Re: Willie Isa 1 year deal : Thu Sep 14, 2023 7:29 pm  

FearTheVee wrote:

I will never understand why Wigan fans want to sign Owen Farrell, same as I could never fathom the desperation to have Shaun Edwards coaching you.

It's all very Warrington.

But you're happy with Wellens?

Edwards is a top coach. The vast majority, if not all RU guys, who's been coached by him absolutely rave about him.

He'd have been a success. There's no doubt about it imo.

Re: Willie Isa 1 year deal : Thu Sep 14, 2023 7:33 pm  

FearTheVee wrote:

I will never understand why Wigan fans want to sign Owen Farrell, same as I could never fathom the desperation to have Shaun Edwards coaching you.

It's all very Warrington.

Edwards divided opinion, just as Farrell is now, so it’s hardly ‘Wigan fans’ as a whole.

And it really isn’t like Warrington is it? Wigan looking at bringing back people with a connection to the club, who are born winners and have won more trophies than Warrington have seen in their existence. Two guys who demand total professionalism and drive unforgiving standards at the clubs/countries they’re involved with. If that’s ‘Warrington like’ I must’ve just come around from a 20 year coma and missed Wire’s back to back decades of success! You’d think we were talking kids in toy cars, blokes in green spandex or signing troubled players/coaches here.

Re: Willie Isa 1 year deal : Thu Sep 14, 2023 7:37 pm  

sergeant pepper wrote:

But you're happy with Wellens?

Edwards is a top coach. The vast majority, if not all RU guys, who's been coached by him absolutely rave about him.

He'd have been a success. There's no doubt about it imo.

There isn’t a parallel between wellens and Edwards as a coach. One has been an assistant coach in RL for title winninrg teams and an international team.

The other hasn’t coached RL in any capacity that I’m aware of, at least any meaningful capacity, and hasn’t even been involved with the game for how long?

Put another way - if wello’s contract is up this year and I’m offered wellens, Peet or Edwards then Edwards is last on the list by a country mile.which is why I was hoping you signed him!

Re: Willie Isa 1 year deal : Thu Sep 14, 2023 7:46 pm  

FearTheVee wrote:

There isn’t a parallel between wellens and Edwards as a coach. One has been an assistant coach in RL for title winninrg teams and an international team.

The other hasn’t coached RL in any capacity that I’m aware of, at least any meaningful capacity, and hasn’t even been involved with the game for how long?

Put another way - if wello’s contract is up this year and I’m offered wellens, Peet or Edwards then Edwards is last on the list by a country mile.which is why I was hoping you signed him!

That's your opinion, you're entitled to it.

Just sounds like typical RL snobbery to be tho. Edwards is a top coach and has been for almost two decades now.

This will come as a shock to some, but RL isn't some massively complicated game. He can pick whatever he needs to up quick enough. Outside of that and knowing what he's like, he's probably more well versed on the latest developments than some RL head coaches.

What he does have and more than Wellens and Peet combined, is a history of motivating and working with players across a spectrum of abilities. He is, by all accounts, a top man manager.

Re: Willie Isa 1 year deal : Thu Sep 14, 2023 8:00 pm  

sergeant pepper wrote:

But you're happy with Wellens?

Edwards is a top coach. The vast majority, if not all RU guys, who's been coached by him absolutely rave about him.

He'd have been a success. There's no doubt about it imo.

I’m still not completely convinced that Wellens will be a long term success but to be fair he’s already won a WCC beating the most dominant team in the NRL by a distance, and in their own backyard

We’ve had the worst luck with injuries for a good few years and a plethora of bans (yes mostly self inflicted) and yet sit joint top of the league on PD. That’s after a sluggish start to the season with the expected dip after peaking so early for the WCC.

He’s hardly been a flop has he? The CC SF was disappointing of course but even that could’ve gone either way, we were a missed conversion from it going to golden point.

Re: Willie Isa 1 year deal : Thu Sep 14, 2023 8:08 pm  

Stu M wrote:

I’m still not completely convinced that Wellens will be a long term success but to be fair he’s already won a WCC beating the most dominant team in the NRL by a distance, and in their own backyard

We’ve had the worst luck with injuries for a good few years and a plethora of bans (yes mostly self inflicted) and yet sit joint top of the league on PD. That’s after a sluggish start to the season with the expected dip after peaking so early for the WCC.

He’s hardly been a flop has he? The CC SF was disappointing of course but even that could’ve gone either way, we were a missed conversion from it going to golden point.

I think you've understood what I was trying to say. Wellens has had a decent/good start to his 1st season. He's certainly no flop.

Re: Willie Isa 1 year deal : Thu Sep 14, 2023 8:38 pm  

Its come to something that Saints fans are commenting on a coach who doesnt coach us or a player who doesnt play for us,we must be doing something right.

Re: Willie Isa 1 year deal : Thu Sep 14, 2023 9:34 pm  

FearTheVee wrote:

I will never understand why Wigan fans want to sign Owen Farrell, same as I could never fathom the desperation to have Shaun Edwards coaching you.

It's all very Warrington.

You don’t understand it FTV because you are not a Wigan fan and Saints don’t have anyone similar who they could sign and is one of their own.

IF Farrell did convert to RL he would be the biggest name to come to RL in the history of the game exceeding even the signatures of Jim Sullivan and Billy Boston.
A player known nationally to the very majority of sports fans in the UK.
A name that would generate more interest than any other ex RU player or even the current greatest NRL players.
A player that would attract national sponsors.
A player that would fill the ground on his RL debut.
A player that would take the atmosphere of a Wigan v Saints derby to a different stratosphere.
A player that would become part of the Wigan folklore if he was successful. A story that today’s kids will tell their grandkids about if he was successful.
A player that all RL fans outside of Wigan would want him to fail and pay money to see it.
A player that would attract national headlines.
A player that would be coming home.
A player that the NRL press would detest but would love him to actually play in Australia on a Lions tour.
A player that the English RU press detest but can’t stop writing about him even if he played RL.
A player that if he failed would become part of Saints folklore.
A player that might trigger a surge in kids taking up RL all across the country.
A player that would create history if he could follow his dad’s success.
A player if he did succeed might encourage more RU players to convert to RL across all levels of rugby.
A player that could takes us on the trip of a lifetime or to the depths of despair.
A player who could be an actual game changer.
You never know he might actually be a decent RL player too.

Re: Willie Isa 1 year deal : Thu Sep 14, 2023 9:50 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

I'm going to go against the grain and say I'm happy with it. The injuries are a worry for sure but it's the first season he's been impacted by issues and hopefully it's a one off. When he has played, I think he's been very good actually.

I look at the squad and the second row area looks light in experience (if we're saying it's Nsemba and Walters competing with Faz for a spot). What those two younger lads don't lack though is talent, they have it in bucket loads and you don't want to hold them back. If we went out and signed an out and out starting second rower, who plays long minutes like Faz, you are really limiting the minutes Nsemba and Walters (if we play him there) could get in that position. To keep Isa around allows you an experienced head, who can drop in and out as needed and one who is a leader and sets a fantastic example of what being a professional rugby league player is all about.

The side is still a very young one and to keep Cooper and Isa around for the extra year is something I'm supportive of. I was worried we were heading for a scenario of Liam Farrell being pretty much our only experienced player/leader, so it makes total sense that we've avoided that.

Brilliant post especially the last paragraph.

Building a winning team and winning culture isn’t always about picking the 17 best players together.


Also some people should watch Wire away from early this year for an example of what Isa brings to this club.

Re: Willie Isa 1 year deal : Thu Sep 14, 2023 10:42 pm  

Itchy Arsenal wrote:

You don’t understand it FTV because you are not a Wigan fan and Saints don’t have anyone similar who they could sign and is one of their own.

IF Farrell did convert to RL he would be the biggest name to come to RL in the history of the game exceeding even the signatures of Jim Sullivan and Billy Boston.
A player known nationally to the very majority of sports fans in the UK.
A name that would generate more interest than any other ex RU player or even the current greatest NRL players.
A player that would attract national sponsors.
A player that would fill the ground on his RL debut.
A player that would take the atmosphere of a Wigan v Saints derby to a different stratosphere.
A player that would become part of the Wigan folklore if he was successful. A story that today’s kids will tell their grandkids about if he was successful.
A player that all RL fans outside of Wigan would want him to fail and pay money to see it.
A player that would attract national headlines.
A player that would be coming home.
A player that the NRL press would detest but would love him to actually play in Australia on a Lions tour.
A player that the English RU press detest but can’t stop writing about him even if he played RL.
A player that if he failed would become part of Saints folklore.
A player that might trigger a surge in kids taking up RL all across the country.
A player that would create history if he could follow his dad’s success.
A player if he did succeed might encourage more RU players to convert to RL across all levels of rugby.
A player that could takes us on the trip of a lifetime or to the depths of despair.
A player who could be an actual game changer.
You never know he might actually be a decent RL player too.

Hopefully it happens so we can all see just how much nonsense there is in this post

As for taking saints Wigan atmosphere to a different stratosphere, I think you are seriously overstating how much saints fans would care about this. Most saints fans would be delighted if Wigan were to pursue this particular distraction, I know I would be.