This is the part that surprises me.
Huddersfield have Marsters, Naiquama, Cudjoe and Bibby available for the centre positions, how many games will Halsall get there or will he be pushed out on loan.

I remember when Iain Thornley was a huge loss to international RL.

Wigan will undoubtedly be better served in the short term by the players they have signed than the players they have let go.

Sam Halsall is 21, Wardle only a couple of years older at 23. Its not as if we've replaced him with someone in his early to mid 30s.

Although he's been part of the deal to get Wardle, I think the general feeling is on recent form King hasn't been great so maybe Halsall would have been a better option, and on far less money.

I've been told by 2 people, oen close to Wigan and one very close to Warrington that King was on £150k/£180k and Warrington are paying £30k of that (Whichever of the 150/180 he's on). That's a considerable amount more than what Halsall would have been on.

Obviously the staff see Halsall every day and they obviously didn't fancy him. The writing is on the wall when Isa, Farrell, Bateman, KPP are all being picked at centre ahead of you. When he has played he's not been spectacular and he's also not let anyone down. At 21 years old I would hope he'd have started to nail down that spot though. I do remember the uproar of Hankinson not being played and eventually leaving the club. People were saying then that it's a disgrace and it would come back to haunt us. He's in the Championship with Toulouse.

What's Morgan Escare up to these days?

I think the key issue here is wardle. He clearly wasn’t happy at missing out on the CC and felt he should have played (I don’t agree - he lost the shirt and the player he lost it to did nothing wrong to relinquish it- that to me is how it should be) wardle was given the chance to play on the wing, that would have given him the opportunity to play himself back into the side but he didn’t want to take it and wanted to play at centre. Wardle has a poor injury record, he missed two years of academy rugby as a result of serious knee problems, which caused knock on issues elsewhere and these seem to be a weak spot and he regularly seems to have had shorter lay offs since and that’s why he’s lost his place. It must be terribly frustrating for him as he is an excellent player when he stays fit, but he just couldn’t manage to cement that place. All he needs is an injury free season which seems to have alluded him.
Watson is quite clear to the players he signs what is expected of them in the regard of places and playing for them, and keeping them. Sam will know where he stands and must have accepted that.

That's the crux of the argument and i think it's a solid enough point to be making. It isn't about Wardle, it's about King. We've moved for King, even tho Hudds wanted him and moved on a prospect to Hudds too. Seems a little bizarre.

For me, the backline next year is fairly experienced and we could have either carried Halsall somewhat (something that happens with most young players), or phased him in over the season instead of Thornley. Next year you flip that and Thornley is in his last year and turns into the cover option.

I liked Halsall, but I'd definitely take Wardle/King over him.

Same with Shaun Ainscough. Hell ... same with Mark Cannon. Anyone remember him? We replaced him with Brett Kenny, and quite unbelievably, some people complained about that.

To be fair to Hankinson he’s done well at Tolouse and apparently being looked at by other Superleague clubs. I’d say his stock his higher now than it’s ever been.

If Halsall goes on to ‘make it’ I guarantee he will end up signing for Saints. Better for him to go there from giants than us. His family are huge saints fans. I always felt either way we would have never got the best of him.

One of the most perplexing things about Lam's time at Wigan was his use, or should I say non-use, of Hankinson. At times we had both Isa and Faz at centre and flogged kids half to death in what was already a weak pack. All the while Hankinson was out on loan.

Baffling to say the least.