Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Oct 17, 2019 4:54 pm  

post wrote:

I don’t get the love in with Smith, from what I’ve seen of him he’s no better than Woods or Shorrocks.

Is he just another Nicky Stanton? An academy prospect that nobody has watched where every one on here wants him given a chance because he’s done well in the reserves?

Smith is probably the best English halfback in the last ten years since Williams came through at the same age i have watched him all season and he's been amazing

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Oct 17, 2019 5:34 pm  

Last Son of Wigan wrote:

How many times have you seen Smith play against top class opposition?

Irrelevant. I’ve seen him playing in the academy games a few times this season and for Swinton. He has the talent to be better than GW. I stand by my opinion that he ought to be given a starting berth over Sammutt/Tommy. If we find another, better HB in the time between now and seasons eve I’m all for it. But the suggestion that Sammut and/or Tommy are good enough (still good enough for the matter) to be a starting HB for Wigan is laughable.

apollosghost wrote:

None, which I'm beginning to suspect is the same number of times he saw Sammut play last season.

I saw Sammut play in every game for us either at the ground or on TV if I couldn’t make it. He’s a far below average SL HB, at best a championship HB. I said earlier that if we’re aiming at players with the credentials of Sammut we’ll turn into Leeds. We should be aiming far bloody higher than players of his standard. I genuinely cannot believe people are actually calling for him to play for us. He makes Jon Wilkin at HB look half decent.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Thu Oct 17, 2019 6:31 pm  

Daily Telegraph reporting Canterbury are chasing Luke Thompson and Alex Walmsley for 2020. I can’t see Saints ever letting them two go at the same time but that would take a significant transfer fee and would drastically change Saints’ attack. T&W are, for me anyway, the main reason Saints have been so dominant this season.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Oct 18, 2019 5:53 am  

100% Warrior wrote:

Irrelevant. I’ve seen him playing in the academy games a few times this season and for Swinton. He has the talent to be better than GW. I stand by my opinion that he ought to be given a starting berth over Sammutt/Tommy. If we find another, better HB in the time between now and seasons eve I’m all for it. But the suggestion that Sammut and/or Tommy are good enough (still good enough for the matter) to be a starting HB for Wigan is laughable.


I saw Sammut play in every game for us either at the ground or on TV if I couldn’t make it. He’s a far below average SL HB, at best a championship HB. I said earlier that if we’re aiming at players with the credentials of Sammut we’ll turn into Leeds. We should be aiming far bloody higher than players of his standard. I genuinely cannot believe people are actually calling for him to play for us. He makes Jon Wilkin at HB look half decent.

Says it all really. You've seen him play a few times in the academy and for Swinton, of which neither are top flight, not even in this country. Yet he should be just given the starting 7 jersey. And you say starting Tommy who's won GF's helped us win a WCC only 2 years ago and has years of NRL, SL and international experience is laughable.

Not even Jonathan Thurston or Cooper Cronk walked into a team like your suggesting.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Oct 18, 2019 7:59 am  

warrior1872 wrote:

Smith is probably the best English halfback in the last ten years since Williams came through at the same age i have watched him all season and he's been amazing

He has been very good in the times I’ve seen him too,but it’s putting an awful lot of expectation on a young lad flip side of that coin though is that at some point the club have to find out if he’s not just potential and see if he is indeed the real deal,Hastings being there hopefully will help him move up a level

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Oct 18, 2019 9:32 am  

hengirl wrote:

He has been very good in the times I’ve seen him too,but it’s putting an awful lot of expectation on a young lad flip side of that coin though is that at some point the club have to find out if he’s not just potential and see if he is indeed the real deal,Hastings being there hopefully will help him move up a level

Build him up gradually and correctly and let him develop. Dual reg and substitute bench spots are idea for his development at this stage of his career.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Fri Oct 18, 2019 10:25 am  

I'm still hoping we can bring Lachlan Lam over.

He's roughly played about the same first team games as Smith, but he's a few years older & already has a relationship with Hastings too.

Interesting to see Lam has pulled out of the PNG squad for 'personal reasons' too. He's OOC at the end of 2020, so I'd say he's probably looking for a decent run of 1st team games and a way to announce himself properly. 12 months at Wigan wouldn't harm him - especially with the NRal eyes that will be on Hastings too.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Sat Oct 19, 2019 10:27 am  

Last Son of Wigan wrote:

Says it all really. You've seen him play a few times in the academy and for Swinton, of which neither are top flight, not even in this country. Yet he should be just given the starting 7 jersey. And you say starting Tommy who's won GF's helped us win a WCC only 2 years ago and has years of NRL, SL and international experience is laughable.

Not even Jonathan Thurston or Cooper Cronk walked into a team like your suggesting.

Mate Tommy is no longer good enough for the 7 jersey - it’s not just me saying that either, plenty of others are too. His past exploits, as good as they were are utterly irrelevant in this conversation.

There’s no denying Smith hasn’t played against top grade opposition, it’s just pure fact. He’s been out on dual reg with Swinton and looked very impressive as he has been in the academy all season. He deserves a shot.

Failing that it’s a straight shoot between an aging and not good enough Tommy or a well below standard Sammut in the halves. No thanks.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Sat Oct 19, 2019 12:04 pm  

100% Warrior wrote:

Mate Tommy is no longer good enough for the 7 jersey - it’s not just me saying that either, plenty of others are too. His past exploits, as good as they were are utterly irrelevant in this conversation.

There’s no denying Smith hasn’t played against top grade opposition, it’s just pure fact. He’s been out on dual reg with Swinton and looked very impressive as he has been in the academy all season. He deserves a shot.

Failing that it’s a straight shoot between an aging and not good enough Tommy or a well below standard Sammut in the halves. No thanks.

Or Hastings and French.

Re: Rumours and signings v9 : Sat Oct 19, 2019 1:55 pm  

Bigredwarrior wrote:

Or Hastings and French.

An option but based purely on what I’ve seen so far of French at HB in a Wigan shirt I’m not considering it as an option. I’m always open for that to change mind and accept a lot can happen in pre season.