Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Feb 24, 2015 8:29 pm  

Cruncher wrote:

He's NRL-bound? He must have a very persuasive agent, as they can hardly have been wowed by the few minutes he's managed to grab in a Wigan first-team shirt.

This.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Feb 24, 2015 8:44 pm  

lothlorian wrote:

Was told today that Ryan Hampshire has refused to sign a 5 year deal and is NRL bound next season and Wigan are trying to get Bowen for another 12 months. The club involved are keen to develop him at 6 and he's believed to have grown frustrated at the lack of first team opportunities and unhappy that Williams was in front of him for the 6 shirt.

Hopefully it's just his agent trying to talk up his deal.
Tomkins leaving was hard to take but I understand why he went, Burgess going is less understandable but if Hampshire does go then as a club and competition we are in trouble. I know that he is at this point just a player with lots of potential but if he goes before even becoming a squad regular then hells bells how do we keep hold of any decent players?
I was castigated by a few a few weeks ago when I said Bowens defence is poor but if anything his defence is even worse so far this season. A regular full back who can't take the ball on the full. I swear the next time he lets a ball bounce before he attempts to catch the ball I will leave the stadium. I'm not saying that he hasn't been a great player but he better days seem far far away.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Feb 24, 2015 9:50 pm  

Itchy Arsenal wrote:

Hopefully it's just his agent trying to talk up his deal.
Tomkins leaving was hard to take but I understand why he went, Burgess going is less understandable but if Hampshire does go then as a club and competition we are in trouble. I know that he is at this point just a player with lots of potential but if he goes before even becoming a squad regular then hells bells how do we keep hold of any decent players?
I was castigated by a few a few weeks ago when I said Bowens defence is poor but if anything his defence is even worse so far this season. A regular full back who can't take the ball on the full. I swear the next time he lets a ball bounce before he attempts to catch the ball I will leave the stadium. I'm not saying that he hasn't been a great player but he better days seem far far away.

Hampshire is a young lad who as always played halfback from when he first picked up a rugby ball and to have a coach come out with a statement before he had had more than a couple of games in his natural position that he was going to be a fullback was either stupid or bullying.
Every time Hampshire has played fullback he has seemed uncomfortable and the odd times he has been at halfback it must have been playing so much on his nerves that he has not always succeeded . Everyone keeps saying that Sam was only small but he was a resounding success at fullback, but at least he had played a season and a half at standoff before Madge persuaded him (not told him he had to) to give fullback a try.
I was told a couple of weeks ago that Hampshire was informed he could go and play at Workington for the rest of the season on loan if he was insisting that he wanted to play standoff.
Maybe that was the final straw.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Feb 24, 2015 10:04 pm  

stillinthepast wrote:

Hampshire is a young lad who as always played halfback from when he first picked up a rugby ball and to have a coach come out with a statement before he had had more than a couple of games in his natural position that he was going to be a fullback was either stupid or bullying.
Every time Hampshire has played fullback he has seemed uncomfortable and the odd times he has been at halfback it must have been playing so much on his nerves that he has not always succeeded . Everyone keeps saying that Sam was only small but he was a resounding success at fullback, but at least he had played a season and a half at standoff before Madge persuaded him (not told him he had to) to give fullback a try.
I was told a couple of weeks ago that Hampshire was informed he could go and play at Workington for the rest of the season on loan if he was insisting that he wanted to play standoff.
Maybe that was the final straw.

No disrespect to Workington but if that was the advice given to him then perhaps I don't blame him if he is looking for a deal away from the.
Hopefully this is a bit of noise that will be resolved with Hampshire signing a new deal with us.
I still hope that we end up with Williams and Hampshire as the halfbacks probably unlikely but I live in hope

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Feb 24, 2015 10:22 pm  

I hope it's not true but I'd be far from surprised. Every time I see an interview with Wane he makes a point of saying Hampshire is a fullback and throws in that he could play half back. He seems to want to highlight the negatives rather then the positives.

As an example after the pre season games and when Smith was ruled out of Huddersfield, Wane said he would go with Powell because Hampshire didn't blow him away at full back in pre season. No mention at all about the fact he was outstanding at halfback in the second half at Leigh.

It just looks like Wane isn't a fan IMO and I think we probably will lose him.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Feb 25, 2015 8:35 am  

Father Ted wrote:

If true then we are in real trouble.
Should Hampshire sign for an NRL club, or SL club for that matter, our management need to take a serious look at themselves.
How true this rumour is I don't know but the thought of Bowen doing another season after this at the expense of Hampshire is beyond daft!
Number one, put Hampshire in there now.
Number two, if he is off then Tierney should be given a chance.
What on earth is the point of all the work in the U age groups if these younger players are going to be bypassed or overlooked for 30 somethings who are declining by the game.

Keiron Cunningham is quoted in the trade press that he's worried that SL is becoming a feeder club for the NRL, add Union to that! I thought he was worried about younger lads at his own club, which he may well be.
If this rumour has any legs then allowing Hampshire to go and retaining Bowen for another year is just utter nonsense.

I normally rely on you to be the voice of reason on here, but I think you are wrong on both counts about Hampshire. How are Wigan 'allowing' Hampshire to go? They've offered him a five year contract for heavens sake.

And talking about the club being in 'real trouble' if he goes, I just don't see it. Hampshire has shown nothing other than a bit of promise. You should have to EARN your jersey at Wigan, not just be given it because you show promise. He will get eaten up in Australia and spat back out over here, where I confidently predict he will end up at his home town club.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Feb 25, 2015 8:49 am  

Aboveusonlypie wrote:

I normally rely on you to be the voice of reason on here, but I think you are wrong on both counts about Hampshire. How are Wigan 'allowing' Hampshire to go? They've offered him a five year contract for heavens sake.

And talking about the club being in 'real trouble' if he goes, I just don't see it. Hampshire has shown nothing other than a bit of promise. You should have to EARN your jersey at Wigan, not just be given it because you show promise. He will get eaten up in Australia and spat back out over here, where I confidently predict he will end up at his home town club.

It would be disappointing but I agree to say we'd be 'in trouble' is going a bit far. It's not like Williams, Powell or even Smith are anywhere near retirement and if Wane doesn't rate him he ain't going to play.

As a fullback I see no future for him at Wigan anyway. He doesn't look confident enough and dare I say it brave enough to play in that position.

Would he go well in the NRL? I believe he's good enough to be a raging success tbh but it could go either way. He seems a quiet lad to me and maybe lacks a bit of that swagger you need to go to a place like Australia (as a Brit) and taken them on.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Feb 25, 2015 9:47 am  

I think we are in trouble due to the age of those now going to the NRL.
Hampshire and Burgess are 20 and excellent players. Both have exceptional pace.
At half back Williams is fast, Smith isn't and neither is Powell.
This is an attritional game with injuries coming unsuspected to any player, it's just we do know they will occur. Hampshire did miss a lot of last season through injury and Williams came back from injury to play in the GF.
I'm not impressed with playing Williams out of position at 6. Hampshire would have been my first choice at 6 for very obvious reasons.
Hampshire would also be in my 13 because of his pace, his kicking game and that fact he can kick goals and probably has the most powerful boot at the club.

As for full back, where does Hampshire fit into all of this? He's a 6 not a 1. Just because it worked for Sam doesn't mean it will work for Ryan. Bowen is not the future for full back, if he's out of form then put Tierney in there.

We need to keep our best younger players. RL can no longer attract players from other sports so we have to produce our own. Hampshire, Williams and Burgess are proof we can do this, we are already losing one of them, to lose two then I believe we are in trouble now and for the future.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Feb 25, 2015 10:24 am  

Father Ted wrote:

I think we are in trouble due to the age of those now going to the NRL.
Hampshire and Burgess are 20 and excellent players. Both have exceptional pace.
At half back Williams is fast, Smith isn't and neither is Powell.
This is an attritional game with injuries coming unsuspected to any player, it's just we do know they will occur. Hampshire did miss a lot of last season through injury and Williams came back from injury to play in the GF.
I'm not impressed with playing Williams out of position at 6. Hampshire would have been my first choice at 6 for very obvious reasons.
Hampshire would also be in my 13 because of his pace, his kicking game and that fact he can kick goals and probably has the most powerful boot at the club.

As for full back, where does Hampshire fit into all of this? He's a 6 not a 1. Just because it worked for Sam doesn't mean it will work for Ryan. Bowen is not the future for full back, if he's out of form then put Tierney in there.

We need to keep our best younger players. RL can no longer attract players from other sports so we have to produce our own. Hampshire, Williams and Burgess are proof we can do this, we are already losing one of them, to lose two then I believe we are in trouble now and for the future.

Tierney has shown a lot less than Hampshire at fullback, I don't think he's anywhere near SL level yet. Hampshire looks dodgy under the high ball whereas I expect Tierney to drop more than he catches. He also doesn't offer the creativity Rocky would from that position. Hampshire was sensational playing at FB at the Salford away game last season, so it isn't the case that he's never played well there. First team wise, he's had a couple of decent games at 6. I don't see how people can state so confidently "he's a 6 not a 1" when he hasn't had an extended run at SL level in either position. Our lack of creativity in attack at the moment is screaming out for a creative, ball playing fullback with bags of pace to add more threat from the structured plays. For me that's Hampshire or Sarg. I'd like to see a spine of 1. Hampshire 6. Powell 7. Smith 9. McIlorum with Williams on the bench.

I really hope these rumours don't have much substance to them, but I suspect they might have. I really don't think a 20 year old lad should be having a hissy fit because he's not getting in the team though.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Wed Feb 25, 2015 11:30 am  

moto748 wrote:

This.

Might be something similar to what Matty Russell got.