Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Aug 26, 2014 6:53 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

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.

I think both have had enough opportunities tbh. Dudson is 24 and has over 50 Wigan appearances now plus a handful of games for Crusaders, Hughes is a bit younger but now has over 70 appearances. How many more opportunites do they need? Neither have shown enough consistency at a high level, and I don't think either would be near another top 4 team's first choice 17. Crosby, Clubb, Taylor, Flower, Tautai and Pettybourne with young lads like Greenwood, Sutton and Austin as back up leaves us with plenty of options in the front row. Tomkins, Bateman, Farrell, O'Loughlin with Connor Farrell and Lever as backrow options.

I forgot about Logan Tomkins, I agree he would be better off moving on. I think McIlorum starting with Williams on the bench provides a good balance, or simply keeping McIlorum on for the full 80. Greg Burke is another who I think is probably surplus to requirements.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:00 pm  

WARRIORCRAIG wrote:

I forgot about Logan Tomkins, I agree he would be better off moving on. I think McIlorum starting with Williams on the bench provides a good balance, or simply keeping McIlorum on for the full 80. Greg Burke is another who I think is probably surplus to requirements.

I have always wondered about Burke. Not so long ago he was going to be our next 13 and captain, according to some, but he has not been able to put a decent run together.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:04 pm  

WARRIORCRAIG wrote:

I think both have had enough opportunities tbh. Dudson is 24 and has over 50 Wigan appearances now plus a handful of games for Crusaders, Hughes is a bit younger but now has over 70 appearances. How many more opportunites do they need? Neither have shown enough consistency at a high level, and I don't think either would be near another top 4 team's first choice 17. Crosby, Clubb, Taylor, Flower, Tautai and Pettybourne with young lads like Greenwood, Sutton and Austin as back up leaves us with plenty of options in the front row. Tomkins, Bateman, Farrell, O'Loughlin with Connor Farrell and Lever as backrow options.

I forgot about Logan Tomkins, I agree he would be better off moving on. I think McIlorum starting with Williams on the bench provides a good balance, or simply keeping McIlorum on for the full 80. Greg Burke is another who I think is probably surplus to requirements.

Logan Tomkins has said that he will be back at Wigan next season, he is contracted to Wigan for the 2015 season with an option for a further year ( I think the option was in his favour, but not certain)
Dudson has been linked for a while to Salford, but Salford may struggle to fit him under the cap.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Aug 27, 2014 8:04 am  

Levrier wrote:

I have always wondered about Burke. Not so long ago he was going to be our next 13 and captain, according to some, but he has not been able to put a decent run together.

Couple of half decent appearances here and there, but I've never really understood the hype tbh. He's a solid forward taking the ball in, but has been guilty of lapses in defence and doesn't have the hands to provide an extra pivot from 13. He has been unlucky with injuries so I wouldn't have a problem with him being given another season to try and prove himself, but I certainly don't see him as Locker's long term replacement.

[DaveO]

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Aug 29, 2014 2:09 pm  

WARRIORCRAIG wrote:

Couple of half decent appearances here and there, but I've never really understood the hype tbh. He's a solid forward taking the ball in, but has been guilty of lapses in defence and doesn't have the hands to provide an extra pivot from 13. He has been unlucky with injuries so I wouldn't have a problem with him being given another season to try and prove himself, but I certainly don't see him as Locker's long term replacement.

He was far better than just solid taking the ball in in his first season when he played 13 quite a bit when Lockers was injured. Looked the real deal but then kind of vanished and hasn't had a good run in the side since. Looks more like an RL player than some others on the clubs books who get the benefit of the doubt more often than not IMO.

Hughes is another who started well but then faded. I think the worst thing that happened to him was being given a centres shirt the season after he made a bright start in the his natural position of 2nd row. I don't know how many appearances he has made at centre out of the 70-odd mentioned but IMO they can be chalked off the record and then that might put his number of appearances as a forward where he is asked to play now most of the time into a better perspective.

: Sat Aug 30, 2014 11:47 am  

We need a centre, Thornley and Sarge are not good enough in that position. I'm happy with gelling, we just need one more.

Re: : Sat Aug 30, 2014 1:19 pm  

FIOS wrote:

We need a centre, Thornley and Sarge are not good enough in that position. I'm happy with gelling, we just need one more.

Both have weaknesses in their game, but i don't think we need to sign anyone else yet. Thornley didn't look game fit on Friday (which is understandable after coming back from a long-term injury) and Sarginson is young and will improve. Plus, Sarginson's versatility has been very useful for us.

Re: : Sat Aug 30, 2014 5:44 pm  

FIOS wrote:

We need a centre, Thornley and Sarge are not good enough in that position. I'm happy with gelling, we just need one more.

We certainly do need at least one centre and preferably two. We must have cap space next season to sign at least one quality centre.

Sarginson doesn't look like a centre at all and I have yet to see a game where he has played well there. Gelling is far from the centre that some seem to think and people just seem to ignore his mistakes when he plays poorly, maybe its because they have such low expectations of him based on previous seasons. The amount of missed tackles that those two make and the amount of tries they blow just isn't good enough for a top team. Thornley was playing well this season prior to his injury but still has his weaknesses.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Sun Aug 31, 2014 6:24 pm  

I wonder if Wigan would be interested in Ben Crooks, he has fallen out with Hull and I think he will leave at the end if the year, bags of potential and at Wigan I reckon he would kick on. Could be a deal done with Taylor?

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Sun Aug 31, 2014 8:11 pm  

Dave K. wrote:

I wonder if Wigan would be interested in Ben Crooks, he has fallen out with Hull and I think he will leave at the end if the year, bags of potential and at Wigan I reckon he would kick on. Could be a deal done with Taylor?

Substitute Taylor with Dudson and you might have a deal.