Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Nov 12, 2014 10:23 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

Why?

We have the England Knights halfback pairing from 2013, the England academy halfback pairing from 2013 and one of the England halfbacks in the squad for the current series v Australia later this month. I think they need to be given a chance before deciding on anther halfback.

Agreed.

You simply can't have that level of talent and potential on your books and then go and sign Danny Brough. That is the type of poor management that happened many years ago. Halfbacks are a rare commodity. Other Super League clubs would give anything to be in our position. Look at Warrington for example in having tried to replace Briers.

If you are going to go with a rookie as your six then you have to get two areas right. You need the experience in the rest of the spine of your team and in Bowen, Smith, McIlorum and Lockers we have that in abundance. Secondly you need a good set of forwards. The basics of RL have always been simple. Props win you pots. Your forwards have to lay the platform for your backs to play off. And you can see this in our recruitment. We have Tautai, Patrick and Mossop. Joel Tomkins has come back mid-season to beef up our back row with the talented Liam Farrell and John Bateman. I see Gil Dudson and Jordan James out of the picture. It will be a shame to see Scott Taylor leave, but we went well without him from mid-season and we have recruited well. You have to say with Flower, Crosby, Clubb and Pettyborne (who took us to the final) we have added Tautai, Mossop and Patrick. That is a tremendous set of forwards. Not to mention Greenwood who has had a years experience at London and Ryan Sutton too who has tasted first team experience. I would say we have the strongest pack in the league.

So I think all the ingredients are there for someone to really make a name for themselves. I think whoever takes that spot out of Hampshire/Williams/Powell will win the young player of the year award because the talent is there and they have the team around them to flourish.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Nov 12, 2014 10:39 pm  

CobraCraig wrote:

Because I don't think Powell has the quality to be a stating half back in a top team.Hes solid but for me nothing more than steady.
Sarginson has played predominantly Centre for us and will do from now on especially they way he finished the season in that position.
Williams doesn't compliment Smith for me and the one I see there long term is Hampshire although Wane seems to see him as a full back.
I'm not saying were desperate for a stand off but we played a lot better with green in the side last season and a similar replacement is needed more than another front rower,especially one with a bad injury record.

So many assumptions there. I don't know how you can write off Sam Powell yet given the spits and spats of first team appearances. Same with Williams not complimenting Smith - how many games have they played together? I am not saying you are right or wrong here, I just don't know what evidence there is to make that assumption.

Of course we played better with Blake Green in the side last season. He has how many years experience at the top level? You would fully expect us to as a senior player in the side. However, if you don't give a lad like Hampshire/Williams/Powell a chance when a position becomes available then how do they ever get in the first team? Just signing a like-for-like replacement (I don't believe there is one available btw) just blocks any chance a young lad has to develop. If you have the two best young english halfbacks in the country on your books - you MUST give them a chance. You can't go and sign someone like Danny Brough.

Fans will need to be patient - me included. I don't think there have been many kids who haven't been written off in the past only to then go on and have successful wigan careers. I think back to our captain Sean O'Loughlin, Daz Goulding, Micky Mac, Liam Farrell, Joel Tomkins - all came under some flack from fans - not big enough/quick enough/good enough etc.

See my above post, but there is a very good reason we have recruited another prop. You need to get your fowards spot on if you are going to enter a season with a rookie halfback. If your pack is getting dominated then you are going to struggle. The spine around that player has to be spot on too with plenty of experience so that there is less pressure in the big games. I am really excited to see how three of the best young british halfbacks in the game go on next year competing for one spot with a top forward pack and an experienced spine around them. I think a real gem will emerge I really do. It is not a time to be concerned, it is a time to be excited!

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Nov 13, 2014 12:20 pm  

cadoo wrote:

So many assumptions there. I don't know how you can write off Sam Powell yet given the spits and spats of first team appearances. Same with Williams not complimenting Smith - how many games have they played together? I am not saying you are right or wrong here, I just don't know what evidence there is to make that assumption.

Of course we played better with Blake Green in the side last season. He has how many years experience at the top level? You would fully expect us to as a senior player in the side. However, if you don't give a lad like Hampshire/Williams/Powell a chance when a position becomes available then how do they ever get in the first team? Just signing a like-for-like replacement (I don't believe there is one available btw) just blocks any chance a young lad has to develop. If you have the two best young english halfbacks in the country on your books - you MUST give them a chance. You can't go and sign someone like Danny Brough.

Fans will need to be patient - me included. I don't think there have been many kids who haven't been written off in the past only to then go on and have successful wigan careers. I think back to our captain Sean O'Loughlin, Daz Goulding, Micky Mac, Liam Farrell, Joel Tomkins - all came under some flack from fans - not big enough/quick enough/good enough etc.

See my above post, but there is a very good reason we have recruited another prop. You need to get your fowards spot on if you are going to enter a season with a rookie halfback. If your pack is getting dominated then you are going to struggle. The spine around that player has to be spot on too with plenty of experience so that there is less pressure in the big games. I am really excited to see how three of the best young british halfbacks in the game go on next year competing for one spot with a top forward pack and an experienced spine around them. I think a real gem will emerge I really do. It is not a time to be concerned, it is a time to be excited!

I really rate Danny Brough and think that for one season, with his inclusion I could see us being unstoppable.

However your piece is so well argued that you've swayed me to your way of thinking. Good post.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Nov 13, 2014 1:14 pm  

I'm really looking forward to seeing our youngsters at stand-off. Williams and Hampshire have speed to burn and I think they will be better than Green.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Nov 13, 2014 1:46 pm  

Taylor to Salford on a years loan? viewtopic.php?f=20&t=576305&start=10 thats much closer to home for him and he will have a great chance of winning something there next season

Taylor to Salford on a years loan? viewtopic.php?f=20&t=576305&start=10 thats much closer to home for him and he will have a great chance of winning something there next season

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Nov 13, 2014 1:54 pm  

Koukash has just tweeted that a new signing will be announced at 10am tomorrow.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Nov 13, 2014 2:14 pm  

The Yellow Giraffe wrote:

Koukash has just tweeted that a new signing will be announced at 10am tomorrow.

Dudson most likely..

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Nov 13, 2014 2:43 pm  

MEN says they're looking to sign Dudson on a 12 month loan deal.

Rumour has it we'll have to pay Salford 100k to make it permanent!

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Nov 13, 2014 2:48 pm  

Whats going on with Rhodri Lloyd? he looked pretty decent for us until he got a bad leg injury away at Halifax last season in the challenge cup, from what I've seen on twitter he's fully fit now but was only contracted to Wigan for 2014?

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Nov 13, 2014 6:53 pm  

Wigan Peer wrote:

Dudson most likely..

Could it be Taylor?