Signed from all accounts https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/01/23/201 ... contracts/

Signed from all accounts https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/01/23/201 ... contracts/

It's on the Wigan board he's signed for this season and two seasons after 2019.

[urlhttps://www.wiganwarriors.com/news/2019-07-27-bevan-french-signs-with-the-warriors[/url

Exciting player with pace to burn but the big question is where will he play? Potentially on the right wing this year? Not sure about 2020.

Looking forward to watching him play

Really interested to see where he fits in. Great signing though, like the idea of getting a new face in before the end of the season, gives everyone a kick!

Excited to see the lad go! Just hope people give him time - we're almost at the business end of the season and it's going to take him a while to get up to speed and settled in etc.

Still not sure if we had a greater need at prop for this season tho?

Interesting to see where he will play, but still a great signing and adds more pace to an already lightening back line

That'll do me just fine. However our prop situation is looking dire, Clubb and Flower left, with Hamlin and Tautai gone and now Bullock out for the season, it gives the young lads plenty of game time and they haven't key us down yet. That aside, French coming in gives us options in attack and it's a kick up the backside for all our backs now if they want to keep their place.

Happy with this one! For this year can just cover full back, wings, centres and halves should injuries/ drop of form occur.

For next year as Hastings is such a controlling half back.

I’d play him at 6 and let him run the ball.

Don’t really follow the NRL in any great detail but, after having watched the 2016 highlights of him on YouTube, I can’t wait to see him in action.

We are starting to see some ‘proper’ signings at last and I sense that Adrian Lam is feeling like he’s the main man rather than some interim project.

Well done to IL and all concerned. I’m hoping there’s one more piece in the jigsaw still to be announced and we all know who that is!

I think it's more a case of who is available concerning props if we can't get a top prop i wouldn't bother just concentrate on getting Burgess

Yeah that's probably true.

Cas being the usual pr!cks that they are and not letting Clarke come early really leaves a sour taste imo.

Quality signing that if he can recapture his form from a few seasons ago

Can't blame them. Why should they help a rival? I doubt Wigan would do any different in their shoes.

As for French, like a lot of people, I feel our need is greater in the forwards.


BUT... it would be churlish to complain about signing an exciting attacking talent when it becomes available. As remarked upthread, we will have an excellent back-line at this rate with pace to burn. Now if we could really snap up George Burgess as well, I think anyone questioning the club's ambition will have their answer.

Hes is coming but doubt it will be announced until Souths season is over. Bennett wanted him to stay in the NRL

If the shoe was on the other foot I actually do think we'd have let him go to Cas. FWIW we seem to do right by players. The guy wanted out & Cas have been pretty rubbish about the whole thing. Doesn't surprise me tho as they are an awful, awful club.

But no so much that he wanted to keep him at Souths?

Hardly counts for much.

They couldnt fit him under the cap. Being England coach as well he isnt someone you want to upset. There is no rush to announce it there is plenty of this season yet for us to worry about

Bennett is a coaching legend but his attitude towards superleague is pretty shoddy. He doesn’t seem to realise that some of his best players during his time in charge have been raised in superleague and have only ever played in superleague. To talk about hoping players stay in the NRL make it sound like he thinks they’re coming to some sort of third world league. Having players in the NRL is clearly helping us but he should just keep his head down and not put his foot in it because the flow of lads going over will continue to be steady enough to help the national team.

You think a rival club should give you a player who is under contract?

I agree with you, had roles been reversed we would have done exactly the same.

Yeah I do. I'm not saying it shouldn't have been a transfer fee involved, but he still should have come here instead of Leigh.

Different circumstances, but we let Tomkins go to Hull KR last year. He'd practically killed his career at Wigan (like Clarke has done with Cas) and yet we still did right by him and let him go to Hull KR & didn't force him to play in the championship.

Navarrete - We loaned his back to Cats when he wasn't getting any game time.

Scott Taylor - we loaned him to Salford as Hull FC wouldn't buy him.

If we took the same stubborn approach as Cas we'd have forced all three to play in the championship as it strengthened a 'rival'.

All that's before you even get onto the topic of people moaning about players on big contracts and refusing to move when they aren't wanted - Morgan Escare anyone? Cas fans would be up in arms if the club wanted to move him on, but he refused and just picked up a paycheck for doing nothing.

The Mole 1
Phil Wilkinson 0

I’m pretty sure that Cas would have allowed him to move to Wigan if Wigan were prepared to pay a fee, but that presumably wasn’t the case.
Tomkins hardly strengthened a rival club - KR were nowhere near competing for a play-off spot with Wigan.
Navarette - didn’t he need to be close to home for a period and wasn’t getting in the Wigan team. It seemed more of a move to allow him to gain first team experience, but that would benefit Wigan in the long run. Letting someone go on loan to build experience that will have a long-term benefit is different to just letting a player leave.
Taylor - isn’t that exactly what you are arguing against? Hull wouldn’t pay a fee so Wigan let him play a year on loan at Salford, as they didn’t deem Salford to be as much of a threat as Hull? Just like we’ve let Clark join Leigh rather than Wigan. This seems to undermine your claim that Cas should ave just let Clark join Wigan early.
Ultimately, Cas and Wigan are level on points and both vying for a play-off spot. They aren’t likely to do each other any favours.