Not done mine yet but I'm always last minute.

I'm thinking of just picking and choosing next year tbh. Got a baby on the way and that excitement in the weekly rounds just isn't there. That's before I even consider what players have or will leave!

I worry for the game when me myself is saying that, I've hardly missed a game for 15 years home and away but there a really depressing vibe around the game at the moment. I find that sad because some things like the amount of youngsters being brought through by clubs now 'should' fill me with optimism!

If we can't keep them in the country or worse, the game, what's the point?

www.wigantoday.net/sport/wigan-w ... -1-5076516

www.wigantoday.net/sport/wigan-w ... -1-5076516

OH FFS !!!!!

SOMEONE PULL THE BLASTED DRAWBRIDGE UP & PUT THE OIL ON TO BOIL

Interesting that the first person to mention this a good few weeks ago and who at the time was supported by a few other posters who seem to be on the money more often than not suggested that it was the club who wanted him out. In that instance I'd imagine moving him on to the NRL rather than a rival Super League club makes sense.

From what I heard, at the same time as the original post, then it isn't anything to do with his old habits but the Wigan camp was/is split and was/is not a happy camp. If things are like that then you have to get rid of the "bad egg".

interesting if thats the case paul.

Any happy clappers want to post telling us how things are all rosy at Wigan and the massive outflow of players will not be a loss to us?

Sadly it's entirely reasonable and predictable that Hock will go. The more I think about it the more I believe that the destiny of RL in this country is to become a semi-professional game. The standard of the players will be poor, the standard of the games will be poor, Sky will eventually lose interest and then it really will be game over.

We were kind of protected in the past through the self-imposed "Amateur" status of RU. The RL game in Aus/NZ was also less developed than it is now (plus the less mobile nature of the player base would have made playing in Aus a very rare option).

Now RU have woken up and smelled the coffee, and the game in Aus/NZ have got themselves organised, relatively cheap travel Down Under, players moving/living/playing there a far far less unusual occurance......


Add to this the position of chairmen who think the CC is good for the game (good for their wallets maybe, but the game?) and the future is almost certainly "not Orange" as the saying goes.....

They might not be quality for a few seasons, but they'll develop given chance. This idealistic desire for quality players across the park is not realistic, the standard of available players in SL is poor and we can no longer compete for imports. Like it or not the best way is to develop our own, we'll lose a few given the SC but will be better off than most. Given the number and profile of departures this off season it looks very much like a transition phase for a year or two. Why would Hock want to stick around while Green and Smith keep the halves warm until the next generation come through. Maybe it's time to give the likes of Hughes and Lloyd the opportunities and see how they go, we might be pleasantly surprised.

From what I have been told there are a damn site more players than just Hock eyeing deals in Australia and Super League will be in big trouble if the salary cap does not rise. There are a number of Wigan players pondering going to Australia/NZ and I am sure this situation is replicated across Super League. Even poor SL players like Ainscough are going to Australia to play in the lower leagues there because they are getting paid more and/or because of the lifestyle.

Years of stagnation has led us to this situation and clubs cannot simply bury their heads in the sand beause it suits them, and the owners, to pay players as little as possible. Players earnings have been cut in real terms for years and if the salary cap had simply risen in line with inflation since its inception then it would be well over £2 million now. With TV money, ticket prices and attendances all dramatically up in this time it does make you wonder what is happening to all the additional money. I simply think it suits too many people in RL to keep the status quo and allows owners to have all the kudos of owning a Super League club on the cheap.

I have no issue with how good those 2 could become, they have massive potential but they're so far behind a player like Gareth Hock at the moment it's hardly worth mentioning them as a realistic replacement(and thats nothing against them as it's totally understanable).

The issue I mainly have with lads like those is that for all the potential they have I worry that they'll not quite fulfill it because of the situation we're starting to find ourselves in. Throw a lad like Rhodri Lloyd in to a Wigan side playing full of confidence with world class players like Sam Tomkins, Tommy Leuluai, Gareth Hock etc around him and he'll just be able to concentrate on doing the basics whilst building his confidence up to progress his game. Throw him in to a Wigan side stripped of it's best players playing with pressure from the stands and low on confidence and he then has huge worries, huge pressures and he won't have that bedding in period to build up his own confidence and game.

We've seen it happen in the past around 2004-2006 ish where we had some great young players like Kevin Brown and Luke Robinson coming through and they showed amazing potential but that potential was lost because they didn't have sufficient quality around them and lost players who would lead them about the place and help them improve. Their Wigan careers crashed and burned under huge expectation and pressure and it was unfair.

Those 2 players are just a quick example of what can happen. They've gone on to have decent careers but nowhere near as good a careers as they could have had and that's the problem we face now with the next batch of kids we have coming through.

or he's such a poor player he can't get a contract in Super League? He's never been the same player since he left Wigan and lost his body mass and definition


Can somebody pull together a list of all the British Super League players who are moving to the NRL and rugby union this close season. Plenty of talk about players moving etc but Matty Russell apart I'm struggling to think of any.

I'm willing to wager £5 per player that there will be more players moving from the NRL to Super League than from SuperLeague to the NRL and Rugby Union by the start of next season. Any doom-monerers willing to take me up on the bet?