My point is our panic about the clubs perceived lack of movement on strengthening the forwards especially. If we are not in the market (which I do not really believe) then we must expect players to emerge from the ranks. SW has already said that Tiereny will get more game time. Chris Chester at HKR has just given the line about Burke being the perfect replacement for
SOL but their forum is pretty damning about him but positive on Greenwood by comparison. Does anybody have an opinion/information on the other
lads like Lever, Faz minor and Dorian?

I don't think that Lever or Doran will be at Wigan next year. Connor Farrell will be a squad player. I'm expecting the likes of Bretherton, Gildart and Waterworth will get some first team game time. I'd also expect that Shorrocks, Gregson, Fell etc will go out on loan/dual reg.

How good would you say Gildart is? He certainly looks like a talent in attack, his highlights at Salford showed that but what's his defence like? Will he be able to handle much more developed players, especially the 2nd rows that will pop up in his channel.

He'll probably struggle a bit, but that is only to be expected. Look at Mark Percival at Saints a young player I have always rated highly. He has had his problems defensively but is gradually getting there. As I said I would hope Gildart gets 5 - 10 first team games next season and then spends some time on loan or dual reg. He is still young (19 today) so has a lot of rugby in him, plus he has played at #1 and #6 in the past.

It is a shame if Lever cannot kick on. He was a star at u19s but I did wonder when he went out on loan to cc2.
On a completely diffrent matter whatever happened to the lad with the 2 year drugs ban from South Wales.

Seen a bit of Lever in the Academy and thought his time in the lower leagues was with a view to him being around the first team next year? Not sure how he has gone in first grade but expected him to kick on.

Rhys Pugsley?
He's still banned until June 2016.

The system, as it is, doesn't really, provide a straight forward pathway into SL especially if you are not the finished product by 20 as few forwards are. At the end of the day it is like riding a rollercoaster at Blackpool, realistically of you are not bigger than this you cannot use this ride. A lot of talented lads are lost at the end of u19s. True most would never make the grade, but some eventually could. For some there is the pressure to get big quickly that can have a negative effect. I still think that Powell needs to drop a bit of muscle to help him speed up around the ruck.

I don't know why he's been bulked up. He's not taking the line on anymore then usual and he always hit hard in the tackle.

Well, no, and dummy-half is hardly primarily a defensive position anyway. And he's certainly shown nothing to suggest that he should be preferred to Williams in the halves, far from it.

Ironically thought Powell was good tonight.

Oh no, I am agreeing with you again. He added a bit of spark when he came on I thought. One of the few games I have seen him bring something different to the team when he came on rather than just being a rotation by the clock for MM.

It is good to see Powell earning some positive reviews. I agree that he needs to offer something a bit diffrent when MM goes off. One of my main criticisms of him is as a leader. One reason that he looks so slow passing from the ruck is that his support players are hardly busting a gut to get there. He needs to give one or two a kick up the backside.

Was Powell that good or was McIlorum just really poor? I've re-watched the game and still can't decide.

A few weeks ago Wane was talking about Rhodri Lloyd filling in at centre but it looks like he will end up at Swinton full/part time in the graveyard of ex-Wigan players. At least their fans seem positive about Lever.