game in a few months but I doubt he’ll be successful in getting them all out on the field, through no fault of his or those players.

Re: Manly game with Wane and Hampson : Thu Feb 24, 2022 2:43 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

Anybody who thinks Wane won’t pick Makinson, Lomax, Walmsley and Knowles as an absolute minimum in his England squad wants their bumps feeling. He may well pick another 2 or 3 on top of that (I’d pick Welsby, Dodds and Batchelor in a 25 man squad as well).

He’ll try and pick many of them in the All Stars game in a few months but I doubt he’ll be successful in getting them all out on the field, through no fault of his or those players.

I think a massive positive that we will see from Wane is that we won't be trawling the NRL for any players with British ancestry who would never even be considered for Australia, unlike some previous selections. I do think previously any British players in the NRL were put on a pedestal and were a shoe in for the national team on that basis alone (regardless of form/performance there). I think Gildart & Hodgson will be interesting inclusions/omissions come selection time...pre Wane there would be no question, now I think it will be more on form rather than reputation.

Re: Manly game with Wane and Hampson : Thu Feb 24, 2022 3:06 pm  

I think Herbie Farnworth will be in serious contention.

Re: Manly game with Wane and Hampson : Thu Feb 24, 2022 3:15 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

I think Herbie Farnworth will be in serious contention.

Hopefully him being dumped out of that training squad was just a little wake up call. If he’s looking at the NRL I’d imagine him and Sutton will be the most likely to get call ups. He won’t disrespect this comp like Bennett did at times. I genuinely think somebody like Bennett automatically thought Hodgson was better then somebody like James Roby. That will never happen under Waney and nor should it.

Re: Manly game with Wane and Hampson : Thu Feb 24, 2022 5:42 pm  

Stu M wrote:

Personally I feel that as soon as Wane accepted his role back at Wigan, that someone else should become England coach. My worry is that his feelings towards Saints will impact on his England role. I sincerely hope that they won't and from his point of view he would be foolish not to select relevant Saints players in his squad due to their ability.

I just feel that there is a conflict of interest now combining both jobs. This isn't Wigan or Wane bashing either, I said the same when Jon Wells took his Director role at Castleford and he was still a Sky Sports pundit. Again there was a conflict of interest. In my opinion.

I listened to a podcast a few months ago where Walmsley said that Wane couldn't bring himself to congratulate the Saints lads on their GF win and he was speaking to them through gritted teeth. Whilst Walmsley was joking about it my worry was and is that now he is back at Wigan, it may influence some of his decisions.

Regarding the thread, Woolf will do what he feels is right for Saints, he is employed by them to achieve success and paid well for doing so. Its similar to Ferguson at Utd when he used to clash with England managers, he always put Utd first. I agree its not great for England but until Saints have an English coach, the situation may not change.

You’re so far off the truth on this. Wane doesn’t hate St Helens. He has regularly spoken about his respect for them and enjoys the rivalry.

If anything, Wane’s involvement with Wigan will lead to him picking less Wigan players. He will try to pick the best 17 he can. Whether your club allows him to do this remains to be seen.