Not sure if it is official or not but he is joining Salford.

It was the right decision by Wigan.

He's been immense recently, but that's after a long period of being mediocre / losing his job.

I gather he's on a big wage too.

Immense?? Really

Done more than Manfredi has since his return!

Joe Burgess is a very good player and certainly better than hype jobs like Marshall or Grace for example.

He's got size and a solid skill set which means, even when he's coasting, he's a valuable player to have around.

Not sure thats very fair on Marshall. Hes done very well for Wigan

He's been fantastic in attack, but poor in defence imo.

I'd happily lose his few moments of magic, for a more rounded player that gives his centre partner confidence.

His defence has improved massively. I was always in the Davies > Marshall camp based on their defence but fair play to him he has clearly worked on it.

I think that was true a season or 2 ago but the difference between then and now is marked in my opinion. He has improved his defense an awful lot since his first season in the first team

Do i think Burgess is the better player? Yes. But only when he can be bothered. Effort isnt the only thing that should be considered but its a big part of the equation for me. Jist look at Isa as a good example

He has improved, but for me he's still a way off what I'd expect for a starting winger in our first team. This isn't aimed at you btw, but I genuinely despair when I see fans being happy with starting players who have some major flaws in their games.

I'll always hold the belief that if you're a regular starter at Wigan then you should be at a certain level with your game and certainly not have any major flaws. Every number from 1 - 13 in the Wigan team has, at some point, been given to some of the best players to ever play the game. Now I'm not saying we can have a Boston, Robinson or Richards every year, but we should have at least have a player that doesn't have a major weakness.

That may seem harsh, but I think we've all been guilty of accepting slipping standards when it comes to what constitutes a Wigan player.

Pre-lockdown Marshall was the form winger in the league IMO

This is exactly what I'm talking about.

Watch the Wakey game again as an example. He scores a cracker, but is all over the shop for two of their trys (simple walk-ins as he bunched in on the centre).

Form in attack - possibly, but there's more to the game than being a good finisher.

We're in danger of going off topic, but having just watched those tries back I haven't a clue how you're blaming him for that last try. They had a 3 on 2, so he took the man furthest inside. If he doesn't do that then the centre scores. They should score every time in that situation (in fact teams tend to practice that exact drill in warmup).

The one before that is the team as a whole really, the line sits back. Farrell is slow to slide over which means Bibby lets his centre get to his outside shoulder. Marshall probably should have gone for the centre earlier or trusted Bibby to still deal with him (even though he had got to his outside), but his inside defenders have left him with work to do there.

Would you descride it as immense?

Gareth Hock was the most frustrating Wigan player ever. On his day, he was the most devastating second rower in the world bar none ! He had skill to burn, ( but he didn't know it). But unfortunately for him, he screwed it all up. I've been watching Wigan since 1958. My parents since the late 1920's, and my grandparents since 1900 if not before, as my Grandad was born in 1883. Hock was good.