It sounds to me like the deal to bring Williams back to Wigan was done some time ago but is only just coming to light now that the Raiders have outed him.
I reckon the agreement was in place during the off season when Bateman was heading back to Wigan and Wigan have since been clearing the decks to create space for Williams. That has meant they had to let Hastings go and couldn't afford to keep Gildart.
They both may have gone anyway but wigan stood a better chance of keeping them if they didn't have to clear cap space for williams.
Last weeks performance looked like there was trouble at the mill and all ties into the timining of all of the Williams rumours.
Wigan will come through this smelling of roses though, they always do. I remember the Tomkins incident and the Bateman / Mossop incident thinking that their season would fall apart but at Wigan these sort of things just make them stronger in the long run.