Well lets put it this way.

I have no influence with our coaching staff or Board of Directors.

I have followed our club since 1956.

I thought licenscing was the wrong way to go for the pro game and I also think this latest Twinning idea is plain crazy and is a blatent excuse for giving the current Cartel' which now exists for the clubs currently and ridiculously exempt from relegation' an opportunity to save money at the expense of clubs who can never aspire' or currently never think they can aspire to be in the top league of our game.

Why would anyone be a coach of our club' or on our Board of Directors if they thought all our club could do is provide a training camp for Non Relegation club reserves but not at the Non Relegation clubs expense ?

In my time watching pro RL there isn't one UK side I haven't see Leigh beat although we never beat one club who no longer exists.

Leigh RLFC being a feeder club for the Pies'who incidentally' still owe our club for a set of shirts' is not possible and if you are a Leyther why don't you know that ?

Perhaps on your next visit you would explain how Leigh Schools being covered by Leigh staff isn't parochialism.

Well Fred and I don't always agree' however his point is that youth who take up the game' should be encouraged whatever parish their trainers come from.

I think people forget how much "pie people" have contributed to our team over the years!
In recent memory would fans rather Keiron Purtill, Andy Fairclough, John Duffy, Chris Hill etc had not played for us?
I know it is a two way street and Betts, Gidart etc went the other way but we are too geographically close for it to be otherwise.
As long as we are a stand alone club I will welcome pie-eaters to the fold!
I did marry a Wiganner though so maybe I'm getting soft...

Its the fans forum on the 7th November, all with concerns(if they can wait till then) must attend and voice these concerns.
If people can't wait till then I suggest they ring the club or call in and see what the club tells them, rather then let other clubs fans, and managers wind them up.

Lynda I am grateful to you for asking, (like Alan and Fred do on occasions), but like others I wasn’t aware we even had a Partnership last season with any club, was you or anyone on here?

Doesn’t this make Harrison right, in that we do currently have a partnership with Wigan? Whether he’s right in the context of the new SL/Championships partnerships or our partnership is a different animal, I don’t know.

But unless the club come out and clarify it then they can’t moan if people get hold of the wrong end of a ty stick, and decide to keep away.

Paul did say, however" we were equal partners"

So it means that we are equal partners but there is no partnership. Couldn't be clearer.

Toady you are so right i to married a Wiganer , you forgot to add my owd mate Dave Ingram to this lot , they have all served the Leigh Club well id love to see youngsters like Lewis Tierney , and George Williams play at Leigh in a couple of years time , but again Leigh MUST be a Stand Alone club .

I don't believe that our independence is being jeopardised by any part of the current arrangement with Wigan. If I believed for a moment that it was then I'd be raising a resistance army and planning to march on Pieland to bring death and destruction.

The way I see it, neither club are under any onerous obligations.

]

There is a partnership. What there isn't is of the RFL's god awful formal twinning partnerships in place.

Very True Michael , i to would be Totally against anything that would threaten our Independance , but it wont happen , many Wiganers i know have been saying for a while now "We should help Leigh ", and i feel the D-R system does benefit both clubs , i was told this morning that young Sam Powell would be a good D-R for us .

The way you see what? I haven’t seen anything other than the RFL statement about twinning partnerships.

The DC arrangement was brought in by the RFL operating rules a couple of seasons back. Is it allowed in the RFL operating rules to have DC’s from a club without having their Twinning partnership agreement in place?

I know people are saying its not an issue it’s the same as last time, how do we know that, when most didn’t even know we had one last season

If we had this arrangement with Warrington, would you be as worried/concerned? Or is it because its Wigan?

If you’re asking me, its anyone

Trialist, loan’s, dc’s have always been part of the game, but formal partnerships with one other club, they deciding which 5 from 8 (or whatever it is) you can have*. Plus possibly supplying coaches (perhaps not this year but...), takes it to a whole new level.


*Yes I know they have decided previously if a certain dc is available or not, but at least we could tell them to stuff it and go elsewhere.

The way things stand at the moment, the D/C arrangement will work much like last season, except there will be 5, rather than 4, and it appears we may be restricted to taking them from one club. (and let's face it, there could be worse clubs than W***n to take them from) I honestly do not believe it will be a case of "perm 5 from 8" or any other number, although remember, last season we could use more than 4, (e.g. Brierley, Spencer, Laithwaite, Mendeika, Shaw, Nash) but could only have 4 at any one time.

Also, is there anything stopping us taking someone on LOAN, from say Warrington, in the new arrangement, which only appears to cover D/C's?

I do not believe the club has signed up to any actual arrangement with any SL club, as yet. Now, it could well be that they do enter into an arrangement with say W***n, but that arrangement would be for the mutual benefit of BOTH clubs. Whatever the arrangement, I cannot for the life of me see it being "twinning' or as a "feeder" club. Our BOD is acutely aware of our need to retain our name and independence, for the club to progress.