Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Jul 06, 2021 9:30 pm  

jonh wrote:

Here is an interesting one. At least I think so anyway.

From what I’m hearing things are not all well at the Giants with strong rumours that Ian Watsons methods are not going down with the players and he is far from popular with the group.

I appreciate its not his job to be popular. but again only rumours, he’s lost the changing room and a decision may be made by the leadership at Hudds.

With the clamour we had last year for him to join as Head Coach, would people be happy with him should he become available replacing Lam in 2022 or sooner?

Having been a supporter of Lam I’ve now changed my heart given the mismanagement of this year (which I still don’t think is all down to him) but for me Watson needed to prove himself moving from a small club to a mid table club and really make a go of it before we should even consider him joining Wigan.

It depends what the options are…

I like Watson, I wanted us to go for him before we appointed Lam because I always believe Wigan do well under a coach who is big on discipline and I just think Watson would be a good fit for us.

A Wane / Watson combination for next season would get us back on track IMO particularly if we recruited well.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Jul 06, 2021 10:18 pm  

jonh wrote:

Here is an interesting one. At least I think so anyway.

From what I’m hearing things are not all well at the Giants with strong rumours that Ian Watsons methods are not going down with the players and he is far from popular with the group.

I appreciate its not his job to be popular. but again only rumours, he’s lost the changing room and a decision may be made by the leadership at Hudds.

With the clamour we had last year for him to join as Head Coach, would people be happy with him should he become available replacing Lam in 2022 or sooner?

Having been a supporter of Lam I’ve now changed my heart given the mismanagement of this year (which I still don’t think is all down to him) but for me Watson needed to prove himself moving from a small club to a mid table club and really make a go of it before we should even consider him joining Wigan.

Swap deal? Lam for Watson?

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Jul 06, 2021 10:25 pm  

If Watson is released and became available then I think the club should make him an offer.
A change of coach could revitalise the squad as at present they look truly out of sorts. Should he arrive this mid season or so then I see why some at the club think they could still get something out of this season. Watson's link with Hastings provided quite remarkable performances for Salford getting them to semis and finals. We have a far better squad now than Salford had then but their advantage was they had a coach on the touch line and a coach, in Hastings, on the field.
So I'd have Watson here and now.
After all who on earth thinks that we'll get anything out of this season with Lam in change? Not a chance!

As for next season, the article sounds confident we'll get two props which is what we need. Interesting whilst letting us all know finally that there's no recall for Hankinson they say that he's in the mix for next season. As he's OOC that's a new take on his position.
So there are two props we are after but neither are Mason or Atoni.

With the current form of the team the sooner changes take place the better as an improvement is needed and very soon too!

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Jul 07, 2021 12:42 am  

Father Ted wrote:

Atoni seems like just the kind of prop we need. Glad we have made an offer to him. Whether he signs is another matter but it is good to see us being named as interested in this type of player.

Pangai Jr looks like he is on his way to the Dogs so they will need to free up some salary cap money.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Jul 07, 2021 12:44 am  

jonh wrote:

Here is an interesting one. At least I think so anyway.

From what I’m hearing things are not all well at the Giants with strong rumours that Ian Watsons methods are not going down with the players and he is far from popular with the group.

I appreciate its not his job to be popular. but again only rumours, he’s lost the changing room and a decision may be made by the leadership at Hudds.

With the clamour we had last year for him to join as Head Coach, would people be happy with him should he become available replacing Lam in 2022 or sooner?

Having been a supporter of Lam I’ve now changed my heart given the mismanagement of this year (which I still don’t think is all down to him) but for me Watson needed to prove himself moving from a small club to a mid table club and really make a go of it before we should even consider him joining Wigan.

He will struggle without the necessary resources, in fact Wayne Bennett would struggle with our current squad.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Jul 07, 2021 2:25 am  

Wayne Bennett struggled with the England squad, and had no better record than the much-derided McNamara.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Jul 07, 2021 6:55 am  

Before he went to Huddersfield I’d have said yes for Watson but now I’m not sure. I personally think we need a tried and tested coach in to rejuvenate, rebuild and rebrand Wigan in a rugby sense. Therefore it’s Shane Flanagan all day long for me.

That being said I would be happy for Watson to join as an assistant with a view to taking the reins when Flanagan left but it’s whether he would do that or not.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Jul 07, 2021 8:01 am  

I was always a big advocate for bringing Watson in. He hasn't 'done it' at Hudds, so it's now a no from me.

I still don't however understand the logic that, British coaches need to have a couple of head coaches job before they get a shot at a traditional big team? At the same time, the majority of people were happy for Lam to walk into a top job. That's despite him having no experience as a club side head coach.

For next season, I'd like to see us build an NRL style backroom. Wane can go into the Bellamy/Bennett head coach role with Watson as an assistant. Bellamy has Kearney as his no.2, Seibold is at Newcastle (as a consultant), Flanagan at St George. Now,.I know they are all there for different reasons but it's one to look at.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Jul 07, 2021 8:20 am  

sergeant pepper wrote:

I was always a big advocate for bringing Watson in. He hasn't 'done it' at Hudds, so it's now a no from me.

I still don't however understand the logic that, British coaches need to have a couple of head coaches job before they get a shot at a traditional big team? At the same time, the majority of people were happy for Lam to walk into a top job. That's despite him having no experience as a club side head coach.

For next season, I'd like to see us build an NRL style backroom. Wane can go into the Bellamy/Bennett head coach role with Watson as an assistant. Bellamy has Kearney as his no.2, Seibold is at Newcastle (as a consultant), Flanagan at St George. Now,.I know they are all there for different reasons but it's one to look at.

My issue with Wane is it’s a ‘been there, done that’ scenario all round. We’re going to be getting the same old stuff, which was successful undoubtedly but the same frustrations we’ve always had (props, style etc).

For me we need a fresh slate. A new set of eyes with a new back room team, though I’d keep Daz Goulding and Matty Peet. Like I said above I think we need a rejuvenation like we had when Maguire came. That act in itself sustained nearly 10years of success. If we go back to Wane with Winder assistant, or even Watson we run the risk of not actually improving all that much or having the crowds return to watch what many have described as a ‘boring but successful rugby style’ where one week we’d blow teams away and the next be blown away.

I’m not against Wane coming back per se but I’m not really for it either if you get what I mean.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Jul 07, 2021 8:28 am  

100% Warrior wrote:

My issue with Wane is it’s a ‘been there, done that’ scenario all round. We’re going to be getting the same old stuff, which was successful undoubtedly but the same frustrations we’ve always had (props, style etc).

For me we need a fresh slate. A new set of eyes with a new back room team, though I’d keep Daz Goulding and Matty Peet. Like I said above I think we need a rejuvenation like we had when Maguire came. That act in itself sustained nearly 10years of success. If we go back to Wane with Winder assistant, or even Watson we run the risk of not actually improving all that much or having the crowds return to watch what many have described as a ‘boring but successful rugby style’ where one week we’d blow teams away and the next be blown away.

I’m not against Wane coming back per se but I’m not really for it either if you get what I mean.

6 months ago I'd have agreed on the Wane front. I wanted rid of him when he was here and I'm not overly clambering for him to return, but I can't get away from the thought that there's little else out there.

Flanagan would be good, but I just can't see him coming over. He seems to be slowly working his way back to a head coach role. I can't see him moving over here for that.