That Lima is a big unit and gave their hooker a bit of a slap

and looks a bit more mobile for a guy who looks as big as Feka, especially in defence.

I really hope lima signs a great upgrade from feka

i liked the way he used mike ennis's head as a tennis ball on HT

ive also heard finch and quinn are close to signing if you lot manage to get lima,hoffman,finch and quinn then thats some recruitment and can see you run away with the league again nxt year

Hopefully Finch, Lima and Hoffman will sign on but we don't need Quinn and we don't want to go overboard on foreign players. I'd be happy to see 3 come in with 4(Phelps, Riddell, Feka and Bailey) leave because that will see us reduce our overseas contingent and thats something we also need to look at.

We need a couple of quality forwards and a halfback or hooker but we don't need an outside back. We have guys like Goulding and Pryce who can more then do a job and then youngsters like Marsh and Charnley chomping at the bit. Unless theres something in the rumours about Roberts leaving then we really should stay clear of Quinn imo and keep developing our youngsters. In the pack theres room for a few overseas lads because you need to rotate your pack and keep them fresh but we can't afford to run with too many foreign backs.

How many quota players can we sign for next year?

Think its 3 but with all these loopholes half of um dont count on it anyway. I wish they would change it to just 3 overseas players fullstop no loopholes or getting round it apart from special exceptions like Hansen who was born overseas but has played all his rugby over here. We could still have a decent team next year:

1. Pat - QUOTA
2. Charnley
3. Gleeson
4. Pryce/Marsh/Thornley
5. Goulding
6. Sam
7. Leuluai - QUOTA
8. Fielden
9. McIlorum
10. Coley
11. Hansen
12. Joel
13. O'Loughlin

14. Mossop
15. Lima - QUOTA
16. Prescott
17. Farrell

Not as good as a team with Roberts/Hoffman/Carmont i agree but it gives English players a chance to better themselves and it will help with the international game long term.

Pat doesn't count as he is Irish and Tommy has been here 5 years.

Thought New Zealanders of Polynesian descent don't count - Leuluai and Lima?

I have to agree with you!

Hoffmans a very good player but with Mossop, Hansen, Tomkins, O'Loughlin, Farrel, Tucon and the soon to be back Hock I see no reason for Wigan to recruit RH.

From an outsiders view I've marvelled at the number of tallented youngsters that are currently emerging at Wigan and could easily see a day when you field no Ausies and yet still remain a top club.

Hoffman is entirely different to joel or hansen. He is very much a ball playing second row, with a great offload and a cool head. On the field for melbourne he seems to lead from the front. I presume that we are bringing him to add some character to the team off the field and aswell as a presence on the field. Replacing that of Mark Riddell, whom i believe to have a massive impact of the team off the field.

Hoffman could play prop forward in my opinion, he's a massive fella. The fact that we have signed him suggests to me that either or both fielden and coley wont be there next year. I know Andy Coley is cant decide what to do next year. Also when i spoke to stuart fielden at catalans, he wants a two year deal, but he spoke as though they were struggling to come to terms, probably because fielden doesnt want a wage cut.

A class signing in my opinion, on the conditions that hansen or joel does not lose out, because they have both been outstanding this year.

What?

A class signing on the condition that he doesn't play ahead of our current second rows, or a class signing on the condition that we turn him into a player playing a different position.

Can't see the point of signing another Second Row. Even if we somehow manage to play with three second rows starting, all of Farrell, Mossop and Walker will miss out.

Players play different positions depending on the team they play for and who they are playing under, when amos first arrived nobody suggested we should play him fullback, but look how that turned out before he was injured?

Coley signed from salford a second row, he has played prop ever since. There is no difference what so ever with us signing Ryan Hoffman. You can argue all you like that he plays second row because he does. For melbourne, but he could play prop. He's the same weight as andy coley? and only a kg smaller than stuart fielden.

Regardless if he starts infront of joel or hansen he is a class signing. What i meant was that I'd agree with him signing for us as long as he doesnt start infront of joel or hansen, i may not agree with it if he does start infront of them, but he'd walk into any super league second row, thus i'd see him as a class signing.

So you want a guy who would walk into any super league team to play behind our current two players? That makes no sense.

He might well play second row and can also play prop, but if we want a prop I would rather we signed a prop! Your right, Roberts has been a revelation at fullback, but we signed him becuase we needed a winger, it's just that Phelp's injuries have meant we needed to move him there, initially as cover.

Also, Coley moved into the front row well before we signed him, we signed Andy Coley because we needed a prop and he was a prop, we didn't sign him because he was a class second row who could do a job in the front row, no matter how heavy he was.

Finally, you didn't reply about Farrell, Mossop or Walker, what happens to them?

Wigan have got to be careful with what they do with Davies. Next season he will be ready to play Super League on a regular basis and if he's still behind 3 or 4 other props will he wait another year or two for his real chance at Wigan? If they lose him it would be blow, he is one for the future.

Which is exactly the kind of loophole bollox i dont like, it shouldnt exist, we could easily have a team full of foreigners because of all the loopholes so whats the point in a quota.

He plays for Ireland though so it's not exactly a loophole is it?

Ok Pat ill let you have he can count in the 'special cases' with Hansen, but Tommy, Carmont, Roberts, & Feka not counting is just ridiculous.

Great point. After watching him all this season he's clearly far too good for our level. Will be interesting to see how he goes next year. He's good enough now to be a regular SL prop.

This is the reason the non federation trained rule has been introduced.

The loophole is closed it is simply players that were signed prior to this rule coming in and under contract are exempt, which is fair enough as you have to honour contracts.

As time goes by and players move clubs/retire there will be no more of this.

The thing is i normally would be worried but with the dual reg thing in he could go to another sl club for a season and get him broke in there

4 years ago players in the same boat would be shipped out i really like the way they are doing things cause look at all the players we have let go in the past

Can't dual reg to another sl club. He's bound to go out on loan next year, i'd imagine he'd go to a SL club as he's more than good enough.

There is no five year rule any more. Tommy doesn't count because like Hansen he learned his junior pro RL in the UK at Quins. If you play a certain number of years under the age of 21 (I think) for a UK club you count as a UK federation player. In Hansen's case he will count as a home grown player for Wigan as he came through our academy whereas I think TL will count as a UK federation player as he started at Quins.

Some players such as Bailey who were contracted before the rules changed were exempt from the new rules but he still remains a quota player as he doesn't have an EC passport (or come from a country with a Kolpak agreement with the EC). I think it's also the case that when an exempt players contract expires he can have another an remain exempt for the duration of that one but that is it. After that he comes under the new rules but most players would be at the end of their careers by them anyway.

Dave

The only way around the system now how I see it is to recruit foreign players at a very young age, just like Tommy. I think you have to play 3 full years prior to the age of 21 to be considered federation trained.

I applaud the rugby league for getting this rule right, without generating ability for successful legal challenges. Its 20 years late but better late than never.

I believe Gleeson had to apply for an exception to be considered federation trained as he did not meet the criteria due to the time he spent in Australia growing up, and should Widdop ever move to Super League I assume again then he would have to apply for an exemption to be considered federation trained as in theory he would also count as a traditionally know overseas player due to failing to meet the criteria of being federation trained.

If these deals come off and rumours of who they will replace are true we are adding 2 non federation trained players to our squad replacing 2 players exempt from the rule in Bailey and Feka, so it is crucial that they are are of the top quality if they are taking that non federation spot, which they clearly are. We have not fallen into the trap of replacing players currently exempt with journey men, which is pleasing.