I would agree with all that.

That team is nothing like good enough. Nowhere near.

I think the uncertainty brought about by Madge leaving has caused everything in terms of player recruitment ten times worse, we know Pat has spoken to IL about staying, I'm sure that negotiations with those the club want to stay are underway, as seen with Sam/Joel/Faz etc.

Obviously Hoffman is a favourite to leave, Lima I dont see it, Finch possibly if the fans dont get off his back. I can certainly see Roberts leaving, but dont see Madge taking him with him. I would be massively disappointed though if Madge was trying to tempt several of our squad with him during the season.

Whilst I'm sorry to see that Madge will be leaving at the end of the season I certainly don't blame him for taking up an opportunity to coach a team such as the Rabbitohs.

The only thing which would sour it for me, is like you say, if Madge negotiated to take some of our players with him.

Tho top players id look at recruiting for next year are

1) tom briscoe we meesed up we should have offered gleeson and cash but like lms of saints he want to win trophys so might be interested in a move replace gleeson.

2) paul johnson of wakefield a good solid young prop replace coley

3)a full back id gor for shaun briscoe hull kr ooc at the end of year a good solid player

4) the only overseas player id go for is widdop been outstanding for the storm or stefan ratchford of salford repalce deacon

All english players three young and experienced players and i think we have a realistic chance of getting them all.

Paul Johnson isn't good enough. Decent player in a poor side imo.

Shaun Briscoe - also isn't good enough. Defensively sound but lacks the attacking qualities we need from a FB.

Briscoe - absolutely. Widdop we have no chance, storm are gonna build the next gen of players around him by the sounds of things.

One lad I would go for though is Tom Burgess, that lad looks a beast and is still in his teens.

Agreed. If we were to lose all those players we would simply need to sign overseas/others in SL. Our reserves are good but not ready for that yet!! Hopefully Lenegan will move heaven and earth to keep Richards, and we could do with Finch and Leuluai honouring their contracts. Then we are only a Halfback/Hooker (depending on where tommy plays) and a centre short of a great team still:

1. Sam T
2. Charnley
3. Joel T
4.
5. Richards
6. Finch
7.
8. Fielden
9. Tommy
10. Prescott
11. Hansen
12. Farrell
13. O'Loughlin

14. Lima
15. McIlorum
16. Hock
17. Mossop

18. Goulding
19. Tuson
20. Marsh
21. Davies
22. O'Carroll (cant see him getting a gig anywhere else and we could get him really cheap hopefully with his injurys behind him)
23. Mellor
24. Logan T
25. Crosby
26. Powell
27. Hughes

etc.

And to think several Wigan geniuses questioned my preference to backing and investing more in Wigan trained players!
This says it all!

Err...so Wigan trained players never retire or move to another club?

Carmont, Deacon and Coley retiring means we should invest more in Wigan trained players? A rumour about Richards possibly maybe perhaps being offered a ridiculous salary by Union, Hoffman being off contract if he doesn't agree to the second year and Roberts being a shadow of the player he was last year mean that we should invest more in Wigan trained players?



I'm all for having as many Wigan trained players in the squad, [size=150if[/size they are good enough to be in the squad. Like it or not we need players from elsewhere to challenge for honours. Would you have chosen a Wigan lad over Richards and Carmont when they signed, now that they may be leaving?

Lots of rumours here, and I hope some of them are less well sourced than others!

I think we need to confirm our coach as soon as possible so that they can start preparing for next season regarding retaining and recruiting players. Whether it be Wane or someone for outside, they're going to have no chance if they don't know their getting the post till late summer and half the squad have signed up elsewhere by then!

Of the various rumours circulating here, I'd be most concerned about Richards and Leuluai. It was obvious early season how much me missed Richards, he provides so much to the team and would be very hard to replace. Leuluai has developed into a superb player for Wigan and it's probably more disruptive to the team changing a half back than any other position so I'd be gutted to lose him. That said, both have been very good servatns for the club and if they are tempted by the allure of the NRL (in Tommy's case) or a potentially huge wage increase for Pat then I wouldn't hold anything against either of them.

We all knew when we signed him Hoffman was too good for SL and he is proving that. It'd be a miracle if we managed to keep him any longer than a year but as people keep saying, we are blessed in the back row department and although he'll be a big loss in terms of quality, professionalism and experience we'd arguably be better off using his quota spot to improve other areas of the team.

I'm not convinced as to the credibility Finch wants off at the end of the year. He's taking a little while to settle in so rumours of home sickness are inevitable but I'm not too concerned about that yet.

I'd look at trying to give Coley, Carmont and Deacon new deals but if, as seems likely, all three do retire at the end of the year then I think we're going to have to sign a hooker, full back or stand off (depending where Sam plays) and probably a couple of utility players, one covering prop and second row (depending on which positions the coaching staff see Hock and Mossop playing long term) and another being able to fill in at half back or out wide (and I agree Ratchford would be good for this purpose).

A reply earlier said we should get Prescott re-signed. He has, it is a 3 year deal done last Sept.
As for Hoffman. I'm hoping he'll see out his two years here and then return to Melbourne. They may not be able to take him 2012 but will the following year when their new TV deal comes into effect.

Our pack will be ok I feel, it's the halves and backs that could be a worry. Gleeson going is a blow, to lose Carmont and Richards for next year would be dreadful. Deacon retiring doesn'thelp either.

I'm sure IL will be working flat out to sort of the Madge replacement and then fill likely vacancies asap.
Wigan RL as a club are better run now than I can ever remember.
They are getting it right on and off the field, I do trust them to continue as they are doing!

www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 6043832308 Looks like the aussie media are spinning the finch to souths story. No smoke without fire

www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 6043832308 Looks like the aussie media are spinning the finch to souths story. No smoke without fire

The english super league contracts ain't worth the paper they written on ey?

God I hate the big headed, ego mad, arrogant convicts!

Bar Lima and Leuluai, all our overseas players may be gone next year.

Richards may go, Hoffman may also. The article re Finch confirmed what I had heard previously - he wants to go home and his heart wasn't in it in the first place. Doesn't mean he'll leave but not a good sign. Carmont will retire whilst you can't see Amos Roberts staying in the reserves for another season. Doesn't benefit him or the club to have an overseas player and decent wage earner playing in the 20's.

Whether or not they all end up leaving, it will definitely be all or some of the players mentioned. In all likelihood we'll need to recruit significantly in the backs, be it from the UK or overseas. Whilst we could probably cope in the forwards, we may need to look at bringing someone in there as well considering Coley's retirement also.

If finch goes I personally would be fuming at the Aussie players who come over and don't see out a contract I'd let them rot in the reserves so we don't get shafted like we have done in the past e.g Trent barrett,mat orford, seemingly willie Mason makes a joke of our game there must be a legal standing somewhere it's ok people being soft and saying if they don't want to be here let them go but in all honesty they should have thought about that before signing

well put!

Look at the facts. They are more likely to play for the club and stay around for a lengthy period of time which is beneficial to the club.

At this point I can't figure out if you're just being thick or arugmentative?

What's with the sudden snotty tone?

It has crept into everyone of your recent posts.

Just not being a mug.
In fairness there are a lot of fans on here who truly wanna discuss and have a good chat about the state of play at Wigan, however there are a few who only seem to want to argue and belittle without genuine discussion. No doubt someone will have an issue with me over this post.

Shane tronc, Dallas Johnson, Greg Eastwood, George gatis? It's the trend. NRL far superior comp, strong Aussie dollar, UK tax law changes, Englands crap life style and doom and gloom credit crunch.

it's gonna happen more and more plus our best talent going over there.

Shaun Wane-do you think he'll use Wigan as a stepping stone to audition himself for an Aussie club? Or do you think he'd stay?

Who do you think is more likely to play for the shirt Josh Charnley or Amos Roberts and give it their all?

Who do you think is more likely to be here next year Joel Tomkins or Brett Finch?

Sam Tomkins is one of the best young talents in the game today, why do you think he plays at Wigan? Do you think we could sign the likes of Todd Carney or Jamel Idris? No. Why not?

Bang on! Someon in here actually sees sense!
Add Matty Orford to that list as well.

No they're not. Would you like to provide some statistics to back up your assertion?
We've probably produced about 100 players in the past 5 years, of which we've kept about 20. I'd say that 1 in 5 ratio is about the same, if not worse, than the figures for imports.

what facts?..thats an opinion not fact.