If he can refind his form after a big surgery!

Is it just me that wants Bailey to stay ?

I think that he offers little in attack but is fantastic in defence and brings a hell of a lot of experience to the team, which IMO we lack vastly.

Lynch is a sensible target as he is one of the few English players who is out of contract and signficantly better than what we have. Gleeson is the only other quality Brit that I am aware is off contract.

But hes not worth a quota position really. If what we want is solid defence and experience why not sign someone like that in a position we actually need?

Baileys grown on me this year, hes a great club man and seems to be loving it here but it feels abit Micky Higham-esque (no disrespect to Bailey cause hes not half as bad as higham was for us) I just feel if he went players like Mossop and Farrell would get their chance and we could use the money Bailey is on to sign a Prop who has massive go forward, experience and solid defence.

We should certainly lose a few Ks on upgrades, because this crop of youngsters is the best we've had in a while, and any who aren't on pretty decent contracts now need to be put on them pronto.

I mentioned two props coming in as it was well rumoured that we'd signed Richard Moore prior to his illness. If that was true then we'd have had four props, Fielden, Feka, Coley & Moore. Plus O'Carroll & Prescott.
There's no sign of Moore and Coley may well go at the end of the season.
If it was IL & BN's plan to bring a fourth prop in, they've identified a need for one and would continue that search for next season if not this.
BN always had four props at Bradford plus back up, wouldn't surprise me if that's what he's after here.

I wouldn't keep him tbh but will be suprised if Noble doesn't offer him a new deal.

I hear people say he's good in defence yet his stats don't say he works as hard as O'Loughlin/Hansen/Fielden etc. I'm not saying he's not a good defender because he is but we already have plenty of forwards who get through the tackles.

He is an experienced head and we do have too few but as a player i just don't think he's quite worth a new deal.

good post.
Would you keep him if he was english?

I do see Bailey going at the end of the year, but like you he has grown on me this year.

Agreed with you I see Bailey going at the end of this year & it will free up a considerable amount on the cap

I wasn't jokin mate he really is, also he is made of clay and straw and was brought to life by a voodoo priest.

If Bailey is offered a new deal I'm sure it will be considerably less than he's on now. If that is the case then him staying might be to the benefit of him and the club.
We do need experinced men out there and if he goes he will be replaced by a 20 or 21 year old. Great in ability but short in experience.
A two year deal for 2010/1 will mean he's 31 at the end of that contract.

We should not be offering Phil Bailey a contract. He is not the quality you should expect from an overseas player looking to improve the squad and offer something that no British alternative or someone from your academy can offer on a reasonable contract. He offers next to nothing in attack. Is only solid in defense if you run straight at him (which is why he is better suited to the back row) because if you run on the angle or with any pace he is easily exposed, as was evident against Leeds. We have Gareth Hock, Joel Tomkins, Sean O'loughlin , Harrison Hansen already in the first team with Lee Mossop and Liam Farrell looking to make the step up. We don't need to waste a quota spot on someone who can play in the second row. He has not lived up to the reputation he came over with as an Australian international and I would sum up his Wigan career as average.

BUT his experience needs replacing. Regardless of his ability he does have plenty of experience and can help support the young lads coming through at the moment and take some responsbility away from Lockers. I don't think we should keep him but this should be replaced by someone else in another position. Prop forward seems the most likely alternative with either Andy Lynch or Luke Bailey both capable of offering this to us. Or even in another area - fullback, centre or scrum half who knows but I would agree with posters that his experience should be valued and replaced. But I disagree when people say we should keep him.

1) Would they want to go to Wigan ?
2) Would the buying of any of those players keep you within the salary cap ?

None of that matters as half of the players quoted are already tied down to contracts.

The question "would they come to Wigan" answers itself.
Only a couple of weeks ago the RL world was banging on about 9 overseas players. Surely that proves players will come to Wigan.
Would we stay under the SC. Answer if we are going to go over the RFL wouldn't allow us to sign and register a player.
Also Ian Lenagan has said he is not prepared by break the salary cap.
In Lenagan's first year in charge Wigan did not break the cap as the RFL confirmed when stating that no club was in breach.

Which ones ? Any proof ?

Mark O'Meley and Jamie Lyon.

[urlhttp://www.geocities.com/darrylbradford/index.htm[/url

Useful little site that and most of the time is very accurate.

Although i rate Lynch, he is not the enforcer we need, an enforcing quality Prop has to be a priority for me.

Aslong as the money is right most overseas players would go to any superleague club so the 'FACT' that we're the biggest wouldn't do our cause any harm.

As for the salary cap we've got Mathers, Phelps, Smith, Coley, Bailey and Leuluai all off contract at the end of the season so money shouldn't be a massive issue.

Could you elaborate a bit more on this?

A few statistics from Andy Lynch:

4th in terms of number of meters made in 2008. He also had played less games than the three above him. Made approx 700 meters more than our top meter gainer in 2008 Feka who had played the same number of matches as Lynch.

His statistics show him to be a real work horse. He makes plenty of tackles & marker tackles. He also gets through a lot of work in attack taking the ball up far more than any of our other props (the only two players to make the top 20 were Barrett and Richards) and makes plenty of meters forward.

In 2007 again in terms of number of meters made he was 10th with only Jamie Peacock, John Skandalis and Michael Korkidas being the only props to make more meters than him. The closest Wigan prop to him was Stuart Fielden who had made 400 meters less than him and Fielden had played two games more than him.

In 2006 in terms of meters made he was 3rd with only Danny Nutley being the other prop forward to make more meters than him.

I think you can see the pattern emerging here. I know statistics cannot tell you everything but they suggest he is a real grafter, a workhorse. He gets through a lot of work in attack, taking the ball up and making many meters forward to lay down a platform for the halfbacks to work on. He gets through a lot of work in defense too as he makes many tackles and marker tackles.

IMO he is the type of player we should be looking for.

Agreed, Lynch would be ideal imo. The only bad point is his injury record imo.

Shamelessly stolen off the wire forum Quote ="sally cinnamon"found this on a Newcastle Knights forum: www.marathonstadium.com/forum/sh ... php?t=6075 looks like its a thread which has been going for a couple of years where they update the list of signings and players off contract... the list they have at the moment is: Broncos: Karmichael Hunt, Darren Lockyer, Dave Taylor. Raiders: Phil Graham, Tom Learoyd Lahrs, Scott Logan, Nigel Plum. Bulldogs: Brent Crisp, Hazem El Masri, Daniel Holdsworth, Charlie Leano, Darryl Millard, Ben Roberts, Michael Sullivan,Matt Utai, Gary Warburton, Danny Williams. Sharks: Mitch Brown, Luke Covell, Blake Green, Brett Kearney, Bryan Norrie, Ben Ross, Kade Snowden, Reece Williams. Titans: Brenton Bowen, Preston Campbell, Daniel Conn, Brett Delaney, Ian Donnelly, Nathan Friend, Ben Jeffrey, Matt White. Sea Eagles: Glenn Hall, Heath L'Estrange, Matt Orford, Michael Robertson. Storm: Sinbad Kali, Clifford Manua, Dane Neilsen, Steve Turner. Warriors: Patrick Ah Van, Nathan Fien, Ian Henderson, Lance Hohaia, Aiden Kirk, Steve Price, Jerome Ropati, Jerome Solomona, Evarn Tuimavave, Michael Witt. Knights: Cameron Ciraldo, Richard Fa'aoso, Marvin Karawana, Keith Lulia, Luke MacDougall, Tim Natusch, Dan Tolar, Matt Hilder, Aku Uate. Cowboys: Matt Scott, Shane Tronc, Anthony Watts. Eels: Josh Cordoba, Joe Galuvao, Matt Keating, Todd Lowrie, Fui Fui Moi Moi, Joel Reddy, Junior Paulo, Taulima Tautai. Panthers: Paul Aiton, Matt Bell, Petero Civoniceva, Geoff Daniela, Junior Moors, Keith Peters. Rabbitohs: Beau Falloon, Michael Greenfield, Scott Geddes, Jaiman Lowe, David Kidwell, Luke Stuart. Dragons: Ben Creagh, Dan Hunt, Justin Poore, Beau Scott, Dean Young, Dean Whare. Roosters: Mitch Aubusson, Craig Fitzgibbon, Anthony Minichiello, Nate Myles, Shane Shackleton, Iosia Soliola. Tigers: Dean Collis, Dene Halatau, Danny Galea, John Morris, Corey Payne, Todd Payten.'"

Shamelessly stolen off the wire forum Quote ="sally cinnamon"found this on a Newcastle Knights forum: www.marathonstadium.com/forum/sh ... php?t=6075 looks like its a thread which has been going for a couple of years where they update the list of signings and players off contract... the list they have at the moment is: Broncos: Karmichael Hunt, Darren Lockyer, Dave Taylor. Raiders: Phil Graham, Tom Learoyd Lahrs, Scott Logan, Nigel Plum. Bulldogs: Brent Crisp, Hazem El Masri, Daniel Holdsworth, Charlie Leano, Darryl Millard, Ben Roberts, Michael Sullivan,Matt Utai, Gary Warburton, Danny Williams. Sharks: Mitch Brown, Luke Covell, Blake Green, Brett Kearney, Bryan Norrie, Ben Ross, Kade Snowden, Reece Williams. Titans: Brenton Bowen, Preston Campbell, Daniel Conn, Brett Delaney, Ian Donnelly, Nathan Friend, Ben Jeffrey, Matt White. Sea Eagles: Glenn Hall, Heath L'Estrange, Matt Orford, Michael Robertson. Storm: Sinbad Kali, Clifford Manua, Dane Neilsen, Steve Turner. Warriors: Patrick Ah Van, Nathan Fien, Ian Henderson, Lance Hohaia, Aiden Kirk, Steve Price, Jerome Ropati, Jerome Solomona, Evarn Tuimavave, Michael Witt. Knights: Cameron Ciraldo, Richard Fa'aoso, Marvin Karawana, Keith Lulia, Luke MacDougall, Tim Natusch, Dan Tolar, Matt Hilder, Aku Uate. Cowboys: Matt Scott, Shane Tronc, Anthony Watts. Eels: Josh Cordoba, Joe Galuvao, Matt Keating, Todd Lowrie, Fui Fui Moi Moi, Joel Reddy, Junior Paulo, Taulima Tautai. Panthers: Paul Aiton, Matt Bell, Petero Civoniceva, Geoff Daniela, Junior Moors, Keith Peters. Rabbitohs: Beau Falloon, Michael Greenfield, Scott Geddes, Jaiman Lowe, David Kidwell, Luke Stuart. Dragons: Ben Creagh, Dan Hunt, Justin Poore, Beau Scott, Dean Young, Dean Whare. Roosters: Mitch Aubusson, Craig Fitzgibbon, Anthony Minichiello, Nate Myles, Shane Shackleton, Iosia Soliola. Tigers: Dean Collis, Dene Halatau, Danny Galea, John Morris, Corey Payne, Todd Payten.'"

Fitzgibbon/Petro and Soliola please.

Would have loved us to sign Brett Kearney too but i do not see a place for him in our team without losing one of Richards or Roberts, which is not going to happen.

If Kearney does come to the UK i think he will be a sensation.

Jerome Ropati at 24 has to be one of our top targets imo. Already a very good player who should go well in SL.

I'd still take Lynch over all the other available props still. His work rate mixed with good hard yards is exactly what we need. Fielden works hard but doesn't cover the yards Lynch does and it's defo something we are missing. I honestly can’t see the point in signing Petro at the age he’s at. Can’t see him getting more than a two year deal meaning we would lose Fielden next year and then Petro the year after that. Not a good situation at all at least Lynch could give us three/four years of service.