Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Aug 21, 2014 9:39 am  

stillinthepast wrote:

Hopkins has had is loan deal with Leigh extended for the whole of next season, it seems Wigan are happy for him to progress at Leigh with regular game time.

Just noticed the other thread, whoops.

[DaveO]

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Aug 22, 2014 1:57 am  

Father Ted wrote:

After the past two seasons with so many players leaving it is good to know we will go into 2015 with an almost settled squad. We have just Goulding and Green leaving with Tautai arriving.
Next year's will be a massive squad and most will have had first team experience.
No more departures or arrivals will suit me fine!

No idea why. We need a centre. Before injury Thornley wasn't everyone's cup of tea and while I think he has the most potential to be a good centre he is like the other two, still learning. The other two Gelling and Sarginson are just not good enough to be considered 1st choice players IMO and the 1st team is not the place to learn one of the hardest positions on the park. They have been found out several times and for some reason if they have a good game against a poor side that gets forgotten.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Aug 22, 2014 7:33 am  

DaveO wrote:

No idea why. We need a centre. Before injury Thornley wasn't everyone's cup of tea and while I think he has the most potential to be a good centre he is like the other two, still learning. The other two Gelling and Sarginson are just not good enough to be considered 1st choice players IMO and the 1st team is not the place to learn one of the hardest positions on the park. They have been found out several times and for some reason if they have a good game against a poor side that gets forgotten.

I'm happy for us to go in to next season with Gelling and Thornley as starting centres tbh. Thornley will be 23 next season and Gelling 24, players at that sort of age need to be first team regulars IMO. Admittedly neither of them are the finished article and both have areas they need to improve on, but on the whole I think they are both decent players. The worry is when either of those get injured. I think most on here are agreed that Sarginson isn't a centre and then after that it would mean putting a backrower like Tomkins, Bateman or Hughes there. Plus who would be available to bring in?

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Aug 22, 2014 8:48 am  

WARRIORCRAIG wrote:

I'm happy for us to go in to next season with Gelling and Thornley as starting centres tbh. Thornley will be 23 next season and Gelling 24, players at that sort of age need to be first team regulars IMO. Admittedly neither of them are the finished article and both have areas they need to improve on, but on the whole I think they are both decent players. The worry is when either of those get injured. I think most on here are agreed that Sarginson isn't a centre and then after that it would mean putting a backrower like Tomkins, Bateman or Hughes there. Plus who would be available to bring in?

I imagine that Gildart will be in line for a start or two.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Sun Aug 24, 2014 7:34 pm  

WARRIORCRAIG wrote:

I'm happy for us to go in to next season with Gelling and Thornley as starting centres tbh. Thornley will be 23 next season and Gelling 24, players at that sort of age need to be first team regulars IMO. Admittedly neither of them are the finished article and both have areas they need to improve on, but on the whole I think they are both decent players. The worry is when either of those get injured. I think most on here are agreed that Sarginson isn't a centre and then after that it would mean putting a backrower like Tomkins, Bateman or Hughes there. Plus who would be available to bring in?

if we were to be without Gelling or Thornley for a long period then I wouldn't mind seeing Josh at centre for spells and Gildart for the odd game, with josh at centre we could put Manfredi outside him

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Aug 26, 2014 11:07 am  

pie.warrior wrote:

if we were to be without Gelling or Thornley for a long period then I wouldn't mind seeing Josh at centre for spells and Gildart for the odd game, with josh at centre we could put Manfredi outside him

I'd be giving Charnley some time at centre in pre season next year to see how he gets on. If he does well it could really help our backline where IMO we have three really good wingers but only one really good centre. I'm not saying Thornley and Sarginson won't improve but overall I'd sooner look at whether it's possible to fit Manfredi into the side. Otherwise he's really going to struggle to cement a spot with Charnley and Burgess ahead of him.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Aug 26, 2014 3:51 pm  

http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z12 ... 1650249688 Also of interest is the story in this evenings M.E.N that Goulding still wearing a protective boot and is unlikely to figure again this season.

http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z12 ... 1650249688 Also of interest is the story in this evenings M.E.N that Goulding still wearing a protective boot and is unlikely to figure again this season.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Aug 26, 2014 4:15 pm  

stillinthepast wrote:

http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z12884397330&z=1650249688

Also of interest is the story in this evenings M.E.N that Goulding still wearing a protective boot and is unlikely to figure again this season.

Fine by me as long as Taylor (and anybody else for that matter)stays.

The squad looks really strong as things stand IMO but any unexpected departures would need to be replaced.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Aug 26, 2014 5:19 pm  

There's still one or two question marks over next season's squad but I'm pretty happy if we go with what we've got. I wonder whether we still may see a couple of departures. I think we could easily lose Dudson, James and Hughes from the squad and be no worse off. Plus there must be a decent amount of salary cap left over to bring someone in mid-season, as we have seen happen quite a lot in recent seasons.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Aug 26, 2014 6:23 pm  

There are one or two fringe players we could still afford to lose but no major players can go without being replaced.

I'd want to keep Dudson and Hughes I think because as much as they can be infuriating they still have that potential you're just desperate to see realised.

James should definitely call it quits and I still think Logan Tomkins would be better leaving to further his career. Neither of those would need replacing IMO.