Your only picking that one point out of the numerous posts I've put on the subject then? And like I sat that's already been done and I've put my points over to back up why this lad is such a good player.

As I say I wouldn't pick him Saturday but that doesn't mean he's a bad player. He's an excellent player, one of Wigans best three IMO which is no mean feat considering we're double champions.

Haha I'm well over it mate. Your success last season has no bearing on my opinion of McIlorum.

Personally I'd take Tomkins, Charnley, Green, Flower, Farrell and O'Loughlin over McIlorum.

Exactly. This tough image has just been created by Wigan fans/coaches and has filtered from there.

I've never seen him stand toe to toe with someone and beat them fairly in a scrap.

If hitting people from behind, late and off the ball is brave and tough then I agree he is hard as nails.

Would have rather had Mick Higham than McIllorum

Danny Houghton is a far better player than McIlorum.

More try assists, more metres, more tackles, less missed tackles, less penalties.

What really makes me laugh about Wigan fans and their blinkered view of McIlorum is that the first two things they always list when talking about his strengths are his defence and the fact he is so tough apparently.

What this translates to in real life is that he was 2nd in the list of missed tackles last season throughout Super League and was also in the top 10% for penalties conceded.

A lot of opinion gets spouted as fact on this forum. I'm sure if Shaun Wane was offerred to swap McIlorum for either Houghton or particularly Higham, he'd politely decline, after he'd stopped laughing.

OK then, in your opinion, which of McIlorum's attributes are stronger than Houghton's equivalent attribute?

Wigan fans have moved on from 'They should play McIlorum to soften the opposition up before bringing on Roby' to 'He has to play the full 80 to be effective', but do not list anything he is effective at apart from aggression.

So, no one apart from Wigan fans rate McIlorum as an international hooker.

Some fancy Burrow on the bench as impact, but some are concerned about his short comings.

Most wish he'd taken Lunt, Houghton, Clarke or Higham on the squad.

Being overly aggressive against the Kiwis will just lead to people in the bin. We need cool heads out there not nutcases.

I'd pick Houghton over McIllorum. This year - I'd take Higham over the pair of them.

I would have actually picked Daryl Clark (if fit) to partner Roby though, that's just me.

Clarke would perhaps have been the best choice to bring a similar contribution as Burrow, without giving up the steel of a proper hooker in defence.
He seems to have been somewhat forgotten about in these threads, though.

Higham was our best player this season by a country mile and was voted so too. Prejudice was the only factor in him not being considered, he was head and shoulders better than McIllorum this year.

Funny how Wane rates McIllorum so highly. But then again, what would a double-winning coach (also responsible for the development of the best crop of home-grown players in a generation or more) know? Especially versus the immense rugby knowledge of the people on here who are convinced he's 'hopelessly outclassed'.