NickyKiss wrote:
If the coaching staff are happy with any players offered all well and good but how could you be fully satisfied with anybody be Tomkins replacement unless it was Slater or Inglis?
Ultimately cash may be the best thing for us. We can then target our own choices as replacements for cash fees rather then having to make do. If Union offer a million quid(the figure I'd want) but NRL teams won't match it (and they won't come near) then we have to look after number one and take it.
Give us a £1m to play with and if I were in charge I'd have cash offers on the table for Johnny Lomax, Daryl Clarke and Eorl Crabtree straight away. Cash would give us that freedom to pick who we want rather then being fed magic beans from the NRL.
I honestly believe that losing Tomkins mid-contract would be akin to losing Hanley mid-contract. Not because Sam is as good as Ellery was - he isn't yet. But because he's the most exciting player we've had at Wigan in a generation, and he's not even reached his prime yet - plus almost all our attacking moves are built around him
Sam isn't just another good player who we can learn to live without if we get some sparkling new changing rooms in return. Or even if we get a wad of cash to spend on new players, because prising the likes of Crabtree, Lomax etc away from their current clubs could take forever, if it ever happens.
I can only speak for myself here, but knowing how devastating this loss would be to the Wigan fans - especially after we were promised Sam would stay for at least three years - then I would demand like for like in player terms - two or maybe three current NZ or Aus internationals, and if the buyers don't like it they can wait until Sam's contract runs out, even if that means he sits on the bench sulking, in the meantime.
This is much more than just another transfer. It's an exceptional circumstance, and it needs to be treated that way.
