It seems that Hankinson himself doesn’t even know. Someone posted on his Instagram at the weekend asking why he hadn’t been recalled to Wigan. And his response was just the emoji of shrugging shoulders.

He (Lam) definitely did say that.

Like many have said, it's an easy one to put to bed. If he can't be recalled, then that's fair enough, but why don't they just say either way.

It's the little things that start to pee people off.

Lam definitely confirmed at one point that he could be recalled. He either got that wrong, really doesn’t rate him to the point where he’d rather keep shuffling players around or we can’t fit him under the cap.

I fully realise that I sound like a broken record, but the whole situation makes zero sense.

He signed a new deal before we went out on loan, that must mean that someone thought he had a use. Now that someone might not be Lam, but it doesn't paint a good picture of everything being joined up. I'll fully accept that I can't be wrong, but sometimes perception is almost as important as the real thing - especially to outsiders/recruits coming in.

It's one example of how poor our recruitment is. Over stacked in some positions, undercooked in others and players on contracts that don't make sense - Clubb, Hank, 3 years for some guys etc.

rlhttps://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/wigan-warriors-chris-hankinson-loan-20219324rl

So why are Lam and Hankinson himself seemingly under the impression that he can be recalled? All Lam or Hankinson have to say when questioned are that he can't be recalled, yet Lam's response back in March was "we haven't talked about that yet." Hankinson's responses to people who have asked him directly and responses on social media suggest he believes he can be recalled. Matthew Shaw seems relatively well connected and it seems highly likely the comment in the article confirming Hankinson can be recalled at any time came from a source who would know the answer.

Whether Hank can be recalled or not is irrelevant. It’s a red herring here. The one thing that could reignite our season is the sacking of our hopelessly lost coach immediately. There’s patently no guarantee that it will reignite our season but it can’t get much worse.

I’ve been banging this drum since the end of 2019. He wasn’t the coach for us then, he still isn’t now. I just can’t believe IL believes (or seemingly believes) he is.