Quote Father Ted="Father Ted"If Hansen went to Salford at the end of next season we wouldn't get anything as he's out of contract. He may well go. That would hardly be a disaster as we are not short of back rowers. '"
It wouldn't be a disaster because he will have fulfilled his contract and given us value for money. It would be a shame if he left as I am sure he will have plenty left in the tank and I'd like to think we would try and retain his services. Not sure what H has got to do with the Tomkins situation though.
Quote Father TedAs far as I'm concerned Ian Lenagan has done the best deal he can for Wigan RL. The new reality is that 75% of players would go to Union or the NRL if they had a chance. So the players Union tells us.
IL is ring fencing Wigan's finances by signing our best players on long term contracts, not to stop them going as he has always known he can't but to ensure he has a legal right to compensation. He has exacted that to an astoundingly successful degree.'"
He has done nothing new at all here. Ever since the contract system came in we have given players long contracts and others not so long. We have plenty of players currently on short contracts such as Taylor and Burke. Why aren't these and others on five year deals if his contracts are designed in the way you say?
Quote Father TedIt is suggested that Wigan RL will get £700k for Sam, £100k for Mossop and £250k for Hock. That's over £1m for players , apart from Hock, who wanted to play in the NRL. OK so that will probably arrive over the years of the player's contract. That's still far bettter than Saints got for Graham and Eastmond and what we got for Ashton, which of course was sod all!
'"
Sants enjoyed the services of Graham and Eastmond for the duration of their contracts. I am pretty sure Graham was on a long contract anyway and Saints simply chose not to sell him early and cash in.
Quote Father TedSome have asked as to where's the money going, well perhaps to pay off some of the club's debts. Can't find my copy of the 2011 accounts but in 2010 we had £ms of debts. 2012 Accounts aren't available yet, not to me anyway.
As to Lenegan pocketing the money himself, well as yet he hasn't paid himself anything as Chairman and Owner of the club. If he paid himself £100k then it would be less than half Nigel Wood is getting and there's no comparison as to the ability and business acumen of the two men. He has also invested heavily in facilities like Central Park, Orrell training Ground, South Wales and is improving the scouting system. '"
This is only to be expected. It's his job.
Quote Father TedA lot of mention has been written on here as to how IL has handled the Sam business and what he has or has not said.
What is significant to me is that when he first bought the club and had a fans forum at the Deanery he said he aquired the club to win trophies.
Either at that meeting or a later one he also said that having a profitable club was an important part of securing Wigan RL's future. Well, he's acheived both those targets. Maybe his next is to have a debt free club. '"
I don't see why you link how he's handled the Sam situation (poorly) to what he said when he first bought the club except to deflect criticism. It's not black and white that he is all good or all evil. He gets some things right and some things wrong. He's handled the Sam situation badly but that doesn't mean the new CP is a poor idea, nor does the new CP mean we should dismiss how he's handled the Sam situation.
Quote Father TedSam is a fabulous player and the best we've seen for a very long time. We've also seen some other very good players leave.
All this is part and parcel. As for my attitude, it's brought about by my experiences of watching Wigan RL.
When I started following the club mid/late fifties Eric Ashton was the captain. He was the captain of Wigan, Lancashire, Great Britain and a World Cup winning captain. When Eric rertired around 1969/70 I thought the Wigan Rugby League world was about to end. Also with Billy going about the same time.
After that, well, players come and players go, Sam came through the academy and is going. Nothing though, but nothing compares to losing Eric and Billy within a year or so, absolutely nothing!
Lenagan is around my age, if not my age and will have seen the same games, players, finals, trophies as me. Maybe he and I have the same attitude, players come and players go, so do Club Chairmen.
As we all say and believe, no one person is bigger than the Wigan RL. No one!
Ian Lenegan is securing the future of Wigan RL more than any of us thought possible and far better than most of his predessors.
Well Done Mr Lenegan and Thanks.'"
Sorry but the fact other players leave has got nothing to do with the circumstances Sam left under. All good things come to and end and I have been sad to see many a player leave but this is not the normal situation where a player leaves to retire.
