yes, yes i am. i just changed my name on here to hide the fact and now you have found me out

Wire and Saints fans in encouraging Wigan fans to think the world is ending shocker.

So I suppose I shouldn't express my feelings towards war in Iraq because that has happened? your ideology is ridicules. People's opinions do count and can change things like the Arab Spring that's why I will always express my thoughts and opinions.

then you should petition whitehall with the utmost hast

Who do you think the club wants to sell its merchandise to and its tickets to? Since IL took over the club must be self financing and it won't be able to carry on doing that if it loses support. The fans are a major source of revenue it actively courts and very much needs. While the club does not make decisions by running a poll every week on what to do next if you think it ignores the fans opinions you are very much mistaken. If it got so out of touch it started to do that it would soon be in deep trouble. Without fans you do not get sponsors so to protect all his revenue streams IL has to keep the fans onside.

He has done a pretty good job at that so far with two trophies in the cabinet but fans are fickle and he needs to make sure he doesn't lose support for when things are not so good on the pitch. Fawning all over Union is not going down very well and he needs to take note.

so, every poster in this thread who has a problem with the decision Sam and the club have made regarding Sams participation in the Onion international on Saturday are going to stop buying tickets and merchandise?

i thought not

The reason for the invite is as we all know or should know bugger all about rugby league, if Sam had come out in the past at any point and stated that he had zero interest in union and that no amount of money would make him switch codes do you think they'd have bothered with this invite?
If English RU had won the world cup and had plenty of options in the backs at club level do you think he'd have had an invite?

This is about one thing and one only, this is to attract him away from league, this is to show off to him a full stadium at Twickers and yes he may have a 3 year contract and been told he can't speak to any union clubs but you're telling me there won't be anyone whispering in his ears, be it players or coaches or officials in the game?

This is about stealing Tomkins and giving him a taste of the forbidden fruit and has NOTHING to do with us or showcasing our sport and our talent. If he tears the Aussies a new one, clubs will move heaven and earth to get him regardless of contracts, if he's garbage we'll be ridiculed. Lose lose.

Then the RFL need to make the changes necessary to keep him in RL, not Wigan

The world isn't ending, but it is pretty annopying that I have had a number of emails today (I live in union land) stating how RL players want to come and play RU to experience the "big stage".

Regardless of how we would like to think it will be construed in RL land, the unionites see it as nothing other than a union trial for Sam. IL's gushing and painful statement will have done very little to address that.

Sam should have politely declined, given he has agreed to focus on RL for the next 3 years. All that guff about not speaking to RU clubs, then going to play union at Twickenham on your very first free weekend, make IL (and the Wigan club) look daft.

Im embarrassed at present for our club we are the laughing stock of RL at present with these ridiculous decisions!

This contract is so iron clad that we allow him to promote rugby union and let all the RU players/officials/agents take the out of us for the next week

Seriously how does this benefit wigan or RL at all?

You mean like changing the salary cap to facilitate his bumper new deal, before he turns round a week or so later and laughs in the face of RL by playing at Twickers on "the big stage"?

I said the equivalent of £300k today, not £300k then.

Which the RFL as fully welcomed

The salary cap needs to be scrapped and some other form of financial regulations need to be brought in. Soon as RL realise this then the better.

Exactly like that yes. Its a start but it is by no means the answer. You want to stop RL players going to Union, make RL the better alternative (in a sporting sense and also financially)

So letting sam play rugby union, probably get put up in nice hotels, get tours of twickers and meet the RFU benefits us how?

Your arguments are getting more simplistic by the minute. If it is so easy to keep selling to the fans and the fans will buy even if the club seemingly ignores their opinions we can sack the marketing department today. There is also a difference between begrudging support and enthusiastic support and you can bet your life the former generates less revenue for a club.

helps to raise the profile of RL to a wider audience?

As Wigan born and bred, but now living in the Midlands,IMHO this is the most positive thing to happen in RL since the inception of SL.
I have a lot of friends in Gloucester, Worcester and Bath who for years, have given me (mainly) good humoured grief about how League is a minority sport played only by cloth capped, ferret lovers in Lancs and Yorks.
However I have noticed over the past twelve months or so that many of them are quietly aknowledging that we've got a lot of things that can improve the entertainment factor of their game. This is mainly because of the sucess few years ago of Jason Robinson, along with the resurgence of Wales (Edwards influence) as a dominant force.
Combine this with names like Owen Farrell, Chris Ashton, Kyle Eastmond, and, most recently the publicity around the Tomkins boys, they really are now begining to accept the skills in our game.
Believe me most RU fans certainly know of and admire Sam in a big way, far from taking anything away from our game this is only adding to the interest in Super League, with lots of new followers both on TV and watching live, Two good mates of mine from Walsall are now regular visitors to the DW.
I really hope Sam plays to his pottential and paves the way for more of this type of activity , which imo will surely benefit both codes (mainly ours) in the long term.

its a simple argument though Dave. the decision has been made, not you or any other fans can change it yet you will still support the club

quite simple really

finally, some sense!

They are playing rugby union, at twickers.

First time sam gets caught with the ball and gets rucked he will wish he wasnt playing anyway as thee aussie will target him

Here we have a player who has just signed a new contract and is so happy to play RL he almost instantly plays a RU match

The more i think about it this must be some salary cap scam to get him more money without wigan paying him

How would it hes playing Union. As said previously how much has Chris Ashton and Jason Robinson's success in Union raised the profile of rugby league? Not one little bit.

Most people in Rugby union say hes already signed for saracens for after RLWC. If thats true its pointless paying him a fortune he might as well leave now, hes making a mockery of RL

There's a topic on the VT about salary cap, the idea i'm for is that you can spend what you want over the cap but for every £ over you have to put the same £ in a kitty that is split between all the clubs that can't spend at cap limit, at present they are a few clubs able to spend at the limit, Wigan, Hudds, Wire, Saints, Hull FC, Broncos, Leeds and Widnes, that's over half the league and if those clubs spent 100k over each that's 800k to help the 6 other clubs.