At the end of the day IL and SW had a decision to make whether to make an offer to H that was as good as the 4 year deal that Salford were offering. H wanted to secure his future for the long term so Wigan needed to offer a long term deal, SW would have sat down with Rads, Deacs, Bitcon & IL and between them looked at all options and made an informed decision. They obviously felt that a long term deal was not the best option as they have young players coming through the system they may have to let go in the next 4 years if they tie up SC ang playing time with H. So they decided to let H go now instead of at the end of the season and have received a transfer fee...
We all wish H the best and if he rips it up for the next 4 years and is still one of the best 2nd rowers in the league then perhaps the club got it wrong......we will only know this over the next 4 years...
PS ( who has the crystal ball that was used when they let Fielden go...)