I think as much as we all don't like to admit it, sports people are different and, as such, you can't compare their situations to 'real life' situations. A lot of their freedom/choice of where they want to work is reduced Vs the normal working world.
There's plenty of people who commute to Leeds & further afield and I can see why they have little sympathy for ZH. Everyone is different however and what works for one, doesn't work for another. You hit the nail on the head with your last sentence - the majority can easily quit and leave, sports people can't. ZH, for all we know, might be happy to take a 20/30/40% pay cut to move. He might be happy to go to a Fev and a relegation battle, all simply because being in Ponty is right for him & his family. The difference is, his employer is blocking it (for right or wrong) and that's not something that happens in the real world, or not very often either.
I worked in Hull for about a year when we were commissioning some new control systems at BP. I would leave early Monday morning stay Monday night come home Tuesday then Stay over on Wednesday. It was a horrible commute.
I've also worked al over Europe, USA and Africa. I know what it's like to be away from family and friends.
For Hardaker, he has made the decision to move back closer to home for family reasons so he has two choices, get on with it and make the commute or try and find a club closer to home.
He knows Wigans position in that they are wiling to let him go if they pay a fee to buy him out of his contract. I don't blame Wigan at all, they have invested a lot of time and money in him and to be fair he has given a good return on that investment.
I wouldn't block him going to Hull or HKR but would insist on a fee or player swap.
Hello Rogues, we had many a good times playing on the superb BP amateur cricket ground in my younger days, and usually after the game, enjoying a few in the social club, there wasn’t much traffic about then.
I don’t really know if Hull are interested in Zak, we have adequate cover in Shaul, Connor, and Macintosh, plus a few others if necessary.
To me the old adage of, if you don’t want to be here….. still stands the test of time, Wigan of old would of just listed him, to put it politely.
Zak needs to get some perspective - live where you want, but commute to the employer that is paying you handsomely. The 'Job' he is doing is for a relatively short time scale and its not like he has the commute after a 14 hour day down the pit, I doubt it is even every day??
All other employers near where he wants to live, he has worked for, and has to a certain extent burnt his bridges with. His current employer has been good to him, at a time when others turned their back on him. May be too much to expect a bit of loyalty in this day and age and it seems things like this count for nowt these days.
however if Hull are offering Connor in a straight swap.....half back problem solved
Just went off Google maps at the time I posted, so the traffic must’ve been decent towards Wigan and not great towards Hull because at that time it was an hour and twenty to Wigan and an hour and ten to Hull. Either way it’s not going to be a bike ride for the lad.
It seems to me he wants out and maybe it isn’t all down to commuting issues. I think he wants a fullback spot as well and Hull FC may offer that. Reynolds always seems to be injured, so Connor plays stand off as much as fullback.
Connor will be full back next year for sure. HDM reporting that Shaul may leave, as he is unwilling to change position to keep his place in the squad so could find another side
Connor will be full back next year for sure. HDM reporting that Shaul may leave, as he is unwilling to change position to keep his place in the squad so could find another side
Who will go 6? I was reading earlier Reynolds has a 9 month injury and if he comes back, which isn’t certain, it will be deep in to the season before he’s available. I doubt Hull are in for Hardaker but it seems potentially a decent fit, especially if Shaul was to leave.
Who will go 6? I was reading earlier Reynolds has a 9 month injury and if he comes back, which isn’t certain, it will be deep in to the season before he’s available. I doubt Hull are in for Hardaker but it seems potentially a decent fit, especially if Shaul was to leave.
I'm sure they club are on with it as I heard the day that Reynolds did his injury that we would then be retiring - he told his neighbours that, so unless he has had some better news on the diagnosis and he will play a large chunk of next year, then I think he will be going and leave us space to get an overseas 6. We also have McIntosh and Wynne who can play full back, so carrying Shaul when he has been told he isnt who we want at 1 going forward, it's pointless keeping a specialist 1 at the club, on the wedge he is on
I'm sure they club are on with it as I heard the day that Reynolds did his injury that we would then be retiring - he told his neighbours that, so unless he has had some better news on the diagnosis and he will play a large chunk of next year, then I think he will be going and leave us space to get an overseas 6. We also have McIntosh and Wynne who can play full back, so carrying Shaul when he has been told he isnt who we want at 1 going forward, it's pointless keeping a specialist 1 at the club, on the wedge he is on
If he is on a fair wedge, it might not be that simple getting him off the books. Teams don’t really seem to need fullbacks at the moment. Maybe Wakefield or the promoted team. Once promotion is sorted this weekend, I expect we’ll start to see movement across the board.