Has he actually signed anything legally binding? Not that contracts are worth much these days, especially if a rich RU club wanted to buy him out of his Wigan contract (if he really did sign one)?

Hasn't IL got previous on this...an attempt on safeguarding season ticket stating Bateman is signed to return after Australia which appears rubbished by him.

If he's not signed he shouldn't have been paraded in front of the media and plastered all over the website as the coach from 2020.

I would expect there's a middle ground, probably in Edwards favour; an opt out clause. Only speculating of course.

If Edwards isn't a done deal with ink well dried on his contract, IL has some front pulling this over the fans, an out and out disgrace.

Same could be said about John Batemans 'return'. Someone here is being increasingly disrespectful to the fans and people of Wigan. Either IL or Edwards with his choice of language and wording in interviews etc.

Whether there's a contract or not, it always seems to be the case that people can wriggle out of it. For example, all the talk today is when George Williams will leave and where he'll go - with no-one attaching significance to the fact that he's contracted to Wigan for another two years.

It's an absolute choker, because it always seems to be British RL who get the s**t end of the stick when it comes to this sort of thing.

I've no doubt that IL has signed Edwards to a contract. But if Edwards genuinely wants out, what else can they do other than find a way to make it happen? You can't have a coach who doesn't want to be here.

It's Edwards I'm mainly annoyed with, because even if he has changed his mind, he should NOT be giving newspaper interviews like this. It shows a cavalier attitude, which makes the whole sport, but Wigan RL in particular, look pathetically unimportant.

It was Dave Woods 5live interview podcast.

Could it be along the lines of ?

Edwards " Mr Lenegan I think we need to sign some world class players for when I become coach, I talked about it when I was announced as coach and know exactly how I would like to develop the team"

Lenegan. " Sorry Shaun, no money"

Edwards " If I become coach"

Hypothetical of course.

Hard to say whether the blame for this uncertainty lies with Edwards himself or the club management at the moment, but the longer it goes on, the more poorly it reflects on both parties.

The most cynical interpretation is either the club hyping a possibility in the hope of increased season ticket sales or an ex-club legend trading on his reputation to bolster options in the other code.

I'm not prepared to go there yet - but one side or the other ought to nip this in the bud and clarify the actual situation.

Edwards comments certainly don't seem like the comments of someone who is committed to the cause and looking forward to the challenge. It's almost as if he sees coming to Wigan as a brief hiatus from his proper job - the job that he really wants to get back to. Maybe I'm being cynical, but I can't help but think these comments are more of a 'come and tempt me' plea to England rugby union.

We might as well forget this charade now before it goes on any further. Lam 'doing a year' at Wigan is fine because he's the interim coach, but a so called permanent head coach who sees it as 'doing a year or two' (he supposedly has a 3 year contract??) isn't really taking the whole thing seriously at all.

We already pretty much know that Lenagan was lying when he said he was searching all over for our next head coach because he then said he always wanted Edwards. He's basically gone out of his way to try to tempt Edwards regardless of the suitability of other coaches available - and it seems like he's really had to sell it to him and still Edwards isn't fully buying it.

I concur with most posters; the more I hear about this, the less I like it. Surely a statement by the Club is needed sooner rather than later?

In all honesty im not that fussed if he comes or not. I would like to see what he can do as head coach but im less than certain that he would be the major success that most people think he would. 20 years away from the game is a long time and he has no RL coaching experience. The whole thing is a gamble to start with that could go either way.

We should have got him for this season and next fine coach who is doing miracles with next to money at Salford

This combined with a slow start is all very demoralising.

I said it before and I’ll say it again, I don’t know what all the fuss is about Edwards. It’s like people are thinking he’s the second coming. If he coaches us fine, if he doesn’t then I won’t be losing any sleep over it.

He's certainly making himself a less attractive proposition. Even if he arrived, how long would he last? Could we ever trust him to put the club's interests ahead of his next big gig in Union?