Does it really, bet you can’t prove it can you? Immediately making it gash.

Bradford spent years perusing that particular avenue against Leeds, remind us all how that turned out.

Let’s get one thing straight, contracts are part of a remuneration package and as such fall under employment laws. Wigan and the RFL can huff and puff all they want but they can’t make a person work for a company they don’t want to work for, end of. Any attempts to punish said individual would be considered as discriminatory and it would be Wigan and the RFL in the dock not Hastings.

The only thing Wigan would be legally entitled to would be any upfront costs, wage advances that kind of thing.

But hey you carry on believing that Wigan’s word is the law and see where it gets you.

It’s a bit more complicated that that, though.
You’re right, Wigan can’t make Hastings work for them through force. Slavery was ended years ago. They also can’t prevent him from working elsewhere. The NRL can refuse to let another club register him whilst Wigan hold his registration, but Wigan themselves have absolutely no legal basis for preventing him working for another company.
Why they can do sue him for BoC. They’d need to prove that they suffered a financial loss as a result of his BoC though. It’s never an easy thing to quantify, as of course they actually gain financially through not having to pay his wages. It’s completely impossible to quantify a financial loss based on supposition and prediction. They can’t turn around and claim that losing him will cost them a Grand Final appearance or a certain proportion of season tickets. All this is also made more complicated when the said ex-employee is no longer in the UK.

Agreed, he'll know about the rumours, so he should silence them surely ?
Or maybe he'll just turn up for training with Wigan, and that will be the answer !

Its like Shaun Edwards all over again lol.

You mean like Alan Shearer did at Newcastle United or Matt Le Tissier did at Southampton? Playing for a club they loved and potentially dismissing any opportunity to win trophies at "bigger" clubs in order to be happy?

Imagine that eh? Someone playing for the love of a shirt and not just a fancy villa, a nice bottle of vin rouge and a top up to their pension fund.

PS. If Hastings didn't pull on the Wigan shirt would this be a record for the "Wigan Walk" to be performed before a match, rather than the customary 50-60 minute mark?

Aussie player in "homesick shocker", not the first and wont be the last.
Fundamentally however, it is wrong that any player can sign a contract and then just walk away (unless there is a major injury problem).

Bit of a problem for Wigan though, maybe they will sign Matty Smith from Catalan ?

Sounds to me like this could come down to another blunder by either Lenaghen of Radlinski.

Hastings sounded out by the Doggies. His agent goes through his new contract with Wigan with a fine tooth comb - finds a breach in the agreement regarding the press release where Hastings didn't want the release to be made until after his duties with Salford were complete. Something so small could derail the contract.

Quote ="Fishermanscap"Does it really, bet you can’t prove it can you? Immediately making it gash. Bradford spent years perusing that particular avenue against Leeds, remind us all how that turned out. Let’s get one thing straight, contracts are part of a remuneration package and as such fall under employment laws. Wigan and the RFL can huff and puff all they want but they can’t make a person work for a company they don’t want to work for, end of. Any attempts to punish said individual would be considered as discriminatory and it would be Wigan and the RFL in the dock not Hastings. The only thing Wigan would be legally entitled to would be any upfront costs, wage advances that kind of thing. But hey you carry on believing that Wigan’s word is the law and see where it gets you.'" https://www.wiganwarriors.com/news/2019 ... -a-warrior "Hastings’ two-year deal with the Warriors will see him become the Club’s Marquee player, and his deal also includes an NRL get-out clause in the second year of the contract."

Quote ="Fishermanscap"Does it really, bet you can’t prove it can you? Immediately making it gash. Bradford spent years perusing that particular avenue against Leeds, remind us all how that turned out. Let’s get one thing straight, contracts are part of a remuneration package and as such fall under employment laws. Wigan and the RFL can huff and puff all they want but they can’t make a person work for a company they don’t want to work for, end of. Any attempts to punish said individual would be considered as discriminatory and it would be Wigan and the RFL in the dock not Hastings. The only thing Wigan would be legally entitled to would be any upfront costs, wage advances that kind of thing. But hey you carry on believing that Wigan’s word is the law and see where it gets you.'" https://www.wiganwarriors.com/news/2019 ... -a-warrior "Hastings’ two-year deal with the Warriors will see him become the Club’s Marquee player, and his deal also includes an NRL get-out clause in the second year of the contract."

Quote ="Tigerade"Sounds to me like this could come down to another blunder by either Lenaghen of Radlinski. Hastings sounded out by the Doggies. His agent goes through his new contract with Wigan with a fine tooth comb - finds a breach in the agreement regarding the press release where [uHastings didn't want the release to be made until after his duties with Salford were complete[/u. Something so small could derail the contract.'" He's actually quoted in the signing announcement by Wigan... https://wiganwarriors.com/news/2019-07- ... -a-warrior On his impeding move to the Warriors, Hastings said: “Although I am looking forward to an exciting new chapter in my move to Wigan in 2020, I intend to finish my term on a good note with the Salford Red Devils, including all members and fans - many of whom have become friends of mine who I appreciate greatly.”

Quote ="Tigerade"Sounds to me like this could come down to another blunder by either Lenaghen of Radlinski. Hastings sounded out by the Doggies. His agent goes through his new contract with Wigan with a fine tooth comb - finds a breach in the agreement regarding the press release where [uHastings didn't want the release to be made until after his duties with Salford were complete[/u. Something so small could derail the contract.'" He's actually quoted in the signing announcement by Wigan... https://wiganwarriors.com/news/2019-07- ... -a-warrior On his impeding move to the Warriors, Hastings said: “Although I am looking forward to an exciting new chapter in my move to Wigan in 2020, I intend to finish my term on a good note with the Salford Red Devils, including all members and fans - many of whom have become friends of mine who I appreciate greatly.”

I think we'd just have to class it as the typical Salford fan behaviour of not turning up to matches

We don't have the fans to turn up chief, it's not like they actually exist and they're sat in their armchairs.

Depends if he actually signed for Wigan or only signed like Edwards did. Wigan have form for daftness in this regard.

The Mole on Twitter has a slightly different take on it. It was suggested by Carter that a move to the NRL was more likely, but Moley thinks it's more likely he'll move to another Super League club for 2020. Now unless that Super League is Toronto on a marquee contract and thus way more than Wigan, I can't see what's going on here? His Wigan deal allows him to move back to the NRL after one year, but secures his financial future if an NRL deal wasn't offered. What's not to love about that? All seems very odd to me. Does anyone have any better theories? Financial problems at Wigan? Culture problems? Falling out with the guy who tried to blind him in the Play Offs? (I forget who that was). Or just a regret at agreeing to move to Salford and a desire to do another year with them to reward them for their loyalty to him?

As a non-Wigan fan, it's pretty funny to see them in utter meltdown mode on Twitter. But another concerning moment for Super League I guess.

Can’t see him moving to another SL club unless Wigan want the marquee spot. It just doesn’t make sense to leave a club you like, and who give you your chance of redemption, to move sideways again. Saints are the only bigger draw than Wigan, and they won’t want him.

But if Wigan had a plan to get someone in and needed the marquee spot or the money, they may let him go for a fee.

Hastings mum has chipped in on this on Twitter now - definitely looks like it is more than just a rumour.

There is a pic of him wearing a toronto wolfcrap baseball cap.

I've seen players wearing basketball caps. Doesn't mean any of them are signing for the Lakers.

I think people are reading too much into things. Wigan fans are understandably anxious, but analysing every photo and social media post is a little over the top.

Indeed, but if i saw steph curry (the player) wearing a chicago bulls cap i'd be curious and his current employer would i suspect be furious.........

Nothing to do with what Wigan say, check out European employment laws! Wen people say contracts are not worth the paper they are written on this is what they mean. If he wants to walk he will, you can't make someone work where they don't want to work, I'd have thought that was obvious. It was nice of Wigan to include that cause but they need not have bothered.

See now you’re just getting carried away.

It’s got nothing to do with forcing someone to work where they don’t want to. It’s got to do with registering him as a player. Hastings or any other player can of course walk away from whatever contract they’ve signed. As others have said it’s unlikely they’ll be sued for any sort of loss from the club. However that club can legitimately hold their registration for the duration of the contract. The NRL have previously said they would honour any registrations lodged with the RFL and vice-versa. That’s why the contracts include NRL release clauses.

How would this actually work out.

If they hold onto his registration, would they not have to pay him and if so, would this not impact on their ability to fund a replacement ?
FWIW it would be great if the NRL did the right thing and not "allow" him to play for any NRL clubs, unless of course Hastings comes to some sort of agreement with Wigan, as it's totally wrong for him to sign a contract and not actually play for that club.

Of course, there could be some unique circumstances that none of us are privy to that make his return down under acceptable, who knows ?

Quote ="wrencat1873"How would this actually work out. If they hold onto his registration, would they not have to pay him and if so, would this not impact on their ability to fund a replacement ? FWIW it would be great if the NRL did the right thing and not "allow" him to play for any NRL clubs, unless of course Hastings comes to some sort of agreement with Wigan, as it's totally wrong for him to sign a contract and not actually play for that club. Of course, there could be some unique circumstances that none of us are privy to that make his return down under acceptable, who knows ?'" When James Segeyaro refused to come back to Leeds the NRL stated he couldn't play down under as his registration had been lodged with the RFL. His contract was terminated following his failure to return (hence no pay) and Leeds signed Matt Parcell as a replacement. JS's registration issue was only resolved once Leeds received an undisclosed fee https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/ ... ton-609061

Quote ="wrencat1873"How would this actually work out. If they hold onto his registration, would they not have to pay him and if so, would this not impact on their ability to fund a replacement ? FWIW it would be great if the NRL did the right thing and not "allow" him to play for any NRL clubs, unless of course Hastings comes to some sort of agreement with Wigan, as it's totally wrong for him to sign a contract and not actually play for that club. Of course, there could be some unique circumstances that none of us are privy to that make his return down under acceptable, who knows ?'" When James Segeyaro refused to come back to Leeds the NRL stated he couldn't play down under as his registration had been lodged with the RFL. His contract was terminated following his failure to return (hence no pay) and Leeds signed Matt Parcell as a replacement. JS's registration issue was only resolved once Leeds received an undisclosed fee https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/ ... ton-609061

Quote ="Clearwing"When James Segeyaro refused to come back to Leeds the NRL stated he couldn't play down under as his registration had been lodged with the RFL. His contract was terminated following his failure to return (hence no pay) and Leeds signed Matt Parcell as a replacement. JS's registration issue was only resolved once Leeds received an undisclosed fee https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/ ... ton-609061'" Did Leeds continue with the separate claim against him

Quote ="Clearwing"When James Segeyaro refused to come back to Leeds the NRL stated he couldn't play down under as his registration had been lodged with the RFL. His contract was terminated following his failure to return (hence no pay) and Leeds signed Matt Parcell as a replacement. JS's registration issue was only resolved once Leeds received an undisclosed fee https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/ ... ton-609061'" Did Leeds continue with the separate claim against him

Never heard owt if they did. I'd imagine they'd be hard pushed to prove they were out of pocket once they'd picked up a fee.

Yeah as Clearwing has said if he’s not turning up to Wigan then he’s in breach of contract so Wigan don’t have to pay him but his registration would still be lodged with the RFL.

That’s the other fly in the ointment in that is there something else going on?