Hahaha fantastic!!

Whether you agree with the signing or not, whether you agree with the Wigan response or not, this is just first class marketing from our Management.

At best we will gain national and international exposure, gain countless new support.

At worst we have greater exposure in a match that let's be honest was probably a 'nothing game' with a very low crowd and little atmosphere.

Genius.

Quality from Wigan with the pride round.

Brilliant response from Wigan!

Great response from Wigan I do hope it's televised expect a full stadium on that game

The club have nailed this, superb response.

Gareth Thomas leading the teams out would be the order of the day.

Fantastic by Wigan, well done.

I wonder if he will be injured when he is due to play us by any chance but a brilliant move by Wigan having it as the pride game hopefully it brings new people to the game from the LGBTQ+ world

IL interviewed on 5-Live just now. Brilliant publicity for the Pride day - although a little concerned that they apparently "considered" signing him. They'd've had my ST back had that happened.

I think every club would’ve had to give it at least a seconds thought. He is a world class talent available for probably a fraction of what would’ve been his market value before these embarrassing comments. Luckily most clubs have more sense (and don’t have a never ending salary cap) and would’ve left him to rot.

They say all publicity is good publicity but I’m not sure here. The sport has been commended for the way in which Gareth Thomas was embraced (a couple of Cas fans aside) and the acceptance and support Keegan Hurst was shown and this runs a risk of all that being forgotten and us being stereotyped as a bunch of thick Northerners (even if it is a French club he’s signed for) who won’t accept ‘that sort of thing’ when nothing could be further from the truth.

I think every super league club should follow Wigan’s lead and make their home game against Catalans a pride event, it would show unison.

Good idea. I do find it funny though that Wigan made that stand whilst IL basically said they looked at signing him but didn't have the cap space!

Will be very interesting to see if IF turns out for a match badged as a celebration of the community he denigrates. Worth everyone doing so just so they don't have to face what is a very good player!

Probably and I agree. It’s a fantastic signing and for me it puts Catalans right up there challenging.

I don’t agree at all with his comments, they were abhorrent. I understand he is a devout Christian though and he is entitled to his beliefs. As long as he keeps his trap shut he will be an astounding player for Catalans.

Fantastic to see him in Super League. I assume that he will be allowed to refuse to carry any external symbols that he would rather not wear as per Williams.

Some cracking ideas for this fixture going round already. Some I can't put on here, but I do hope YMCA gets an airing when we score

Good to welcome more people to game/the club. Attendances across the sport have been down so let’s tap into this demographic!

It’s embarrassing and a shameful attempt at financial gain. To try and make out your opposed to the whole thing, by having the game as a Pride day, to then announcing your interest in signing him and that not having enough cap space stopped him signing doesn’t make much sense to me. Very inconsistent.

Thanks for your comment, much appreciated.

It does all feel a little conflicting since IL went on 5Live this evening.
As a Wigan fan I was pleased and almost proud at 2pm ish. By teatime I’m left with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.

All a bit odd, by IL.

This publicity stunt stinks of hypocrisy when we have a player who’s served a ban for homophobic abuse.

With all the off field issues we’ve had over the past few years we should concentrate on getting our own house in order before trying to take the moral high ground...

Obviously nobody condones the comments falau made, but on a rugby note what a player to be able to watch in super league! Unbelievable talent!

Agreed, I imagine that we’d already planned the LGBT game before Falou, but to announce it just after the signing was confirmed and then go onto say we was considering signing him seems strange

A heat of the moment comment is pathetic but I’m not sure preaching homophobic abuse to the masses and millions of twitter followers falls in to the same category. Players get things wrong sometimes, that’s at Wigan and across the game but in the majority of cases they’re mistakes. Sometimes they’re made once, twice or numerous times but Folau has made it clear that these are his beliefs. He’s not admitting being in the wrong, he doesn’t see it as a mistake, he believes it and will continue to do so. Maybe that’s his right but it was also Catalans right to not bother signing him.

It’s obvious the pride day idea from Wigan is a publicity stunt but why not, it’s not harming anyone. Hypocritical? Maybe but it sounded very much like Lenagan had done what he’d be expected to do as an owner and consider signing a world class talent. They didn’t have to get as far as taking about the rights and wrongs of it because they didn’t have the money to do it anyway. I doubt they’d have touched him even if they had but who knows.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/51288247 Quote Wigan considered signing Israel Folau but they did not approach the sacked Australia rugby union international, says chairman Ian Lenagan. The 30-year-old switched back to rugby league with a move to Super League club Catalans Dragons earlier on Tuesday. Folau was sacked for writing homophobic posts on social media before reaching a settlement with Australia Rugby. "It did cross our mind, and we have made no approach to Israel Folau," Lenagan told BBC Radio 5 Live. "We have by now filled our salary cap anyway with very good names, that's the reality." Folau has signed a one-year deal with the French club, however the Rugby Football League and Super League said they "deplored" Folau's previous comments and said it was "a difficult decision" to allow him into the competition. Shortly after the deal was released to the public, Wigan announced that their match against Catalans at the DW Stadium on 22 March will be "Pride Day". The club said they are inviting LGBTQ+ groups to help promote equality in the game. "[Pride Day Is a purposeful choice we made today when we heard what had happened," Lenagan went on to tell BBC Sport. "We felt it was quite important to be proactive, to actually do something even more positively to say to the LGBTQ+ community that we support their environment. "Rather than being critical of a perceived problem, we thought it was much more important to say 'that is not rugby league, it is a diverse and inclusive sport'." Folau was sacked for saying "hell awaits" gay people, despite previously being warned over his social media posts. Asked what Catalans executives thought when informed March's fixture would be a Pride Day fixture, Lenagan said: "At first, because they'd seen it in the press, obviously they thought it might be an antagonistic move. "By the time I had finished talking to them, they knew it was a positive sign of the respect that rugby league shows to all of the people involved in our game. "I am hoping and believing, because I know Bernard Guasch rather well, that they will take the positive approach and the right view of respect as an agenda through this particular day."'" I just don't understand the thought process behind this from IL. If we didn't make a move as stated then why admit to 'considering it'. Then why after making that statement take the moral high ground? Just a weird thing to come out and say.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/51288247 Quote Wigan considered signing Israel Folau but they did not approach the sacked Australia rugby union international, says chairman Ian Lenagan. The 30-year-old switched back to rugby league with a move to Super League club Catalans Dragons earlier on Tuesday. Folau was sacked for writing homophobic posts on social media before reaching a settlement with Australia Rugby. "It did cross our mind, and we have made no approach to Israel Folau," Lenagan told BBC Radio 5 Live. "We have by now filled our salary cap anyway with very good names, that's the reality." Folau has signed a one-year deal with the French club, however the Rugby Football League and Super League said they "deplored" Folau's previous comments and said it was "a difficult decision" to allow him into the competition. Shortly after the deal was released to the public, Wigan announced that their match against Catalans at the DW Stadium on 22 March will be "Pride Day". The club said they are inviting LGBTQ+ groups to help promote equality in the game. "[Pride Day Is a purposeful choice we made today when we heard what had happened," Lenagan went on to tell BBC Sport. "We felt it was quite important to be proactive, to actually do something even more positively to say to the LGBTQ+ community that we support their environment. "Rather than being critical of a perceived problem, we thought it was much more important to say 'that is not rugby league, it is a diverse and inclusive sport'." Folau was sacked for saying "hell awaits" gay people, despite previously being warned over his social media posts. Asked what Catalans executives thought when informed March's fixture would be a Pride Day fixture, Lenagan said: "At first, because they'd seen it in the press, obviously they thought it might be an antagonistic move. "By the time I had finished talking to them, they knew it was a positive sign of the respect that rugby league shows to all of the people involved in our game. "I am hoping and believing, because I know Bernard Guasch rather well, that they will take the positive approach and the right view of respect as an agenda through this particular day."'" I just don't understand the thought process behind this from IL. If we didn't make a move as stated then why admit to 'considering it'. Then why after making that statement take the moral high ground? Just a weird thing to come out and say.

The Guy has his own Christian beliefs
dont see much difference in his beliefs and having gay pride thrown in our faces