Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Feb 25, 2015 12:37 pm  

If he is NRL bound he's going to be playing in the reserves far more there than he will at Wigan.

I think pretty bad advice if he's looking for an alternative now. Put the hard work in, force your way into the team , establish yourself, the see where your opportunities lie.

No NRL side is going to offer a guarantee of a starting spot to a player witha handful of appearances in first grade. Especially in the key half back position in the most demanding league.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Feb 25, 2015 12:45 pm  

Whilst I have no idea if the rumor is true or not I don't think Ryan is having a hissy fit etc, quite the opposite i know he spent his training day off working hard on sprints etc trying to improve himself and working very hard to put himself in the right position to get a chance.

In relation to getting a chance though and a potential move elsewhere I think there in lies the issue. He may well feel he is a 6 and wants to play 6 a position he has played all his life and is very talented at, playing 1 is where he looks like he will be given an opportunity to play which he may or may not feel comfortable with.

A move away and the knowledge that he will be solely used as a 6 may well appeal so he can start off in reserves and fight his way into a team. Out of our 4 halves Wane clearly sees him as 4th choice. from his selections so far this year.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Feb 25, 2015 1:06 pm  

I always hoped that the insistence on Hampshire being groomed for fullback was to save him from the punishing tackle count he would face, at stand off, whilst he physically matured. I still do not see him long term at fullback.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Feb 25, 2015 1:43 pm  

Aboveusonlypie wrote:

I normally rely on you to be the voice of reason on here, but I think you are wrong on both counts about Hampshire. How are Wigan 'allowing' Hampshire to go? They've offered him a five year contract for heavens sake.

Yeah, but for how much? Could be the club were trying to tie him down to 5 years on a relatively low wage, compared to what he might (possibly) be worth paying if he does fulfil his potential...

Just a thought.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Feb 25, 2015 2:12 pm  

Geoff wrote:

Yeah, but for how much? Could be the club were trying to tie him down to 5 years on a relatively low wage, compared to what he might (possibly) be worth paying if he does fulfil his potential...

Just a thought.

Of course you are right. I wouldn't expect him to be offered first team wages as under the cap you can't offer first team wages to everyone in the squad. Wigan's squad is bigger than most so the money has to be spread further. I would imagine that John Bateman, Tony Clubb and Dan Sarginson will be looking for hefty rises soon, which to be fair, their contributions would justify.

I'll bet that their initial contracts were for buttons just to get the chance to play for Wigan which was a chance to improve their careers. If it's a case of maybe losing Bateman or Sarge to give Hampshire first team wages then it's a tricky one isn't it?

I'm not anti-Hampshire by the way. I'd rather we kept him. He doesn't look a full back to me either, but Sean Wane sees these guys in training every day and he must have his reasons for preferring Williams (who I think is coming on nicely if his performance last Saturday is anything to go by)

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Feb 25, 2015 3:05 pm  

Aboveusonlypie wrote:

Of course you are right. I wouldn't expect him to be offered first team wages as under the cap you can't offer first team wages to everyone in the squad. Wigan's squad is bigger than most so the money has to be spread further.

Not true. The SC covers the top 25 players only. It's the same for all clubs.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Feb 25, 2015 9:31 pm  

Magic Superbeetle wrote:

Not true. The SC covers the top 25 players only. It's the same for all clubs.

But there's also a secondary cap for players below the top 25 earners.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Feb 25, 2015 9:36 pm  

Magic Superbeetle wrote:

Not true. The SC covers the top 25 players only. It's the same for all clubs.

Whoosh

In your rush to be pedantic you missed the point

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Feb 25, 2015 9:53 pm  

Back to Hampshire.
As far as I am aware he's happy enough at Wigan and contract talks are still ongoing. The hissy fit thing is probably way off the mark. We all know how Wane works and anyone with that attitude would be nowhere near the 18 or 19 man first team squad.

What I do think is that he's a talented young player who loves playing, and money isn't the issue, he just wants to play. It's difficult for him at the moment as he appears to be behind Bowen for the fullback spot and Williams for the #6 shirt.

I differ from most on here because I think he IS talented enough to play #1 or #6 at a high level and expect him to be the first choice #1 next season. My long term hope is to see him and Williams at #6 and #7. Matty Smith has had a poor start to the season but I think two twenty year old halfbacks is is too much of a risk at this moment in time.

If Wane wants him to play at #1 then Hampshire is going to need some game time soon. I believe he was due to play at Workington last Sunday along with Mossop and Manfredi. If Wane sees him as first back up at fullback you would hope that Hampshire was going there to play at #1 to further develop his game there.


I watched an old Origin video the other week and Bowen played somewhere but took a lot of ball at dummy half and cause NSW all sorts of problems. I wonder if Hampshire at #1 and Bowen as sub #9 could work particularly as the pitches firm up, or you could start with Bowen at #1 and move him to #9 bringing Hampshire off the bench to #1.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Feb 25, 2015 11:33 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

Back to Hampshire.
As far as I am aware he's happy enough at Wigan and contract talks are still ongoing. The hissy fit thing is probably way off the mark. We all know how Wane works and anyone with that attitude would be nowhere near the 18 or 19 man first team squad.

What I do think is that he's a talented young player who loves playing, and money isn't the issue, he just wants to play. It's difficult for him at the moment as he appears to be behind Bowen for the fullback spot and Williams for the #6 shirt.

I differ from most on here because I think he IS talented enough to play #1 or #6 at a high level and expect him to be the first choice #1 next season. My long term hope is to see him and Williams at #6 and #7. Matty Smith has had a poor start to the season but I think two twenty year old halfbacks is is too much of a risk at this moment in time.

If Wane wants him to play at #1 then Hampshire is going to need some game time soon. I believe he was due to play at Workington last Sunday along with Mossop and Manfredi. If Wane sees him as first back up at fullback you would hope that Hampshire was going there to play at #1 to further develop his game there.


I watched an old Origin video the other week and Bowen played somewhere but took a lot of ball at dummy half and cause NSW all sorts of problems. I wonder if Hampshire at #1 and Bowen as sub #9 could work particularly as the pitches firm up, or you could start with Bowen at #1 and move him to #9 bringing Hampshire off the bench to #1.

I also want to see Williams and Hampshire together at half back but sooner rather than later. We need something to differentiate us from other teams in terms of attacking prowess. It would be very high risk but I'd prefer that to finishing 3rd or 4th and CC semi final - so near but not good enough to trouble Warrington or Saints. I may be over reacting to our start but I just see a season of lots of endeavour, very little adventurous play and a quiet exit from the 2nd part of the season.
Sincerely hope Im wrong.