Yes Fa'afili was an important signing because it followed quickly after Gleeson. It gave credibility to the things we were saying when Gleeson was signed - this is just the start, we're looking at bringing in a number of international calibre players etc. Also, he was signed mid-season to come over straight away, whereas Gleeson was suspended till the next season.
Fa'afili was a current NZ international winger who was known over here from getting a hat-trick against GB, so it was a big signing at the time. I got a NZ Warriors shirt off ebay to wear for the rest of that season.
The Gleeson and Fa'afili signings kept momentum going at an important time for us in our first season in the new stadium as these stadium moves don't always go right. Wigan's crowds dropped when they went to the JJB and the atmosphere was awful for a while, same with West Ham going to the Olympic Stadium. It can take years to recover from that as fans just start saying its not the same as the old ground. We had momentum in the second half of 2003 and Wilderspool was rocking in that last game when Appo got a hat-trick, then it carried over to the start of 2004 when we opened the HJ with that win over Wakefield. By mid season we'd stalled though because of some bad results and the old feeling of negativity, another false dawn was creeping over the club, then we signed Gleeson, backed it up with Fa'afili and then announced Logan Swann and the return of Toa (which was incredibly popular) for 2005, and it really helped create excitement which made the move to the HJ a success. The club did a great job of building a brand along with the move to the HJ, from that first season we were always an aspirational club. So much of that was of course due to Simon Moran's increased involvement.
Before we got Gleeson, the rumours had already started around agents and journalists that Warrington were looking to make a big splash. The whisper on the grapevine was that Iestyn Harris was coming back from RU and Leeds might not take up their preference option on him. Someone sent a fake press release around, with a picture where they photoshopped Harris' head on Mark Hilton's body and it made some reputable news outlets that Wire had signed Harris.