Very much so - and don't forget you can add Karmichael Hunt to that list.

Quite happy with Carmont and Gleeson thank you very much, wouldn't swap them for any 2 centres in the world after last season.

In a non salary cap world I'd agree entirely. But in this day and age I'd rather not see big fortunes spent on 1 player. Squad depth is more vital, as last year proved. I mean you could sign an Inglis but what if he went bust like Amos did last year. Rather than decent back up we'd probably be left in our old situation at Wigan of chucking a kid in too soon.

Really?

Look how balanced our squad has become over the last 12 months, even more so now Fielden's excessive contract expired. No coincidence we have started to become competitive/even win things.

Now go back to the days when we had the 'Andy Farrells / Trent Barrett's'..etc, where 50% of your cap was spent on 1-2 high earning stars then you can understand why we were struggling.

No way, I'm loving it like it is now!!

Yes, really. Look at how many tries both our wingers scored last season playing outside those 2. Gleeson should have won MOM in the grand final, he was outstanding and has been all season, and id go as far as saying Carmont has been one one the greatest SL signings of all time in terms of value for money.

Both were far from perfect during the whole of last season - wasnt Gleeson dropped for a game or two because of turning up for training half baked?

Carmont was also less than perfect in defence at times although in terms of value for money he has been a terrific signing.

Don't get me wrong - they are both good players but are they really in the same class as a Gasnier? Inglis?

They would not score as many outside Inglis as he would not need to use them, in fact, to fit him under the cap just play with 1 winger and leave Inglis in the centre on his own.

Obviously he is not going to sign for Wigan, but I dare dream it. Outstanding player and is one of the few players to ever play the game that there is very very little the opposition can do to stop him.

Would be a travesty if he was lost to our code regardless of where he ended up, in union or AFL.

from an SC point of view i would rather wigan signed Inglis than the game lost him, and i say that as a leeds fan.

The SC is proving unworkable and not doing the job it was intended to do. Levelling the playing field and stopping a team snapping up all the talent is an important consideration but there are obviously much better ways of doing it.

Carmont as turned into a bit of a wigan legend in his time at the club..but i would drive him back australia myself if we could get Greg Inglis in a wigan shirt.

biggest talent this game as.

Ive heard that Jamie Lyon is pretty handy too



For me he was one of the greatest signings of the whole Superleague era - a gamble yes - but it didnt half turn out nice for St.Helens and given the circumstaces at the time he probably didn't cost the earth.

Inglis wouldn't be a gamble

he would be the greatest signing this club as made since Hanley.

Sonny-Bill,Greg Inglis,Israel Falou,

players of this quality and i believe huge importants for this game. should be nowhere near anyones salary cap.

pay them what there worth and keep them in Rugby League..its a rugby tragedy watching sonny-bill play that sport it really is.

I said when Ashton left that I'd be happy to see him go to Saints, Leeds, Wire, Hull, anywhere ... so long as it wasn't to Rugby Union.

These fans who always respond to crises like this by saying "well, we'll just develop another one" make me hurl. We should be developing the other ones anyway. The idea is to have as many top players as you can get, not keep on developing them so they can then go somewhere else.

Whatever happens with the Salary Cap - keep it, change it, lose it - we have to find a way to keep these marquee players in RL.

The only way you're going to keep these marquee players in RL is if you suddenly find a new source of revenue. That's why they're trying to expand the game out of the heartlands - though the short sighted amongst us can't see the benefit of that.

I agree that they were good for you. But to say you wouldn't swap them for anybody in the world means you're either A) Stupid(which I doubt) or B) Quite young. The strength of Wigan RL is the mercurial O'Loughlin, wonderboy Sam Tomkins and a hell of a coach.

Great summary. I used to really dislike Tomkins for one, but has won me over and I can now fully appreciate what a player he is. It's good for RL that Wigan are back, watching Leeds dick Saints in finals was getting a bit boring. Nice to see another team do it.

To be fair though, it's not as if expansion out of the heartlands hasn't been attempted on a number of occasions during the last 30 years, and has almost never succeeded.

There are other ways. You could reintroduce a Club GB or Club Aus or Club NZ, or whatever you want to call it, to operate outside the salary cap. Or you could discount a percentage of your home grown talent's wage from the cap, allowing you to spend more on the players who deserve more. You could also consider something really radical - like raising the cap in line with inflation. That may help a little.

As I said before, doing nothing is not an option. And waiting for the game to expand so far beyond the M62 corridor that suddenly we've got extra cash pourig in from everywhere equates, in my book, with doing nothing.

Expansion is vital. Sometimes (well mostly) it fails but sometimes its a success I think Catalans are a success even if last season was terrible their attendances are ok and they're solvent.

Crusaders looks like a failure but that's because of how much Wales is into its RU did you see the crowd at the Fiji game on Children in Need?!

I think we should take things slower Cumbria and Midlands or Further down Cheshire like the Crewe area. Maybe staffordshire like Stoke and then move further down. The problem is they are going too far too fast and people are expecting results too fast.

I don't want to give up on Crusaders but they're in financial difficulty and so they surely can't have a licence after Widnes didn't for the same thing. Shame tbh

I don't disagree with any of that, but the point I was making is that we can't afford to wait until we've created some nationwide Rugby League paradise before we make keeping our stars the next priority. There's no reason why we can't try and do both at the same time, and anyone who says otherwise is living in a fantasy world.

I agree 100% Cruncher (and the previous post about expansion) BUT I seriously doubt anything will happen over here the, RFL haven't got the foresight to do anything and even if they did I suspect some narrow minded club chairmen will block it anyway. If anything does change it will more likely, I think, come from Australia - they will develop/introduce something and the RFL will copy it (although probably in some diluted, half-d way they usually do).

There have been many serious and well thought out options discussed on this board about SC and the game in general (like home developed players counting less on the cap in some way etc) but sadly I suspect none of them will ever see the light of day. If the Sc can't even be allowed to increase in line with inflation then we really are struggling.

Unfortunately, I think you're right.

The latest example of this kind of thinking manifests itself in the attitude: "RU's got a lot more money than us. We'll never compete with them anyway, so there's no point doing anything."

Unbelievable. Talk about fiddling while Rome burns.

Out of interest what deal was Fielden on exactly and what is he on now?

Well it was stated that two players were taking up 25% of Wigans salary cap. (believed to be Fielden & Feka)
That equated to £400K p.a. between them.

If that's true, it's no wonder there was no room for Feka in the new era.

That much money is obscene for a 20-minute player.