Re: Top 10 groundbreaking signings : Fri May 22, 2020 6:31 pm  

sally cinnamon wrote:

He was before my time so I didn't put him in my top 10, but signing one of the "1982 Invincibles" must have been on par with the Langer/Inglis signings at least.

It was. The fact he was serving a large ban for eye gouging and had a reputation for, putting it nicely, enjoying the biff, helped to really sell it too.

His debut in a Lancs Cup semi against Widnes certainly had an incredible atmosphere.

Re: Top 10 groundbreaking signings : Fri May 22, 2020 6:43 pm  

sir adrian morley wrote:

Andy Gregory..showed our intent on breaking Wigan's dominance in the 80s..shame he went there after a relatively short career at wire

For a man of my vintage, Gregory was a massive signing (but Wigan weren't dominant then, SAM).
I started watching in late '79, and from then, until Gregory's signing in Jan 85's transfer deadline, we didn't sign ANYONE of note.
The transfer embargo of Australians was lifted circa' 84, Wigan signed Brett Kenny and John Ferguson (both brilliant). St H got Meninga (a God), and Halifax signed half of the ARL, and ended up winning the league (the next season) . We went for Paul Younane, who, at best, was average.
A few months after Gregory, we got Boyd, Blake, Tamati and Rathbone, and we reached 2 finals and won 1. So Gregory (for me) was a groundbraker

Re: Top 10 groundbreaking signings : Fri May 22, 2020 11:05 pm  

lefty goldblatt wrote:

For a man of my vintage, Gregory was a massive signing (but Wigan weren't dominant then, SAM).
I started watching in late '79, and from then, until Gregory's signing in Jan 85's transfer deadline, we didn't sign ANYONE of note.
The transfer embargo of Australians was lifted circa' 84, Wigan signed Brett Kenny and John Ferguson (both brilliant). St H got Meninga (a God), and Halifax signed half of the ARL, and ended up winning the league (the next season) . We went for Paul Younane, who, at best, was average.
A few months after Gregory, we got Boyd, Blake, Tamati and Rathbone, and we reached 2 finals and won 1. So Gregory (for me) was a groundbraker

If Greg could have given us 2 more seasons, we’d have broke Wigan.

Re: Top 10 groundbreaking signings : Sat May 23, 2020 4:34 pm  

John Bevan for me, should be on that list.

[Uncle Rico]

Re: Top 10 groundbreaking signings : Sat May 23, 2020 7:54 pm  

MorePlaymakersNeeded wrote:

John Bevan for me, should be on that list.

Spot on he'd be on my list too. Although it was easier to tempt Welsh RU players to our code he was an international and British Lion in his prime

Re: Top 10 groundbreaking signings : Sun May 24, 2020 7:46 am  

Every week at the start of Grandstand they showed that famous Welsh RU try and you see JB available at least twice, and every week I’d shout “pass it to Bev”...obsessed

Re: Top 10 groundbreaking signings : Sun May 24, 2020 10:45 am  

John Bevan was only 22 when he signed for Wire so he must have been broken through in RU very young to have been a Welsh international and already done a Lions tour.

Re: Top 10 groundbreaking signings : Sun May 24, 2020 11:06 am  

[*]

sally cinnamon wrote:

John Bevan was only 22 when he signed for Wire so he must have been broken through in RU very young to have been a Welsh international and already done a Lions tour.

Back in the 70's, John Bevan was every Warrington schoolkids' hero.

At a time when RL players came in all shapes and sizes, he stood out like some athletic God.

He was an absolutely superb all round player.. Fantastic try scorer, great defence and also a fine rugby brain.

He is one of the few players from that era who you could say, with almost certainty, would be a top player in today's modern game.

Re: Top 10 groundbreaking signings : Sun May 24, 2020 11:35 pm  

After playing he worked as staff, but he walked away from the club after we treated Roger O’Mahoney so disrespectfully.

Re: Top 10 groundbreaking signings : Mon May 25, 2020 3:23 pm  

Led Boyd was awesome for wire and I'd put him up there as a top class signing rumours at the time he and Andy Greg never seen eye to eye..Morley was the best modern day signing along with Mona's...the semi in 2009 was Mona's at his best...I know we av daz Clark who for me is the best hooker in super league by a mile shame our pack doesn't quite compliment his efforts at time...now we have Greg inglis so another chapter enfolds