Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Mar 24, 2015 4:26 pm  

Cbr1000rr wrote:

Ok then we should just sit back only sign cheap player and promote youngest who are cheap and we will walk the competition

We need to buy smartly.

How did you feel when Wigan signed Paul Deacon?

I remember a lot of supporters feeling really underwhelmed by that yet it proved such a smart move and thats why I expected Wigan to try and bring in an old head in the off season to help organise the side.

Blake Green is looking like a huge loss at the moment.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Mar 24, 2015 5:55 pm  

sergeant pepper wrote:

Where did it get Hull? Green & Paea moved onto larger clubs whilst Vella and Galea more than proved their monies worth. Albert Kelly is up in the air but i think he's a very good player hence him being linked to replace DCE at Manly next year. From that last i'd say they have excellent connections in the NRL that if put in place at Wigan could mix well with our junior development side.

They are making these NRL signings and finishing outside the play offs. We are producing our own with the odd smart buy and winning trophies. Why on earth you would use them as an example of what we should be doing is beyond me

sergeant pepper wrote:

Out of the players that you have listed above i'd argue only Flower and possibly Gelling and have made an ROI. Clubb is is going well at the moment but i don't think he had a great year last year. Also three of them are young guns when it could be argued we need 26/27 year olds.

Baffling. Sarginson was signed as a reserve utility back, ended up being England's best centre. No one had a clue why we signed Tony Clubb, now he's our best prop and had a great game against Brisbane. No one had heard of Taylor, went on to be an integral part of our double winning season, possibly our best player that year. It didn't work out because he wanted to leave but he still played a massive part in winning us two trophies and got us a decent fee from Salford afterwards

sergeant pepper wrote:

That's besides the point as what i'm trying to say is whilst we are going for guys like Tautai, Green, Vea after they have come over here why aren't we just targeting them at source?

Where did Roberts, Phelps, Gelling, Bowen, Lima, Finch, Hoffman and Pettybourne come from?

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Mar 24, 2015 6:07 pm  

I've been very happy in the main with our signings over a sustained period and a lot of the lads brought in as 'projects' have gone on to be very successful for us.

My thoughts at the moment though are we can't afford to sign any projects are promote from within for a little while now. We've reached a point were the side is becoming too inexperienced with too much pressure on kids like Burgess, Williams, Hampshire, Sutton etc because too much quality and too much experience has walked through the door.

IMO Wigan need to sign three ready made quality players for next year. A full back to replace Bowen, a centre to go alongside Sarginson and a prop to add depth and quality.

Realistic? Possibly not with just Bowen and Burgess lilely to leave but I can't for the life of me believe we don't already have some room.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Mar 24, 2015 6:23 pm  

Not sure I understand the clamor for NRL rejects. I would love SKD and Sims looks a good signing for wire but I wouldn't want Wigan to go chasing every Aussie cast off deemed surplus to requirements - for every Carmont there's a Gelling (I'm being a bit harsh). What I would endorse would be taking proven players from less financially powerful SL clubs - Carney, Ferres, Collis, Clarke (pre wire move), Moon (going back a bit), Wardle, Shaul, any full back that isn't Matty Bowen, Etc. These lads will be proven on the English stage and take little to no time settling in. Of course it is easier said than done finding talent which teams would be willing to sell but if a fair price is on offer then I think a few surprises would be possible.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Mar 24, 2015 6:32 pm  

Grimmy wrote:

They are making these NRL signings and finishing outside the play offs. We are producing our own with the odd smart buy and winning trophies. Why on earth you would use them as an example of what we should be doing is beyond me

Are you really saying that their recruitment isn't good enough? Look at their recent halfbacks:

Green - Top player went to Wigan & was MOM in the GF. Now playing for a top NRL club.
Burns - Signed by the champions with interest from us as well.
Kelly - Linked to replace one of the NRL's top players, DCE, at one of the NRL's top clubs Manly.
Campese - Difference maker in our recent fixture vs them with many saying we've missed out by not signing him.

The issue with Hull KR isn't the players they've signed it's that 'bigger teams' come in and steal them. They do extremely well to keep pulling rabbits out of hats to replace quality with quality - Green/Burns/Campese.

Baffling. Sarginson was signed as a reserve utility back, ended up being England's best centre. No one had a clue why we signed Tony Clubb, now he's our best prop and had a great game against Brisbane. No one had heard of Taylor, went on to be an integral part of our double winning season, possibly our best player that year. It didn't work out because he wanted to leave but he still played a massive part in winning us two trophies and got us a decent fee from Salford afterwards

Just seen that i wrote Gelling and not Sarginson. I agree with everything you have said about him. Clubb is our best prop after 6 games and whilst he's going great i'll reserve my judgment until the end of the season as 6 games in 12+ months doesn't equate to him being a good signing (He is on his way to being a good one however)

Where did Roberts, Phelps, Gelling, Bowen, Lima, Finch, Hoffman and Pettybourne come from?

I'm trying to struggle to see what you point is? All of those players either gave 12 months or have big question marks over their heads! If anything your list of players proves the point i'm trying to make - our overseas recruitment in recent years has been poor. We are selecting players that are either short love affairs (Finch/Hoffman) or just aren't good enough.

I'll say it again other clubs are much more astute with their NRL signings than we are.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Mar 24, 2015 6:41 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

I've been very happy in the main with our signings over a sustained period and a lot of the lads brought in as 'projects' have gone on to be very successful for us.

My thoughts at the moment though are we can't afford to sign any projects are promote from within for a little while now. We've reached a point were the side is becoming too inexperienced with too much pressure on kids like Burgess, Williams, Hampshire, Sutton etc because too much quality and too much experience has walked through the door.

IMO Wigan need to sign three ready made quality players for next year. A full back to replace Bowen, a centre to go alongside Sarginson and a prop to add depth and quality.

Realistic? Possibly not with just Bowen and Burgess lilely to leave but I can't for the life of me believe we don't already have some room.

I agree with that. We don't need projects and we don't need anymore youngsters from the academy.

We need, like you have said, quality ready made additions to the side. I do feel however that we have to be realistic & set expectations about what that means as some one here expect us to sign the worlds best players and that isn't going to happen.

Journey men in the NRL often turn out to be quality SL players and i think that's the level we should be aiming at if we can bring in a Carney, Burns or Moon type of player we'd be laughing.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:07 pm  

Grimmy wrote:

We signed Dallas, Richards, Renouf, Ainscough, Vaealiki, Carmont, Phelps, Bailey, O’Neill, Barrett, Lam, M.Johns, Moran, T.Smith, Dobson, Davico, Seuseu, Paleaaseina, Logan, Smith, Furner and Fletcher from the NRL. I’d say more than half of those players were average/poor

I'd say at least 13 of those were fantastic signings, and at least half of that number were the best in their position in SL for a number of years. Out of 22 that's not a bad success rate.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:39 pm  

Wigg'n wrote:

I'd say at least 13 of those were fantastic signings, and at least half of that number were the best in their position in SL for a number of years. Out of 22 that's not a bad success rate.

I'll give you Richards, Dallas, Renouf, Carmont, Barrett, Lam and Furner. Who are the other 6 fantastic signings??

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:01 pm  

Grimmy wrote:

I'll give you Richards, Dallas, Renouf, Carmont, Barrett, Lam and Furner. Who are the other 6 fantastic signings??

Craig Smith wasn't fantastic? He's arguably top of the list for me.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:22 pm  

ChrisA wrote:

Craig Smith wasn't fantastic? He's arguably top of the list for me.

I'd forgotten Smith, there's still never 13 fantastic signings there though