I think the only thing that will turn Jai's head back to the NRL is his family situation. He's spoken before about the challenge of going back to a NRL club as the starting No1 especially to a club which is challenging for honours - pretty much all the top clubs have a very dominant FB in place and he would be going as an understudy. He's also a very trusted member of the squad and has a big input both on and off the field which is something he values highly. Wigans accommodating and trusting stance on their overseas players and understanding of the importance of their family situation has really paid off in creating a reciprocal level of trust and buy into the club. It's worth far more than just the size of the pay check.

[quote="Stu M":2rotzp33]Come on Jason you’ll have to do better than that. How are Liverpool women bossing us around when they pay to play there? They call it the St Helens Stadium because they don’t want to be associated with a vaping company. No issues with that given the name hasn’t changed for rugby league and it is still OUR stadium that we own. They pay a good fee to play there, we earn from food and drink and more importantly they paid over £1m for a state of the art pitch that we play on. It’s superb quality. So if that’s “bossing” us around then that will do me.[/quote:2rotzp33] To be honest I dont need to "do any better than that" I just have to remember all the sh*t we copped from you lot and now we own our stadium and a football team (womens) is telling you to change the name of "your" stadium,as for the pitch it was re-laid for the Ladies team you just happen to play at the same stadium. I get that Liverpool pay rent but beware they are flexing their muscles to see how far they can go. Oh and by the way you being one of the more levelled fans it is in no way having a dig at you mate. Also we need a strong Saints team and club our greatest wins and losses have been against St Helens and I cannot wait for the next games against the 2 greatest teams in RL history with Wigan beeing number 1 and Saints number 2 of course.

[quote="WWste":1svvbf2o]Hopefully soon it will sink in when Latics gets to the end of a season and it isn’t all panic stations that the club might go under. I’m not a Latics fan but keep an eye on them. I’m not sure what any arguments you can have with the player leaving as he went to Luton didn’t he? A club that was in the prem last year. It does look like some money is being invested into Latics, few players signing. Hopefully you can get to the Championship as imagine this would generate decent money to be invested into both clubs. Although im not an Latics fan, I am interested in seeing what’s going to happen with the both clubs working together.[/quote:1svvbf2o] Yeah it was Luton and for a rumoured £3.5m. They've brought in that fee now and a fee for Charlie Hughes higher than that and have said that they've ridden themselves of the last of the legacy from the Bahraini's and can move forward and have a higher budget next season. To me they've played it pretty much perfectly so far and stabilised the finances and the side, to then try and progress. Some of the empty heads aren't buying it though.

Be interesting what Danson does when the field and french era is over. Could he attract a top NRL player with a huge salary?

[quote="NSW":2tevqggu]Be interesting what Danson does when the field and french era is over. Could he attract a top NRL player with a huge salary?[/quote:2tevqggu] It's a good question - in a way I almost hope that we wouldn't go down that route. If a top NRL player in his prime comes here then sadly it will all be driven by money. I think we'd be better off using the marquee spots to keep the best Wigan produced players here for the bulk of their careers, or to keep any future Australian gems that we've managed to polish at the club for more than a few years.

The level of bitterness between rugby and Latics fans has been on the slide for a decade or more, thankfully. The 2 sets of fans holding grudges and antagonising each other did neither team any favours, so hopefully it will soon be a thing of the past. If you go on the Latics forums you'll get some headbangers who are convinced anyone who supports Wigan RL is evil personified and is out to get them. I'm pretty sure after a few years of sensible stewardship from Danson most of them will accept he's moving them in the right direction and he is an improvement on anything they've had since Whelan

It might well be that a large salary will be required to get an NRL player over here. With the NRL expanding to PNG, NZ and Perth possibly in the next few years then those clubs are going to be looking for top quality players to add to their locally produced squad. If they are looking at squads of 25 players each then that is a lot of players who can further their careers in the NRL without having to leave the comp. The RFL/SL are going to have a look again at the criteria for SL status. Surely each SL club is going to have to prove they can produced their own squad. A move I'd have thought is that within two years of attaining SL status a club must have a scholarship, academy and reserves to complement the first team. That way each club will be capable of producing the required number for their first team squad. That would leave us less vulnerable to the need for overseas players to make up the SL quality squad which is the case now. How Mike Danson would look at quality overseas players and the salaries required remains to be seen. He will know better than us how much Latics soccer players earn for League One and Championship competitions. Compare than to the Wigan RL players who play in front of 15k each game then he might look quite favourably on Rugby League.

Hopefully we're already on the look out for more hidden gems, young players who haven't quite cracked first grade but will be good enough to make a decent career over here as well as putting themselves back in the NRL shop window. The way we've allowed our overseas players extra family time on a trust that they'll do a lot of the pre season hard work over there should be a good bargaining chip in our favour.

[quote="Stu M":3f2savwg]Come on Jason you’ll have to do better than that. How are Liverpool women bossing us around when they pay to play there? They call it the St Helens Stadium because they don’t want to be associated with a vaping company. No issues with that given the name hasn’t changed for rugby league and it is still OUR stadium that we own. They pay a good fee to play there, we earn from food and drink and more importantly they paid over £1m for a state of the art pitch that we play on. It’s superb quality. So if that’s “bossing” us around then that will do me.[/quote:3f2savwg] Out of interest, how much do they pay to play at the stadium?

[quote="Father Ted":1nxdy2wp]It might well be that a large salary will be required to get an NRL player over here. With the NRL expanding to PNG, NZ and Perth possibly in the next few years then those clubs are going to be looking for top quality players to add to their locally produced squad. If they are looking at squads of 25 players each then that is a lot of players who can further their careers in the NRL without having to leave the comp. The RFL/SL are going to have a look again at the criteria for SL status. Surely each SL club is going to have to prove they can produced their own squad. A move I'd have thought is that within two years of attaining SL status a club must have a scholarship, academy and reserves to complement the first team. That way each club will be capable of producing the required number for their first team squad. That would leave us less vulnerable to the need for overseas players to make up the SL quality squad which is the case now. How Mike Danson would look at quality overseas players and the salaries required remains to be seen. He will know better than us how much Latics soccer players earn for League One and Championship competitions. [b:1nxdy2wp]Compare than to the Wigan RL players who play in front of 15k each game then he might look quite favourably on Rugby League.[/b:1nxdy2wp][/quote:1nxdy2wp] He already does, he is a rugby fan first and foremost.

I think there still value to be had finding you get players who aren't getting a start due to the likes of Ponga, Clearly, etc. For example I think David Armstrong for Leigh will be the signing of the year, tempted to have a MoS bet on him at 33-1 As others have mentioned, wigans track record of treating overseas players well and giving opportunity to develop their careers will act in our favour when we do need to sign new talent. I think up and coming players rather than big names is the way forward..

[quote="Big Steve":3sqpyhdg]I think there still value to be had finding you get players who aren't getting a start due to the likes of Ponga, Clearly, etc. For example I think David Armstrong for Leigh will be the signing of the year, tempted to have a MoS bet on him at 33-1 As others have mentioned, wigans track record of treating overseas players well and giving opportunity to develop their careers will act in our favour when we do need to sign new talent. I think up and coming players rather than big names is the way forward..[/quote:3sqpyhdg] Leigh probably have the master of picking up these gems in Adrian Lam. He's played a big part in getting Field, French, Ipappe, O'Donnell, Amone etc over to superleague and all have been exceptional. You wouldn't be at all surprised to see Armstrong being the next success story.

[quote="Zig":c0ldtz90]Out of interest, how much do they pay to play at the stadium?[/quote:c0ldtz90] £500k per year Then we obviously earn whatever sales come from food and drink. The pitch was £1.3m so it’s a good relationship on both sides.

[quote="Stu M":gae1uo7h]£500k per year Then we obviously earn whatever sales come from food and drink. The pitch was £1.3m so it’s a good relationship on both sides.[/quote:gae1uo7h] Sounds like a great deal for Saints.

[quote="Stu M":3lhgplui]£500k per year Then we obviously earn whatever sales come from food and drink. The pitch was £1.3m so it’s a good relationship on both sides.[/quote:3lhgplui] A good income stream which is important given the last couple of years financially.

Read a rumour on Redvee that we wanted Vaughan and it looks like it's well on the cards along with Sambou. Brave lads! https://www.alloutrugbyleague.co.uk/new ... ommunities

Read a rumour on Redvee that we wanted Vaughan and it looks like it's well on the cards along with Sambou. Brave lads! https://www.alloutrugbyleague.co.uk/new ... ommunities

[quote="NickyKiss":1we2qsu7]Read a rumour on Redvee that we wanted Vaughan and it looks like it's well on the cards along with Sambou. Brave lads! https://www.alloutrugbyleague.co.uk/new ... ommunities[/quote:1we2qsu7] Don’t know much about either lad but even if it isn’t true the response on RedVee is pretty decent view on a cold Monday evening. Maybe it’s cover for Eckersley on the assumption that Keighran will be departing at the end of 2025 re Vaughan? Not sure where that puts Nathan Lowe for us unless we see Vaughan as a second rower? Interesting times.

[quote="NickyKiss":1we2qsu7]Read a rumour on Redvee that we wanted Vaughan and it looks like it's well on the cards along with Sambou. Brave lads! https://www.alloutrugbyleague.co.uk/new ... ommunities[/quote:1we2qsu7] Don’t know much about either lad but even if it isn’t true the response on RedVee is pretty decent view on a cold Monday evening. Maybe it’s cover for Eckersley on the assumption that Keighran will be departing at the end of 2025 re Vaughan? Not sure where that puts Nathan Lowe for us unless we see Vaughan as a second rower? Interesting times.

[quote="Itchy Arsenal":1cjbw1ho]Don’t know much about either lad but even if it isn’t true the response on RedVee is pretty decent view on a cold Monday evening. Maybe it’s cover for Eckersley on the assumption that Keighran will be departing at the end of 2025 re Vaughan? Not sure where that puts Nathan Lowe for us unless we see Vaughan as a second rower? Interesting times.[/quote:1cjbw1ho] Pretty sure we'll be seeing Vaughan primarily as a second rower and taking a long term view that he can help replace Faz, Isa etc. His profile reminds me a bit of Bateman when we signed him (although I don't think Bateman was on for a law degree like this lad) in that he can play back row, centre and is captain of the England academy.

All I can say is Wigan must really see something in these two to make this move. We have a great academy and the club takes a lot of pride in developing Wigan born players to a high standard. To bring in two lads from the Saints academy must mean they think there's a good chance they'll be international players. If it had been any of Robertson, Whitby or Stephens it would have been absolute meltdown at St Helens but even with these two it must sting. The balance of power is well and truly with Wigan at the moment.

Has anyone heard anything on Sam Walters potentially joining Hull this season? Don't actually think anything will be in it, but the guy who told me said we were releasing Abdull, then a few days later the story broke.

[quote="mwindass":9tqid4tn]Has anyone heard anything on Sam Walters potentially joining Hull this season? Don't actually think anything will be in it, but the guy who told me said we were releasing Abdull, then a few days later the story broke.[/quote:9tqid4tn] Don't see how that could possibly be true - he's our only back up second rower as it stands.

[quote="MadDogg":3blcwhzf]Don't see how that could possibly be true - he's our only back up second rower as it stands.[/quote:3blcwhzf] If he didn't tell me about Abdull I would've brushed it off as BS. Didn't he move back the the NW for family reasons too?

[quote="mwindass":bmjpxfjt]Has anyone heard anything on Sam Walters potentially joining Hull this season? Don't actually think anything will be in it, but the guy who told me said we were releasing Abdull, then a few days later the story broke.[/quote:bmjpxfjt] I would be staggered if that was the case. Not unless we have 2 2nd rowers coming in but its a bit late in pre-season for that kind of thing

[quote="[Gareth]":1omfoqu3]I would be staggered if that was the case. Not unless we have 2 2nd rowers coming in but its a bit late in pre-season for that kind of thing[/quote:1omfoqu3] Vaughan coming in early wouldn't surprise me. I would have the Saints fan base as one of the least understanding of players career decisions and when that decision is to go to Wigan, I struggle to see him turning out for Saints in 2025 and being given an easy ride. Once Wigan found out Nicholson was going to sign for Wire for the following season, they just said he could go with immediate effect and a move from Wigan to Wire is nowhere near as controversial.

JV is a cracking prospect maybe not the most physically gifted but a genuine competitor and very intelligent runner. Adds competition and depth alongside Lucas Mason. I think his attitude and competitive nature is what will have drawn our attention. Not sure about Sambou he’s obviously an athlete with pace and maybe he kicks on in our environment to develop his game. As the old saying goes you can’t coach pace. Vaughn particularly is a big kick in the stones for Saints I think this move is indicative of the rot that has set in there from the top down and I’d say losing him adds more pressure to Wellens and them starting well in 2025. Would be great to get them both in early as there is no way they will be getting first team opportunities this year now at Saints.