Does he have to?

depends what the club are prepared to offer him, would be a real bummer to lose him

We've plenty of young players but very few who could be called experienced.
H is one of those and IMO must be retained.
We are going to need all the experienced players we can keep hold of.
I'd like to se him finish his career at Wigan.

So would I and with a testimonial to boot.

If he wants to stay here and there is no indication he doesn't he knows what the SL salary cap is and so I can't see him asking for silly money but that said I'd have no problem with him being one of our highest paid players.

When you consider who is leaving we won't have many others who have done enough to warrant a high wage.

I really don't see what the problem is.

We know very little about the details behind this.
I think everyone is agreed that we should offer a contract for an appropriate length, at an appropriate level. In his favour, he seems a steady sort and has valuable experience. Given his age, he must merit a deal longer than a year, indeed you could understand his wish to have a longer deal than 2 years. I trust that IL and KR can see this as clearly as the next man. What we have no idea about is how much money he is looking for - someone suggested that he seems to be someone that wouldn't ask for the world. That is pure speculation - we have no idea what he or his agent are after. I suspect, given how long this is taking, they are asking for a lot. I have no idea whether that is true.
As to H the player, he is a hard worker and good tackler, and a decent runner. He has no passing game, and a dodgy wrist which may restrict him further as years go by (again simple speculation). I prefer Farrell and think Burke will be a better player in time, but then you need your Ian Potters to play alongside your Andy Goodways. Just don't pay a Potter a Goodway wage...

Seeing as we're going to lose a few players next season I think it's absolutely essential that H signs another contract.

If we're going to carry on bringing youth through then there are 5 key players we need to build the team around:

Lockers - Pretty sure he has another few years in him and is still a fantastic player in his own right

Faz - Just signed a new deal so no worries about him leaving but will be a key player to have on the team sheet every week.

H - As already mentioned above, a massively underrated player who never fails to give 100%. We desperately need him in my opinion.

Josh and Daz - Obvious reasons really, great partnership who never fail to impress.

Jesus, how could I forget!

Surely we must have a fair bit of space under the cap. I'd be very disappointed to see him leave to another SL club unless they're paying well over the odds or his wrists are well and truly shot

Heard a rumour that Hull are interested too to replace Tickle and Galea

I'd be surprised if they weren't given H's quality but the ball is in our court.

With all the players leaving and the fact players of Hansen's class are becoming a scarcity in SL I hope not to be hearing excuses that we were outbid for his services.

Would I be right in saying that only half of his salary would count under the cap next year seen as he made his debut in 2004?

I think you can only do that with one player and we currently do that with Lockers

I've no doubt the correct contract is either in place or to be negotiated by Ian Lenegan whether we win the services of Hansen or not.

Whether it's Harrison Hansen or any other player, we shouldn't match or beat any other clubs offer if it's over what Wigan feels is the right contract value for that player.

At the end of the day Wigan RL are a business and have salary cap regulations to work within.

agreed. similar position to tuson and hock. we make the offer that we can afford, based upon the strengths of the team. in the back row we have lots of options so can afford to be fair (very important that), but without going OTT.
if rival bids come in, then we can re-assess.