Have to agree there. I remember the start of the 2004 season where he'd ousted Gary Connolly from the fullback spot, and fully deserved the position too. Remember he had a cracker away at Hull FC the week they released Connolly from his contract.

Felt he was also a strong contender for the man of the match in the 2004 Grand Final. Some of the bombs he defused under the pressure that night were awesome (didn't he also have to miss the internationals post-season due to a wrist injury from the final too?).

Shame to see such a decline in someone who clearly does have great ability.

It would appear so, just take a look at the pies board

Good to know.

It should have been red anyway and this banning sends a clear message, that trippers (or ts) will be handed a sensible punishment for an act of stupidity. I know I'm harping on about it, but I still feel it's worth a red in the game as well. Mathers comments, on the eve of the season, about knuckling down and keeping his nose clean are highly hilarious, now he's been banned after the the first game.

Had to bring this back up. Going by what he has been spouting on the SL Show Nobby has lost the plot. He has a decent array of youth tallent at his disposal at Wigan but ellects to play Overseas players intstead of blooding them. Saying that Superleague clubs need to look in to poaching youth tallent from union squads because of a lack of youth tallent in league is another nail in his coffin IMO

Indeed ... He was spouting it on the SL Show this week.

I like the bit where he said 'the views of other well-known thinkers on the game' .... Not Mo Lindsay perchance ?

Are there any Union players in their game that a) We'd want and thus make the GB side better ? b) Would want to leave their massive salaries and chance their arm at a game that they've never played before or would have any assurance they'd be half-decent at ? 14 Union rejects WILL NOT make a difference to the national side. By the way, would that the be same national side where you wouldn't pick the only recognised player in that position (Rob Burrow at scrum half) because of the team he played for ? It is one of the few credible suggestions for your selection policy during the Tri-Nations. You had decent players, trying swallowing your pride and picking a few of them ?

Take a note of the recent Grand Finalists and have a look at the number of home-developed players in each side. It is not as if there is a shortage of decent amateur teams within 30 minutes drive of the JJB they could go visit. We got Kallum Watkins from Latchford Albion, that well-known suburb of Yorkshire.

So Wigan, stop any attempt you can to bend the cap. Invest that money that is burning a hole in your pocket in a decent youth set up and go nurture anyone within 30 miles of your ground that looks half decent and stop behaving like Leeds used to do in the SL days before Caddick / Hetherington arrived.

Except poaching youth Rugby Union players played no part in what Noble was suggesting, if I understood him right.

His idea was for each of the 14 SL clubs to be allowed to bring in one top profile RU player on say £50K within the salary cap and an unlimited top up salary paid for by sponsorship or a wealthy benefactor. The names he mentioned were Brian O'Driscoll (yes please) and Jonny Wilkinson (flawed example or what.)

Unfortunately the potential rise in media profile for the game would come at the expense of the integrity of the 'level' salary cap.

I would [ilove[/i Wigan to sign Dame Biscuit Knees!

Hilarity would most definitely ensue.....

After all, of all the clubs in SL, we should be in the box seat with a Union club on our doorstep (so to speak) to judge the Union potential talent out there.

Wigan tried the same sort of layout and ended up making a mess of a half-decent Union club at Orrell.

Since the lodgers came along, they've had the far better deal of the two clubs and as a first time, we've only had Simon Worrell and Jappie *s* Mulder out of it, whereas they've had the likes of Toothill and a few others ?

We had Dowes from them, who's been a success in the game, and Hefin O'Hare who seemed to be doing OK at Huddersfield before dissapearing from the game.
AFAIK, Mulder was only on a "pay if you play" deal - a wise bit of contingency insurance in place for the Rhinos considering the injury problems the year before.

Hefin O'Hare - what a name.

O'Hare is still playing RU for one of the Scottish clubs.
We also lost (?) David Doherty to the dark side, now playing for Sale I think.

Despite being a Welsh International (at RL), always the sort of player's name that should be said in a loud psudo-Irish accent ....