And there was me thinking the transfer fees will be ploughed back into the club's youth development programmes in Wigan and South Wales for the long term benefit of both club and country.
Farrell's 5 year contract ensures we will also get a fee should he decide to go to the NRL.
Only Salford can afford a higher salary cap. We need more people watching, playing, paying to watch and sponsoring our game which may eventuate from our best players going to the NRL and us beating the Aussies.

IL is trying to insulate the club from an exodus of players to the NRL or Union.
Saints lost Graham and have suffered for it, Laffranchi was brought in to replace him and simply hasn't done. Nor was he ever going to. A very poor replacement!
The Burgess's left Bradford. The Bulls can't replace quality players as those and haven't done.
Last year we lost Carmont, TL, Finch & Lima. Replaced by Thornley, Smith Green and Taylor. Hock left mid season and replaced by Farrell who's been brilliant.
Have we suffered? Well, to me no, we are top of the league and a points difference far better than our closest rivals.
Mossop had it in his contract that he could go to the NRL so the contract has been ahered to following the player's request.
I do think IL & SW have thought this out well in advance of the player movements mentioned above.
Both men, especially IL, appear to be far more than one step ahead of the rest, including us!

Ironically isn't Powell on a 2 and a half year deal with Mossop going for that amount of time? He'll return as the replacement for a probably retiring Powell hopefully a better player from his time in the NRL.

That's how it would seem. Powell will, in effect act as a "stop gap" for Mossop until he returns. As I said, great business.

Long wrote the book on winning grand finals. We have a terrific coaching team. I don't buy all this "he used to be a tool" who cares? It's the same people that say "wane has no media skills"......so what??

The biggest question to come out of all this is are we still allowed to boo Sean Long?

You're a 'glass half empty' type of guy, aren't you?

Long was in court on assault charges in January. He didn't used to be a tool, he is a tool, and we're giving him a position of great influence over our youngsters.

Another Wigan supporter who knows more about rectruitment than IL and his staff. You don't think any of this was reviewed or brought up in an interview? You don't think it was discussed by people with 500 times the RL knowledge of anyone on here??

Not often I say this but I think Andy Wilson is bang on with his first point here about the implications of this morning's press conference for the game as a whole.

[urlhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/apr/23/rugby-league-set-of-six-nrl[/url

Yeah, it's a sad state of affairs, but I suppose we need to deal with it rather than just sit there and wish it would go away.

Unlike this guy...

[urlhttp://www1.skysports.com/rugby-league/news/12211/8665172/Leeds-Rhinos-insist-star-centre-Kallum-Watkins-not-going-to-NRL[/url