I get it, I really do. I think in time we can improve the position but I do feel the need for that leadership and experience is pretty important for us next year, especially if somebody like Sam Powell is off. If we could get a guaranteed hit from the NRL, one who is experienced and brings leadership, that would’ve been ideal but there doesn’t look many options knocking about
(Not on the off contract list anyway).

If we do sign Mago back on, I can live with it. I look at how we’re going now and losing King and KPP is a blow but Keighran and Walters replace them. I think Leeming is an upgrade on Powell and Chan adds an extra option. We can add Cooper, Havard and Isa back in to a side, that is flying at the minute (obviously Dupree has already been brought in). Nsemba looks outstanding and Hill will be all the better for his games this year. There will be good competition for places in the forwards. Guys like Byrne, Havard, Smithies and O’Neill will be another year on in their development also, so I think we’re in a really healthy place regardless.

I’m a bit of a lone voice but I’m slightly underwhelmed by the changes so far in 2024.
King out Keighran in. No major improvement.
KPP out Walters in. No major improvement.
To cover the exits is good but I want improvements on where we are not just to stand still.
Leeming in. Currently I don’t understand this signing.
Chan could be anything.

I totally agree about another year in our young guys but if for instance Isa is in the starting 13 most weeks then I just don’t see any real significant improvement in our forwards where I still think we are somewhat short of a really good pack. Mago has improved but from such a low bar it wasn’t particularly difficult and will anyone be surprised if he goes back to being an ineffective 15 minutes per game passenger?
I know I will sound like a moaner but when I look at the net impact I just see standing still.

Again, I can get where you’re coming from with all that and maybe it’s just the current run giving a feel good factor but I’m happy with how things are shaping up. A young squad means there is so much room for current players to keep improving. I think we’ll see French far more comfortable at 6 as well. A starting 4 prop rotation of Byrne, Havard, Ellis and Dupree looks strong, with Cooper to come back in and Mago, Chan and Hill in the wings. We’ve got two good hookers IMO and a nice balance between both, 2 experienced second rowers and 2 potentially top class young ones and Smithies gets better and better at 13.


There is still potential for us signing a player not on quota. We paid cash for Dupree and if they’ve got cap space and see a realistic British player, there’s no saying Danson won’t say ‘go for it’.

I spoke to someone from the management team last week and he was suggesting that there won’t be another signing for 2024. Since that conversation the rumours about Farrell have grown so maybe his signing will be the cherry on top of the cake.
As you say there is a feel good factor at the moment but we are far far removed from being a really good team and I was expecting new signings to significantly improve the standard of the team. I’m looking for us to be the dominant team for the next few years and the current 2024 squad doesn’t look like it is capable of delivering silverware on an annual basis. People have forgotten our two 40 point drubbings, loss to Wakefield and a dismal CCSF defeat. I’m enjoying our current form but I’m conscious that a poor display could be just around the corner. Re French he’s still a rookie HB and it will be interesting how he goes in the playoffs when the intensity of games will increase several fold versus current games.
Maybe my expectations are too high or maybe I’m totally underestimating the current squad. We will find out by October if the current squad is the real deal.

I will never understand why Wigan fans want to sign Owen Farrell, same as I could never fathom the desperation to have Shaun Edwards coaching you.

It's all very Warrington.

But you're happy with Wellens?

Edwards is a top coach. The vast majority, if not all RU guys, who's been coached by him absolutely rave about him.

He'd have been a success. There's no doubt about it imo.

Edwards divided opinion, just as Farrell is now, so it’s hardly ‘Wigan fans’ as a whole.

And it really isn’t like Warrington is it? Wigan looking at bringing back people with a connection to the club, who are born winners and have won more trophies than Warrington have seen in their existence. Two guys who demand total professionalism and drive unforgiving standards at the clubs/countries they’re involved with. If that’s ‘Warrington like’ I must’ve just come around from a 20 year coma and missed Wire’s back to back decades of success! You’d think we were talking kids in toy cars, blokes in green spandex or signing troubled players/coaches here.

There isn’t a parallel between wellens and Edwards as a coach. One has been an assistant coach in RL for title winninrg teams and an international team.

The other hasn’t coached RL in any capacity that I’m aware of, at least any meaningful capacity, and hasn’t even been involved with the game for how long?

Put another way - if wello’s contract is up this year and I’m offered wellens, Peet or Edwards then Edwards is last on the list by a country mile.which is why I was hoping you signed him!

That's your opinion, you're entitled to it.

Just sounds like typical RL snobbery to be tho. Edwards is a top coach and has been for almost two decades now.

This will come as a shock to some, but RL isn't some massively complicated game. He can pick whatever he needs to up quick enough. Outside of that and knowing what he's like, he's probably more well versed on the latest developments than some RL head coaches.

What he does have and more than Wellens and Peet combined, is a history of motivating and working with players across a spectrum of abilities. He is, by all accounts, a top man manager.

I’m still not completely convinced that Wellens will be a long term success but to be fair he’s already won a WCC beating the most dominant team in the NRL by a distance, and in their own backyard

We’ve had the worst luck with injuries for a good few years and a plethora of bans (yes mostly self inflicted) and yet sit joint top of the league on PD. That’s after a sluggish start to the season with the expected dip after peaking so early for the WCC.

He’s hardly been a flop has he? The CC SF was disappointing of course but even that could’ve gone either way, we were a missed conversion from it going to golden point.

I think you've understood what I was trying to say. Wellens has had a decent/good start to his 1st season. He's certainly no flop.

Its come to something that Saints fans are commenting on a coach who doesnt coach us or a player who doesnt play for us,we must be doing something right.

You don’t understand it FTV because you are not a Wigan fan and Saints don’t have anyone similar who they could sign and is one of their own.

IF Farrell did convert to RL he would be the biggest name to come to RL in the history of the game exceeding even the signatures of Jim Sullivan and Billy Boston.
A player known nationally to the very majority of sports fans in the UK.
A name that would generate more interest than any other ex RU player or even the current greatest NRL players.
A player that would attract national sponsors.
A player that would fill the ground on his RL debut.
A player that would take the atmosphere of a Wigan v Saints derby to a different stratosphere.
A player that would become part of the Wigan folklore if he was successful. A story that today’s kids will tell their grandkids about if he was successful.
A player that all RL fans outside of Wigan would want him to fail and pay money to see it.
A player that would attract national headlines.
A player that would be coming home.
A player that the NRL press would detest but would love him to actually play in Australia on a Lions tour.
A player that the English RU press detest but can’t stop writing about him even if he played RL.
A player that if he failed would become part of Saints folklore.
A player that might trigger a surge in kids taking up RL all across the country.
A player that would create history if he could follow his dad’s success.
A player if he did succeed might encourage more RU players to convert to RL across all levels of rugby.
A player that could takes us on the trip of a lifetime or to the depths of despair.
A player who could be an actual game changer.
You never know he might actually be a decent RL player too.

Brilliant post especially the last paragraph.

Building a winning team and winning culture isn’t always about picking the 17 best players together.


Also some people should watch Wire away from early this year for an example of what Isa brings to this club.

Hopefully it happens so we can all see just how much nonsense there is in this post

As for taking saints Wigan atmosphere to a different stratosphere, I think you are seriously overstating how much saints fans would care about this. Most saints fans would be delighted if Wigan were to pursue this particular distraction, I know I would be.