Quote: Cruncher "I'm starting to agree. As I've mentioned in another thread, I think this 'coming home clause' is nothing more than a safety net for players who are not as committed to the Wigan cause as we'd like them to be.
I think it seemed like a good idea at the time - gave us a kind of insurance policy against losing too many of our young stars, but it must also make it an easier decision for players who are thinking about leaving, because it means they can simply come back if it all goes wrong. But what does that really say about the players' attitude to Wigan? Not much, in truth - which may explain why none of them, thus far, have done anything of note on their return'"
Have we re-signed any player who left for positive reasons? I mean by that most if not all seem to have left contracts early because they were either homesick or things were not going so well. That in itself should not mean they are poor when they get back but they all seem to have had the stuffing knocked out of them. RU and the NRL have taken players off us at their peak or for young players who have impressed but none of them have returned having lit up the places they went to and having been on top form before they came back.
I also think this re-signing idea makes the club lazy in its scouting. If we decided we needed a new 7 instead of Matty Smith was TL the only player we considered? Was there a need to re-sign Lee Mossop? I think part of the reason was IL felt like he was going to get lynched if he didn't try and do something about what seemed like a constant exodus of players at one point but the effect has seemingly been to limit where the club looks for players in a desire to prove this can work and that they do indeed come back. I am sure if Budgie or Sam T had come back and signed for Leeds or whoever there would have been a meltdown so he was between a rock and a hard place but going forward I think we can say this idea has not worked and the club should have the confidence to say "no" to a player who wants to return if they don't fit in with what we need.
