Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Sat Dec 30, 2017 4:10 pm  

I saw Ryan Sutton in Wigan today and I have to say he looked in superb condition. He’s lost a ton of fat and looked very big, muscular and athletic. I was really pleasantly surprised and hope he kicks on next season. Looks to have really taken this Pre-Season very seriously.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Sat Dec 30, 2017 4:17 pm  

The Hock rumour just won’t go away will it? I’d expect an announcement shortly for his re-signing.

Whoever is in charge of recruitment needs sacking. This obsession with re-signing old players is tired and a poor strategy. Not one player who left Wigan and subsequently came back have been anywhere near the player they were, arguably they’ve come back as worse players. This is why I can actually see Chris Ashton coming back to Wigan!

MM and Gelling leaving has been expected for a few weeks now. I’d expect those deals to be completed shortly too

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Sun Dec 31, 2017 9:19 am  

100% Warrior wrote:

The Hock rumour just won’t go away will it? I’d expect an announcement shortly for his re-signing.

Whoever is in charge of recruitment needs sacking. This obsession with re-signing old players is tired and a poor strategy. Not one player who left Wigan and subsequently came back have been anywhere near the player they were, arguably they’ve come back as worse players. This is why I can actually see Chris Ashton coming back to Wigan!

MM and Gelling leaving has been expected for a few weeks now. I’d expect those deals to be completed shortly too

I just cant see any benefits of signing hock unless there are outgoings we are not aware of.

Prop is our most occupied position in the squad albeit the quality at times is questionable.

FPN
Benny
Clubby
Joel
T
Sutton
Bretherton
Lockers

Then you can add

Field
Partington
Kibula

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Sun Dec 31, 2017 7:19 pm  

Tricky Dicky wrote:

I just cant see any benefits of signing hock unless there are outgoings we are not aware of.

Prop is our most occupied position in the squad albeit the quality at times is questionable.

FPN
Benny
Clubby
Joel
T
Sutton
Bretherton
Lockers

Then you can add

Field
Partington
Kibula

If we are trying to raise the quality of the players at the club we have to start somewhere. I have mixed feelings about the rumour of a re-signing of Gaz Hock. He was possibly my favorite at the time when he was at his peak. The guy though lacks intellect and the judgement to go with it.

We do need an 'enforcer' type in the pack as quite frankly our pack is crap. In fact, I am perplexed that we don't have even one player now at the club that we could call 'world class' or 'gamebreakers' at the moment IMHO. There is certainly no player who when they get the ball the speccies 'get on their toes' and expectation.

Sam is 'shot at' and Lockers is coming to the end of his career, playing less and less games. Too many players are mediocre at best.

Having watched the club since the late 1950's we are at one of the lowest ebbs in our illustrious history . Sooner or later we will rise again. But I can't see it happening at the moment. The club seems content to just go through the motions. We need a radical shake-up with new ideas and direction in my opinion. The fayre on display is becoming inedible.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Mon Jan 01, 2018 6:05 pm  

So based on the rumors tomorrow is the day that McIlorum Transfer is announced. All international players report back tomorrow following the world cup. Will Micky be at Wigan or is he going to France?

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Mon Jan 01, 2018 7:09 pm  

Tricky Dicky wrote:

So based on the rumors tomorrow is the day that McIlorum Transfer is announced. All international players report back tomorrow following the world cup. Will Micky be at Wigan or is he going to France?

I don't get the logic of letting him go at such a late stage when we presumably won't have time to bring anyone in with the spare cap money, unless he has made It clear he doesn't want to play for us.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Jan 02, 2018 7:42 am  

Bigredwarrior wrote:

I saw Ryan Sutton in Wigan today and I have to say he looked in superb condition. He’s lost a ton of fat and looked very big, muscular and athletic. I was really pleasantly surprised and hope he kicks on next season. Looks to have really taken this Pre-Season very seriously.

I’ve seen him out and about and he does look to have gotten himself in great condition.

I like Sutton. He makes a few too many errors but for such a young prop, I think he’s coming along quite nicely. He didn’t finish last season Ashe would’ve hoped but he wasn’t on his own in that respect.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Jan 02, 2018 8:51 am  

The issue I have with Sutton is the lose carry and the unforced errors I hope I’m wrong but rarely is this something you can coach out of players. Look at the Burgess boys, all 4 of them are prone to an unforced drop especially the twins and they have been coached by some of the best in the World.

I really hope this is something Sutton can get to grips with so to speak as he clearly has potential.

He isn’t alone in this unforced errors issue, and that is the biggest frustration of watching Wigan at the moment for me.

Faz was a nightmare last season for giving away totally unnecessary penalties and putting the ball down at important times.

If, and it seems likely, MM is going then I hope we have either a Prop or secondrow lined up to join the squad, with their main attribute being size. It seems like his move away from the club has been on the cards for a while, so the club should have more than enough time to line up a replacement unless the money has gone towards contract upgrades.

Seen many comments about the strength in depth of the squad but for me particularly in our forwards we are missing a game breaker who will get the crowd on their feet and put bums on seats.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Jan 02, 2018 8:54 am  

jonh wrote:

The issue I have with Sutton is the lose carry and the unforced errors I hope I’m wrong but rarely is this something you can coach out of players. Look at the Burgess boys, all 4 of them are prone to an unforced drop especially the twins and they have been coached by some of the best in the World.

I really hope this is something Sutton can get to grips with so to speak as he clearly has potential.

He isn’t alone in this unforced errors issue, and that is the biggest frustration of watching Wigan at the moment for me.

Faz was a nightmare last season for giving away totally unnecessary penalties and putting the ball down at important times.

If, and it seems likely, MM is going then I hope we have either a Prop or secondrow lined up to join the squad, with their main attribute being size. It seems like his move away from the club has been on the cards for a while, so the club should have more than enough time to line up a replacement unless the money has gone towards contract upgrades.

Seen many comments about the strength in depth of the squad but for me particularly in our forwards we are missing a game breaker who will get the crowd on their feet and put bums on seats.

How can the crowd be on their feet if their bums are on seats?

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Tue Jan 02, 2018 9:03 am  

It comes to something when we are heaping praise on a young player because he has managed to get himself into shape for the new season.

Shouldn't that be one of the most basic requirments of a professional sportsman? Though, admittedly, it was a basic requirement he failed to fulfill last season.

I suppose we're stuck with Sutton until his contract expires, but for me he's not the answer to our prop problems, though neither, to be fair, is FPN, Tautai, Flower or Clubb.

If, thanks to the salary cap, we can't have superstars, at the very least we need beasts in the style of Craig Smith and Quentin Pongia.