Yes, for a limited time, but he wasn’t very good and is why he has played fullback ever since.

Bevan French is categorically not a halfback

Which clubs and who?

I don’t agree with Fear the Vee that we’re covered in the halves already (we are in numbers possibly but not in quality) but if we do go with what we have because there isn’t the right quality available, then I fully agree that we need to look at other positions and get them as strong as possible to try and help the lads we do have be as efficient as they can be. I also agree with the positions I’d then be looking at. One would be another prop and the other a centre.

One situation that seems to be bubbling away down under is Luke Thompson and his refusal to get vaccinated. As with everything Covid related, they’re more hardline than us Down Under and after it seemingly being sorted, it now looks like he’s saying he won’t get it until the turn of the year (for some reason). I doubt anyone here would force him to have a vaccine and it’s something we should be keeping our eyes on, if the finance is available.

It feels like there's a awful lot of unknowns going into next season, I don't think we've seen enough of jai field to know much about the kind of player he'll turn out to be, is he a half back? Perhaps he's a really good halfback? Maybe smith has come on leaps and bounds with a bit of guidance from Lee Briers? Perhaps powell has had a rocket up his arris with the new coaching set up and some of the shackles have come off? Perhaps the shackles were lams doing and thing have changed for many players? Maybe matty peet is the prodigal son of coaching and he's turned everything around? Thornley, stupid signing or could turn out that he's gonna throw everything into a last couple of seasons and we'll see a really good player turn out. I'm not saying that everything's hunky dorey but I genuinely don't know what to expect. Just my opinion and I'm sure others will disagree.

Pretty sure Thompson has now said he will get the vaccine?

Yes sorry that was my point which I accept wasn't clear - clearly a top half back can be transfromational and I don't have Wigan's options down as amongst the best (accepting Field could be a star for all I know) but you do have a 7 in Smith with TL as backup and you do have a 6 in Field with French as backup.

You've played with Jackson Hastings, a top HB, and struggled and I think that was a lack of a front ine prop (or two) to get you playing off the front foot and some strike in the centres which made you quite easy to defend against. I think improving those positions would improve your halves without new halves if you catch my drift.

All that said the biggest signing would be a proper coach - that may or may not have been addressed, hard to tell.

Saw an update this morning that said something about him saying he’ll have it but not yet and Canterbury not being happy with that. He is trying to delay it for as long as he can according to the Sydney Herald.

He surely just has it and it all goes away but it’s not the first time he’s not gone with the majority when it comes to issues stemming from Covid.

Fair enough, bloody stupid imo

The coaching appointment will absolutely be the biggest difference maker for us. There’s no way of knowing it it’ll work with Peet but there’s a minimum of 20% plus in each and every one of our players IMO and Lam just didn’t get from them.

I look at Man United at the minute and I hear family/friends saying ‘why does the manager always get the blame?’ and I smile. I look at the transformation in Rugby League of Wigan in 2010 and Saints in 2017 onwards and in football with teams like Chelsea last season or Liverpool under Klopp and they absolutely prove just how important the manager/coach is and why they get the blame when things aren’t going right. I’m not saying we have a squad of comparable quality to a Man U but good coaches improve players and even ones that you feel are a basket case/write off. Those examples above just highlight what can be achieved with largely the same set of players as before a new appointment.

We need a bit more quality in a couple of positions I believe but the first priority has to be improving the players already here.

It's funny you mention Man Utd, because I was thinking about how the two clubs seem to be travelling along similar lines in terms of underperforming given their status and resources, For me, they both seem to be stuck (in part) because of two things, nostalgia (even recent) and entitlement, you could even say they are linked.

United have turned to Solskjaer and have even re-signed Ronaldo (who while scoring against low to mid team hasn't had a sniff against a good team like Liverpool and City). We've done the same in terms of the stupidly large number of ex-player we continue re-sign. We've even gone back to Wane in some form. We were successful when these players / coach were around, so we'll go back to that, which doesn't seem to appreciate that other teams have moved on and are looking to / have improved. We've even recruited our new (untested) coach from within instead of that new thinking we had in 2010.

The number of ex-players we've re-signed could be a case study for future sports leadership / psychology degrees.

I’m a Wigan rugby league fan and a Wigan Athletic fan but I do also have a passing interest in United and watching the Liverpool and City games recently felt like sitting at the Saints and Wire home games this season. That feeling of just being totally devoid of even a crumb of hope that the side could compete and just knowing the outcome within the first 5 minutes. That sinking feeling became combined with the realisation as the games went on that the opposition weren’t even having to play that well to win at a canter.

Now United have been in a lull far longer than us and the fix is way harder because of the sheer volume of teams awash with cash and World Class managers but we need to make sure we don’t keep drifting and falling further behind. I’m probably a bit different to you in that I see Wane coming back as a real positive. I think unlike United we’re fortunate that we can bring back a legendary leader like Wane because he’s young enough, unlike Fergie, who was too old even at the start of this poor period for United. I’m more worried that his role won’t give him the total control needed to make the difference that we need him to make. To me Wane is our Fergie and certainly not our Solksjaer. Ole was a great player for United and a youth coach before moving on. He has no history of managing huge clubs and no history of top level success as a manager. That job is too big for him but that won’t be the case with Wane here.

All interesting stuff and the similarities are certainly there. The big thing that sticks out for me is what a difference one man can make. I watched a documentary recently about Matt Busby, Jock Stein and Bill Shankley and it was fascinating. Three absolute legends, all born within a few miles of each other and then Fergie also came from a similar area. It has to be more than coincidence that all four became World Class managers. I see Wane as a man who has similar values and like those guys, he puts a big emphasis on the players knowing they’re in a fortunate position and are representing working class people. He drives that culture and I just hope he can help do that again from this new position.

I must have missed that one where the club have said we don't have the money to purchase a half back?

Or maybe we will announce the signing of a half back in the coming days/weeks?

Possibly. I'm sure it will be a top draw one too.

I think we’re probably going to have to accept it and get on with it. Is it ideal? No but we have a squad capable of being far better than we were last season - I’m not saying winners but I’d expect a better output week to week.

Moving in to 2023 we can start the search for a half next season and bring in the right half at the right price. We made a mistake putting all our eggs in the GW basket and for some reason God only knows, not planning ahead properly. But that doesn’t mean we should make one now by panic buying.