Cullen doesn't seem to bothered!

Might be a sweetener for the purchase of Shenton

Given Shenton will be out of contract can't see it, but it will be interesting to see how they combine if they form a wing centre partnership over the next few months.

Maybe IL and MM have sent him over there to test out how they go together.

Also maybe it's agent Ainscough and he's telling Shenton just how good it is a Wigan and how great Madge is, the stadium is and the facilities are!

In the games i have seen Shenton play i must admit that i am not an admirer. I dont see why he is rated so highly.

I know that he is only a young man but i would much prefer to see Thornley and perhaps Pryce in our team than Shenton.

I am not saying that he is a poor player, far from it but i honestly dont see what all the fuss is about.

He would need some work putting into him but he's got ability imo and he will improve in the future. One thing is got over Pryce without question is his attitude.

As for Thornley or Marsh I don't know too much about them tbh so I can't really judge. If they're good enough i'm sure they'll get their chance to prove it in the first team before Maguire and Lenagan rush into anything major.

Speaking about the loan deal, Wigan Warriors Head Coach, Michael Maguire said,

“This is a good opportunity for Shaun to get some Super League playing experience at Castleford. Shaun has enjoyed playing for the Vikings and we would like to thank Widnes for allowing the dual registration to be cancelled allowing him to go to the Jungle .This loan deal with the Tigers will benefit both the player and the Wigan Club.”

I just hope that the lad does not feel that he is being pushed from pillar to post, what with constantly changing clubs.

I actually would have prefered a longer deal with Cas, at least then he has a chance to settle in properly (i presume he will be living in yarkshire?) to the environment at Castleford.

SL experience is all well and good, but a lack of stability could cancel out any benefits. Mind you we know that Shaun has a good attitude so lets see how it goes.

Maybe he will get longer at cas, would be nice until the end of the season seeing owen is out until then.
Maybe cas and ainscough want see if he can settle in first before a longer commitment.

Though i'm sure cas will look after him, ryan brierley is from the other side of the pennines he's training full time with the first team maybe the 2 of them will travel together. Hope it works out for him and he scores a bag full of tries for us.

Think we have it right, if he starts to tear it up which he is capable of, then we need to be in a position to bring him back. He will have the option I am sure of the full season but it will be a rolling month by month deal.

I am also sure that he will be commuting to Cas its not that far and there would be no need for all the disruption that could be caused if it does turn out to be a short term deal.

Hmmm. We have the opportunity to give him some Super League experience playing for us given Phelps is out. We are on top of our game at the moment so I can't think of a better time and more importantly place (i.e. with us) to re-introduce him to SL under the watchful eyes of our own coaching team.

Given the way we are playing he would IMO have a field day and given he can't play v us on 21st March for Cas would most likely get the same number of SL games with us as if he went to Cas for a month.

Once Phelps was fully fit Ainscough could return to Widnes on the dual registration deal. This situation where we have a player out, could call him back then let him return to Widnes is exactly what I thought these dual registration deals were all supposed to be about. Very flexible unlike a loan agreement.

What does he do after the month loan is up? He can't go back to Widnes and if for whatever reason the loan is not extended he would be stuck in the under 20's. If the loan [iis[/i extended then it must be with a recall clause.

Ripping up a dual registration deal to send a player on loan to another club strikes me as odd when we could have given him the SL game time here.

Dave

Why can't he go back to Widnes?

Because they have cancelled the dual registration deal. He's not registered that way any more. They would have to set up a new dual registration deal if that is allowed (and both clubs would have to agree).

Dave

so there is a chance if the load deal at cas is not extended he can go back on the dual registration deal with widnes. Wigan and ainscough are in a win win situation

Most likely I'd imagine the loan deal will be extended.

Owen's broken leg is not going to heal in a month. Presumably the deal will be extended on a month-by-month basis because Wigan want to be able to call Ainey back ASAP if they suddenly develop an injury crisis themselves.

If he can't play for Cas against us, can he play for us against Cas???

I'm glad Ainscough is on loan and getting experience at another Super League, however I would rather it was someone other than Cas. They really are a horrible little club.

Was Ainscough part of the team that went there in the Reserves/U18's when Cas returned to SL after their relegation, because if he was I would of told them where to stick it.

Swings and roundabouts... get over it, we have.

Only after showing your backsides to the rest of the RL world though, eh?

Picking on a bunch of kids. What a joke.

I suppose your club is as pure as the driven snow.

I wasn't there, so can't say what happened... anyway, we can all throw stones about things the other club has done to the detriment of the other, and I'd suggest some were worse than others, but it depends what side of the argument you're on really as to which is which...

As for getting over it, I was as soon as we were back in SL. Let's stick to the topic - it's a win-win situation for both clubs, and it's nice they can work together to help each other out after undoubted bad blood in previous years

I havent really got a leg to stand on have I, when my club broke the salary cap in order to stay up and unlucky Cas got relegated.

Good Luck with the franchise application by the way.

If the loan was terminated before the Cas game then yes - if not then he's still a Cas player just can't play in the game against Wigan.

We didn't break the Salary Cap, we were penalised by the RFL for breaking the "Spirit of the Cap" by altering the contracts of existing players,(with their approval), so we could pay Stuart Fielden. We did not go over the limit.

I could understand Cas' anger at the time, maybe this is Ian Lenegans way of "offering the hand of peace" and indeed showing that under his stewardship, our great club will treat other clubs with the respect that they deserve.

Not wanting to get into this again, but we didnt disrespect anyone with the fielden issue, loads of my mates have recently renegotiated their pay!

Did nothing wrong, if it hadnt have been wigan, nothing would have been said.

Back on topic, good move for both clubs!