[quote="Stu M":3jx8lsxc]Staggered by this to be honest, I really am, for a number of reasons. Wigan have acted like a huge club again, forward thinking and from what I am hearing, Peet and Radlinski have outlined a plan and shown some real faith in Vaughan in particular. I have heard the other side of the story but I'm not putting that on here. What is clear is that we have sleep walked yet again and our biggest rivals have beaten us to the punch. Its just another sign of the general malaise at the club that after feeling positive with the signings, the new assistant coaches and the feel good nature of pre-season and the players comments, that the Salford defeat, Knowles leaving and now this has just added to the negativity. What I don't get though is the plan that Wigan will have. Vaughan is a competitor who didn't really do loads last season but there was also mitigation for that. He has been Lancashire and England Academy captain and is a terrific leader. A die hard Saints fan who has now signed for the enemy. However Wigan don't need to poach Academy lads when they have the best Academy in the comp. What now happens to their young lads? Walters, Nsemba and Farrell will be the back rows and that's without the Wigan Academy lads Where does Sambou get a look in with Eckersley and Wardle. What then happens with Nathan Lowe who is extremely highly rated at Wigan, unless they are looking at a wing spot but then of course there is Jacob Douglas. Sambou isn't the one that I am that worried about, he's coming off the back of a bad injury and Dagnall and Robertson are ahead of him. He may or may not turn out to be a good player. I've argued with Saints fans about my worry of Wigan being the Man City of Rugby league and effectively turning the comp into a procession each year. Whilst that's great for Wigan fans it's not great for the game. They can't buy everyone but their financial strength means that no one can get near them. I agree with NK that I can see both players being bought out and coming a year early. They simply can't stay at Saints and why should Saints invest in any sort of development for them when they are going to Wigan. We should let them rot and not play them nor send them out on dual reg but if they went earlier, we save a bit of SC and get them away from the environment. What I will say though is that after Peet's comments about Matty Nicholson, it's quite ironic and I wonder what he would say now? Also there were lots on here saying that Vaughan isn't really all that when they were mocking the "golden generation" Saints talk about. Funny how the narrative changes From Saints point of view we simply have to wake up and start to act like a big club again. We have gone from the most dominant team in RL to a laughing stock in 2 years. I get that Wigan fans will laugh at this and love it. Of course they will but Wigan need a strong Saints so be careful what you wish for. The sport needs a strong Saints and Wigan and at the minute and seemingly for the foreseeable future, there is only one powerhouse.[/quote:3jx8lsxc] I’m a little uneasy with the signings as I’d much prefer the Wigan lads been given a chance. I hated the Nicholson situation and so did Peet but he let himself down with those comments (wire academy has improved since) Be interesting to know the terms of the contract I imagine Vaughan will be long term and it may just be a 1 year flyer on Sambo. Stu im wondering how Wigans financial power is having an impact, yes we can get the best Marque players (French, Thompson and Field/Nsemba) but the rest of the squad we still have the same constraints as everyone?

[quote="NickyKiss":3w0rlnml]Aside from all the Saints and Wigan rivalries, this move highlights how determined Danson seems to be to ensure Wigan keep being successful, not only in the short term but in the longer term also. Looking at what Stu was saying, it sounds like even more of an emphasis is being placed on getting the very best kids as well, so the academy should keep churning them out. I have no doubt if any of Wigans best players leave then we'll see top quality replacements brought. This cannot be the Maurice Lindsay era all over again due to the salary cap but having the finance to spend as much as is allowed and to keep bringing the best juniors to the club will make sure we continue to be there or thereabouts.[/quote:3w0rlnml] I was told very early on re Danson’s ownership that he was committed to making our academy the best set up in the country and that he funded a lot of the cost associated with this from the outset with his links to the club. It’s interesting that in recent years more and more of the scholarship lads are from outside of the town. In the near future it wouldn’t surprise me if we start to pick up a few RU lads as well.

[quote="Stu M":130ccu7m]One of the reasons I come on here is to get different opinions, its balanced and nice to see. You make some good points but our frustrations are more wide ranging. Giving 3 year deals to Walmsley (old and can't stay fit) Lomax (gone as a player now) and then extending Hurrell after a serious injury and bigger than ever is beyond negligence. Percival is another who can't stay fit and we are going into a season with no announcements of Lees and Knowles yet when we all know Knowles is off. They wont want to tell us as its his testimonial year. To have 18 players OOC at the end of the season is staggeringly incompetent. This from the same club that used to make ruthless decisions, letting Coote go because Welsby was coming through etc. We've lost that connection with the fans that Holbrook brought in, the community stuff has gone. We have a media department that tells us very little and when it does, articles are littered with typos and errors. Its amateurish at best. On and off the field we've massively regressed (Liverpool women agreement apart) Don't get me wrong it always looks worse when our biggest rivals can't do anything wrong but there's a lot wrong with us at the moment.[/quote:130ccu7m] At the moment it looks like our longer term planning is much more focused than yours but it doesn’t guarantee that it will deliver success. I think that you will get off to flyer this season and if you do the current negativity will decrease pretty rapidly. From the outside looking in it looks like you have put a significant amount of faith in your youngsters which with Stephen’s, Whitby and Robertson you could have 3 very special players. For the coming season you need a relatively injury free season to obtain some silverware and I wouldn’t underestimate the value of Briers in transforming your style of play and ability to win crucial games. Don’t get me wrong I’d much sooner be in our position than yours but if a week is a long time in politics and 2 or 3 wins on the bounce can totally transform the vibes throughout the club. For all of the above I’m still enjoying the “fallout” that the signings have delivered but I’m also aware that success in sport is cyclical but hopefully our cycle has several seasons to go before we get overtaken. Interesting times.

[quote="Phuzzy":3rjckgei] You mention the other side of the negotiations. Was this conducting them by message as rumoured on Redvee or something more?[/quote:3rjckgei] Not in relation to how the negotiations were conducted, more in a reason for him leaving. Ordinarily I wouldn't give it much credence as it could be sour grapes but its come from two separate people who are well connected at Saints so its made me think. Regardless of that there's no point trying to make out we haven't had our pants pulled down. We have. It's not a Connolly or Platt situation but if he goes on to have a great career then we will have egg on our face.

[quote="Itchy Arsenal":n58l5mmh]At the moment it looks like our longer term planning is much more focused than yours but it doesn’t guarantee that it will deliver success. I think that you will get off to flyer this season and if you do the current negativity will decrease pretty rapidly. From the outside looking in it looks like you have put a significant amount of faith in your youngsters which with Stephen’s, Whitby and Robertson you could have 3 very special players. For the coming season you need a relatively injury free season to obtain some silverware and I wouldn’t underestimate the value of Briers in transforming your style of play and ability to win crucial games. Don’t get me wrong I’d much sooner be in our position than yours but if a week is a long time in politics and 2 or 3 wins on the bounce can totally transform the vibes throughout the club. For all of the above I’m still enjoying the “fallout” that the signings have delivered but I’m also aware that success in sport is cyclical but hopefully our cycle has several seasons to go before we get overtaken. Interesting times.[/quote:n58l5mmh] You'll probably sign Robertson now... In all seriousness those 3 are very good players and I believe Stephens has signed a new 4 year deal. Robertson has been training at centre pre-season and again this has been offered up as a reason for Vaughan's disillusionment in that he is not starting. I think this Salford game in R1 is huge. Lose that and the atmosphere will very quickly become toxic. Depending on what team Salford are able to field will make a huge difference. If the takeover isn't complete then they can't play most of the players is my understanding. With a full strength team they are more than capable of beating us and Wellens plans of only having one pre-season friendly and resting half of the team will come back big time to bite him.

[quote="Itchy Arsenal":1lva10cn]I was told very early on re Danson’s ownership that he was committed to making our academy the best set up in the country and that he funded a lot of the cost associated with this from the outset with his links to the club. It’s interesting that in recent years more and more of the scholarship lads are from outside of the town. In the near future it wouldn’t surprise me if we start to pick up a few RU lads as well.[/quote:1lva10cn] It's a great time to be a Wigan fan, that's for sure. I see the odd comment on social media and on various forums about how we're doing things that wouldn't have happened under Lenagan but that's unfair IMO. He didn't have the wealth of Danson and should be thanked for selling the club on to a guy who seems to not only care about it but has the finance to help make it successful. He did many important things for Wigan Lenagan but that is probably the biggest of the lot.