so y are we signing them?
why do we always have to go for second best, if they r not the best then dont sign them.
thats another reason why i think hes not good enough for wigan,
anyone who accepts second best is a fool

actually henry paul was signed from Waitakere City Raiders via aukland warriors in a deal that saw platt (i think) go the other way.

and whats ur point about dallas. he did his job fantastically finch should be doing the same, just because he plays a different position to my example (this position is one hes been playing all his life) its a work rate issue, and if he is good enough then he should be showing it

I hope someones bookmarking these comments because I think truewiganer is going to look very silly over the next couple of months. Finch has just come back from a potential career threatening injury and didnt get a full pre season in. Its taking him a few games to get used to the runs our forwards are going to make, and to learn who is being used as a dummy runner etc but he is getting better with each game. Fair enough he was awful against Wire but he seems to be getting used to our style of play now. He had the definition of a stand-and-pass game against Barrow but he didnt need to do anymore. Hes now played 8 games for Wigan and this in definitely not the time to start saying that a SoO player so highly regarded in Oz and spoken highly about by Madge and Hoffman amongst others is not good enough for us.

Henry Paul was playing for Wakefield when we signed him.

You need a reality check pal. Wigan or any sl club couldn't afford the best. They get paid too much in the nrl! Taking a pay cut to play in a second rate comp and give up rep footy isn't on the nrls top players list of things to do.

Wake up!

i was fairly certain he had gone bk home for a few months playing,
i could be completely wrong, but i was sure of it,
thats was the whole reason platt was allowed to sign for Auckland.

honestly i hope he does make me look stupid, but untill then i have massive reservations,
im sick of people defending him if it was a wigan lad or a british player we would be slating him now,

do you honestly think that the sl is second rate? granted some of the teams are but as a whole we are not!
wake up youself, the nrl is so structured its rubbish!
did you watch the ANZAC test?
if the aussies are second rate by association of coming to super league, why are we bothering looking at them, we have plenty of second rate players in the uk.

What do you mean we would be slating him? People already are slating him and Lima! The problem with a lot of our fans is they expect instant miracles but unfortunatley it doesnt work like that.

I'll admit hes not been as good as I was hoping so far but he is definitely improving, anyone expecting Finch to be the next Barrett was way off I'm afraid. People are saying your being a bit harsh judging him after only 8 games, especially with what we have seen from some of our other imports having dodgy first seasons or taking a while to get with the pace. I think he may also have underestimated the speed of SL and in hindsight the game against Wire probably wasnt the best one to throw him straight in to after his injury.

Next to the nrl yes it is. It's like comparing the epl to the bundesliga


Same point again! Nrl is a far superior comp by far.



I am well awake to the game, you demonstrate to all you are not.

it's not rubbish it's awesome, with the worlds best players playing at a level of intensity week in week out several levels above sl?


Yes I did. So now your saying the Aussies and kiwis are rubbish! Nice thinking. What about origin! is that rubbish too? Best 3 games of rugby a year every year!



The Aussies coming here are never the best, maybe Lyon? Or others on the run. But now more than ever with the strength of the nrl, rep footie and the strength of the Aussie dollar the best arnt coming. Good players are coming but arnt staying long. You are right about one thing? yes we do have plenty of second rate uk players! But we have some crackers too.

completly disagree with most of the comments , except for the origin one

I agree with everything Sgtwilko said (which is probably a first.)

I agree that Sam's form at fullback is fantastic. He is equally adapted as a fullback or as a halfback. An absolute freak with his balance, footwork, agility, elusive running, pace and acceleration - he's a very talented player.

However who are our good option at halfback next year?

Brett Finch will be here and I agree with the majority of posters on this forum he will be very good for us for the next couple of years.

Thomas Leuluai is the other first choice halfback, but I would much rather him play in his international position at hooker alongside Mike McIlorum. I rate Leuluai, but he makes a far more impressive hooker than he does a halfback IMO. I wouldn't back Mike McIlorum to play every week for 80 minutes. I'd want to spell him with someone who can cause the opposition problems and that falls down to Tommy. So Tommy and McIlorum at 9 for next year.

That leaves two very inexperienced halfbacks in Joe Mellor and Sam Powell as backup. I think both lads are a couple of years away yet. The potential is there for one of the them to step up after Brett Finch has left in a couple of years time. However for now I think we'll see them both go on duel-registration for a full season and make the odd appearance off the bench in the first team.

This in theory leaves us short at halfback should we adopt this approach for next season. So I would then promote Sam back in at halfback alongside Finch. There's not a lot of quality at hooker available from the NRL or Super League (to keep Tommy at halfback) and neither is there any top quality available at halfback in the Super League or the NRL (to keep Sam at fullback). However, there is one top class fullback available who can also play at halfback - Matty Bowen. The bloke has openly expressed his interest in moving to Super League (similar to Brett Finch) & so he is a very realistic target.

[urlhttp://stevemascord.com/2011/04/19/bowen-set-for-super-league/[/url


For me an attacking spine of:

1. Matty Bowen
6. Sam Tomkins
7. Brett Finch
9. Thomas Leuluai

is of absolute top quality and dare I say it - world-class. I'm a huge fan of Sam Tomkins at fullback, but I wouldn't mind seeing him revert back to halfback to accommodate Leuluai moving to hooker and Bowen coming in at fullback. I think our team looks a lot stronger lining up like this.

A very fair assessment of Matty Bowen on totalrl.com:



If we could get him here for 2-3 years with the intention of introducing and having Joe Mellor, Sam Powell, Logan Tomkins and Matty Russell ready to slot into the first team by the time Finch and Bowen leave we'd be in an excellent position.

I'd imagine its wherever the next coach (Wane?) sees Sam's preferred position, along with Tommy's, plus whoever is available at a suitable quality and price. Either way it's going to mean we need either a FB, HB or hooker for the 2012 season to replace Paul Deacon.

Next season, either

1. Sam
6. Finch
7. Tommy
9. McIlorum/new hooker
Bench. MMc/new hooker

or

1. New FB
6. Sam
7. Finch
9. Tommy
Bench. McIlorum

or

1. Sam
6. Finch
7. New HB
9. Tommy
Bench. McIlorum

Correct. The bit in bold being the decisive factor IMO.

From Super League at fullback there is:

Cameron Phelps
Chris Melling
Scott Grix
Brett Kearney (has played there)
Brent Webb
Matt Blaymire
Shaun Briscoe
Clint Greenshields

At hooker there is:

Jon Clarke
Andy Ellis
Chad Randall
Heath L'estrange
Danny Buderus
Julian Rinaldi
Ben Fisher

At halfback there is:

Leon Pryce
Stefan Ratchford
Richard Horne
Sean Long
Brett Kearney
Marc Herbert
Danny Orr
Thomas Bosc

---------------------------------------------------

In the NRL it's very difficult to judge who really is available. By this I mean, sure there's top quality OOC, but they're simply not realistic signings. The only one that I am aware of who has made their desire or availability to coming over to Super League known is Matty Bowen. He's my pick. The only stumbling factor there for me would be his potentially high wage demands.

Scott Grix (If he carries on his form so far, he'd be one of my main targets)
Clint Greenshields

Danny Buderus


They are the only ones from those above I'd consider. Webb maybe but I'm not sure he'd be worth a quota.

I'd settle for Greenshields and allow Sam to play back in the halfs. His injury record is a worry but he's a class act and would go well in our side.

Kearney is also a very good player and again would look classy on our side as a fullback. Too much has been asked of him at Bradford with him trying to carry them from 6 alot of the time.

Theres not much that stands out in the way of halfback or hookers as a first choice but as I've stated before I'd take Ratchford as a utility.

The only ones from that list I would like to see at Wigan would be Bosc, Ratchford, Buderus and maybe Greenshields, though I'd rather see Sam stay at 1 and bring in a hooker or a half.

It's tough to see where we could get a quality half or hooker from though. I'd rather us sign a quality fullback when proven quality seems available then take a chance on a halfback.

If Mr Lenagan was willing to pay a fee I'd hope we'd be in for Dobson or Chase but I can't see it.

Id take Greenshields or Randall from the above, depending which way Wane wants to line up. Despite what some people think, WE NEED to bring in some players from outside the club, we wont be successful by promoting an entire team of kids, some will simpily not be good enough.

Once Wane/Whoever is announced, Im sure we will announce signings, the position they are signed for should tell us where Sam or Tommy will be playing next season.

We 'must' sign players for sure. The indications are we'll be losing Carmont, Deacon, coley and Hoffman and Gleeson has already gone so to not sign anybody would be suicide.

Danny Buderus would be 34 at the start of the season if he signed for us next year. No thanks.

Clint Greenshields is a little suspect in defence for me and has been plagued by injuries these last couple of years. We'd have to see how he recovers from these injuries to see if he gets anywhere near back to his best.

Matty Bowen is the name from Australia that I would move hell and earth to bring over. He wants to come to Super League and has made himself available. His support play and his finishing is simply world-class. His pace, acceleration, footwork, agility, elusive running is simply outstanding. He can kick too - both in general play and goals. I'm sure he can play at halfback if required. He would give us the blend of speed across the park that I'd like to see us have. A backline with Matt Bowen, Josh Charnley, Joel Tomkins and Pat Richards. Sam Tomkins providing us pace in the halves with Brett Finch. Thomas Leuluai providing pace around the ruck with Mike McIlorum. We'd been a much quicker team with him in that's for sure. Fast backs with strong, powerful and skillful forwards.

The only area I have no answer for is at centre. Joel Tomkins at centre next season - fine. As for who else we can sign I've not a clue.

I think we'll sign one or two new signings only. So any fans hoping to see five in, to replace the five leaving are going to be sorely disappointed.

We paid a fee for our last one to get quality in that position, if the club don't think that Marsh/Goulding can step up, then there's no reason to believe they wouldn't fork out again.

The problem there is that there's very few in the league I'd want, Joe Arundel has looked good though.