: Wed Feb 11, 2009 6:37 pm  

Red Hot Jalapeno wrote:

Chris Ashton was really a one off talent. If he had stayed and worked on his defence he could of easily become one of the best fullbacks around. His attacking game was awesome.

His head was turned by Northampton and the £££. The training sessions and lack of effort came after that. Whilst unforgivable it could be forgotten if he came back and his defence was sorted. His attack was potentially world class.

: Wed Feb 11, 2009 6:49 pm  

In his time at Wigan one player has performed several cowardly acts, one highlighted again on Sunday with the trip, the worst was the hit on Matt King.

Newton performed a cowardly act on Long just like Pryce has done in the past.

If players perform cowardly acts why should they not be highlighted?

rl : Wed Feb 11, 2009 6:50 pm  

Agree that his head was turned by Northampton and the reported salary he was offered. He went to pot after that.
So was Karl Pryce's too, he was pretty poor after he realised what union were offering.
He's a talented lad and scored one of the best Wigan tries at KR for a long while some years ago.
Is he still out of the Union first team?
I do hope Wigan have his registration.
Would I have him back? Yes without question!
Be good if he came back after their season ends, if not before!

: Wed Feb 11, 2009 6:56 pm  

wiganstu wrote:

how many threads have we seen about coleys dire performance ? none
yet mathers get strips torn off him again after just 1 game of 09 ?

its been said the fans allways have a boo boy , and mathers is defo it , some of it being totally unjustified at times ,

from the way this board has gone this week you would think mathers was at fault for every try wakey scored , all the ball we dropped , the lack of moves , the lack of direction and leadership etc etc

lets get things into perspective

I gave him a chance last year and still hoped this year that he would find his feet , but when he bottled it when they kicked through that was it for me the ball was not even 50/50 . He should be dropped for that alone fullback is a vital role he is one of the weakest I've seen in the shirt wish it was not true but it is . I will not boo the team or a player and I wont cheer ironically at him catching a bomb but he's shot as a player at the moment and should not play .....simple .

: Wed Feb 11, 2009 11:56 pm  

Let's be honest, part of the whole reason we're in this current hole is because of the amount of talent we have let go over the past few years. We've always chased the quick fix and brought in overpaid, second rate Aussies and even english players to some extent and let homegrown players just leave. Briscoe, Ashton, Robinson, Wild, Gilmore. Hell, even Aspinwall and Brown could still be getting a game in this current squad....

: Thu Feb 12, 2009 12:52 am  

Madderzahatter wrote:

Let's be honest, part of the whole reason we're in this current hole is because of the amount of talent we have let go over the past few years. We've always chased the quick fix and brought in overpaid, second rate Aussies and even english players to some extent and let homegrown players just leave. Briscoe, Ashton, Robinson, Wild, Gilmore. Hell, even Aspinwall and Brown could still be getting a game in this current squad....

None of them would get a game.

: Thu Feb 12, 2009 3:55 am  

100% Warrior wrote:

Completely agree.

Coley was average at best last season, and in some parts just dire. The only thing he had going for him was that he was ever-present. Mathers, although some he does deserve, is officially Wigan RL Fans boo boy. An unjustified tag IMHO.

I dissagree mathers is anything but safe at full back..offers nothing in attack..makes glareing errors (remember wikin making him look stupid) plus others one on one situations he is terrible..he looks scared!...then we get to 2 sending off's plus a 2 match ban for tripping in his first game..come on is it any wonder he gets the stick he does!..Coley might not be great (average at best) but he is involved in the game more than mathers. for me mathers = liability..we can't afford that at full back...scary thought once our line of defence is broken all we have to rely on is mathers..can you honestly say you feel confident mathers will deal with the situation? remember he has had most of his first season and his warm up games this season to prove a point..has he done so? I don't think he has come close.

: Thu Feb 12, 2009 11:32 am  

Madderzahatter wrote:

Let's be honest, part of the whole reason we're in this current hole is because of the amount of talent we have let go over the past few years. We've always chased the quick fix and brought in overpaid, second rate Aussies and even english players to some extent and let homegrown players just leave. Briscoe, Ashton, Robinson, Wild, Gilmore. Hell, even Aspinwall and Brown could still be getting a game in this current squad....

I would agree with that.

Also I would say that maybe one or two of them have not gone as far as they could as we sold them to clubs they may not have got the most out of them like we may have done if we had kept a few from that list.

[DaveO]

: Thu Feb 12, 2009 12:03 pm  

Bolton_Warrior wrote:

I would agree with that.

Also I would say that maybe one or two of them have not gone as far as they could as we sold them to clubs they may not have got the most out of them like we may have done if we had kept a few from that list.

Not gone as far as they could as other clubs have not made the most of them? Are you serious? Over the last few seasons I think younger players will have been glad to leave and go to a place that puts some value on them and actually gives them a game. They might not be reaching finals but then neither are we.

As to the original list how may times does it get dragged up completely out of context and not taking into account the circumstances at the time they left?

The best example is Briscoe. The 20/20 was in force then and Rads at full back. It was nothing other than a sensible decision on his part to leave given the lack of opportunity he would have had here and that lack of opportunity was not due to not dropping off form players and so on as is the case with many of of younger players now.

Ashton was offered mega bucks to move on and the rest would not get a game in the current squad anyway. There have been IMO a couple of unlucky players who were let go but that is it.

Dave

: Thu Feb 12, 2009 12:08 pm  

DaveO wrote:

Not gone as far as they could as other clubs have not made the most of them? Are you serious? Over the last few seasons I think younger players will have been glad to leave and go to a place that puts some value on them and actually gives them a game. They might not be reaching finals but then neither are we.
Dave

I can't blame younger players for wanting to leave. Take Liam Colburn for example he is at an age where he needs first team rugby and good luck to him for making the the move.

I guess what I meant was that if we approached youth development in the same way as Saints and Leeds and breed youngsters for our first team rather than block the path signing average Aussies some players careers may have been a bit different.