Wigan players and the NRL
Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2018 12:15 pm
Our club seems to have a particular problem with homegrown players trying to leave fairly early in their careers to play in the NRL or RU. Phil Wilkinson made the point in his column that there seems to be a split between players who came through our academy (Burgess, Charnley, both Tomkins, Sutton and now Williams) who leave early, which contrasts with others who came from 'smaller' clubs (Flower, Clubb, Isa, Tautai) who seem happy to stay.
I realise they're all professionals who can make a lot more money playing in Australia and have short careers. There's also the issue of quality and whether they're actually good enough to warrant interest from elsewhere regardless of where they came from. But to date, Leeds and St Helens have not suffered from the same problem with respect to their homegrown players.
I just wonder what it is about our club that makes it such a problem. Do we have an issue with the player culture where the homegrown lads see Wigan RL as a stepping stone to something else? Have we put ourselves in our position where they see our club as a safety net if the move doesn't work out? Or (and I genuinely don't know) do these lads share the same agent and it's down to his network and business practices?
From a fans' perspective, it's disappointing to see players break into the first team, demonstrate their potential and then disappear a few years later. I understand that money talks and largely this is due to the economic reality of the game in Oz vs. the UK. But there are good quality players at other superleague clubs and we seem to be suffering more than most in this respect.
I realise they're all professionals who can make a lot more money playing in Australia and have short careers. There's also the issue of quality and whether they're actually good enough to warrant interest from elsewhere regardless of where they came from. But to date, Leeds and St Helens have not suffered from the same problem with respect to their homegrown players.
I just wonder what it is about our club that makes it such a problem. Do we have an issue with the player culture where the homegrown lads see Wigan RL as a stepping stone to something else? Have we put ourselves in our position where they see our club as a safety net if the move doesn't work out? Or (and I genuinely don't know) do these lads share the same agent and it's down to his network and business practices?
From a fans' perspective, it's disappointing to see players break into the first team, demonstrate their potential and then disappear a few years later. I understand that money talks and largely this is due to the economic reality of the game in Oz vs. the UK. But there are good quality players at other superleague clubs and we seem to be suffering more than most in this respect.