I was wondering where the squad was at in terms of age. This is how old they will be at the end of this season.

field 28
miski 30
keighran 28
wardle 26
marshall 29
french 29
smith 25
havard 24
leeming 30
thompson 30
nsemba 21
farrell 35
ellis 29

forber 22
dupree 25
byrne 26
mago 30

24 walters
21 eckersley
23 oneill
36 isa
21 douglas
19 farrimond
22 hill

Farrell is the one who obviously hasn't got long left but we already have a potential replacement in Walters.

The wingers are approaching 30 so could maybe do with a replacement but I think Douglas and Eckersley will be pencilled in as potential backline replacements, although Eckersley maybe more likely to replace Keighran sooner rather than later.

Then we have Thompson, Mago and Ellis all approaching 30 but we have plenty of young middle forwards too.

The big one will be eventually replacing Field and French but hopefully we are a few years off that and by that time if Farrimond is as good as people expect he will be that might cover for one of them.

All in all I think we are in a good place in terms of succession planning but I'm sure they will be looking for the next big thing. I don't think anyone knew people like French, Field and Wardle would be as good as they have been when we signed them so it's hard to say who is out there who could really improve us.

There are loads of players who are pound for pound better players than some of the Wigan players but it's always going to be a case of fitting anybody under the salary cap and the balance Wigan have at the moment is as good as I can remember. We have a great mix of youth and experience and also balance in terms of skillsets and one player offsetting anothers weaknesses and vice versa (French's individual threat alongside Smith's kicking game and organisational skills being one or Havard and Thompson being great athletes and doing long minutes alongside the impact Mago can provide being another example).

Longer term, I think second row is the position we'll need to keep an eye on, with Farrell and Isa coming towards the end, Nsemba always being a chance of wanting to test himself in the NRL and Walters yet to fully prove himself. Thinking about players across the league, there aren't loads of options jumping out. The lack of development of good players across the league these past few years (outside of Wigan and Saints and more latterly Warrington) is pretty startling and is a major reason why the comp is being dominated by Saints and now Wigan. Maybe a play to bring James McDonnell back as a replacement for Isa, in the workhorse mould. I'd also be keeping an eye on how Nicholson settles in Australia and as much as his exit from here was a bit of a kick in the teeth, I wouldn't cut off our nose if he decides to come back to the UK and we need a second rower.

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/su ... n-develops Clubs have voted, no cap or quota dispensations, can't decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I imagine at the least this puts us out of the running for any players. It is a good thing in the fact that it doesn't bring the equality of the sport into question, as it would have been unfair to let some clubs break the salary cap outside of the rules. If we are to have a salary cap, it should at least be adhered to by all. But it could be a bad thing if it comes to Salford banking on these sales to stay afloat and there is essentially not enough teams with both appetite and salary cap space to achieve this. Hopefully this doesn't even become a factor and the reported investment comes off in time. We must surely be running out of time for that though with how this has all played out.

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/su ... n-develops Clubs have voted, no cap or quota dispensations, can't decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I imagine at the least this puts us out of the running for any players. It is a good thing in the fact that it doesn't bring the equality of the sport into question, as it would have been unfair to let some clubs break the salary cap outside of the rules. If we are to have a salary cap, it should at least be adhered to by all. But it could be a bad thing if it comes to Salford banking on these sales to stay afloat and there is essentially not enough teams with both appetite and salary cap space to achieve this. Hopefully this doesn't even become a factor and the reported investment comes off in time. We must surely be running out of time for that though with how this has all played out.