If they can’t get round having Leutele as a marquee player and it meant they missed out on a top class playmaker, I bet they don’t half regret that move. I don’t know a great deal about the guy but I don’t recall him terrorising teams last year, not to the degree a marquee superleague player should do when playing in the championship at least. In the fleeting glimpses of him in the NRL he didn’t seem anything overly special either.

Darcy Lussick was one of their marquee players last season along with Ricky Leutele. I haven't heard anything but I presume that Lussick's not on Marquee money in 2020.

I also don't think they can register SBW as a union convert as he's been previously registered with a RL club.

I was under the i impression that there was some timeframe involved in that. As in, if he's not played league for X years, he'd be counted as a union convert.

I may be wrong though.

Possibly. I'm not sure how it works.

Lam in the Post today saying he's expected at training on 3rd Jan.

Changes nothing, this needs to come from the player.

Aye, said he last spoke to him during the GB tour. I know the guys on his jollies like but a text message wouldn’t hurt. It feels like if we play hard ball he’ll have to come (but we’re hardly famed for that) but if we roll over I could see either Toronto or Salford finding a way of getting in through their door. Him coming back on the 3rd Jan already feels like we’re making special allowances for him to keep him happy. I’ve no problem with that ‘if’ he keeps his end of the bargain.

I suspect the plan is that he flies over between Christmas and New year, with his first day being the 3rd. Which ties in with club saying they expect to see him later this month, and his first day of training being the 3rd Jan.

shows how garbage their recruitment is then

Exactly, as there has been nothing to my knowledge from Hastings himself to confirm that he is coming and that there is no truth in the rumour which the Sun has published.

Like I have said before, I will believe that he is a Wigan player when he arrives in our country, trains with the squad and turns out wearing a Wigan shirt.

Im hoping he reports for training and smashes it. I have a feeling wigan are just reinforcing the party line by putting out there he is to report for training o nJan 3. The test of time will be if he doesnt report but we will all be able to see if he travels over the week before if that will happen.

Surely someone from the club would welcome him at the airport!

Not necessarily. He already has a house with Joey Lussic in Worsley.

We need to roll out the red carpet when he arrives and make him realise our club is special.

What kind of pandering is this?

He needs to roll out the red carpet for the club by dressing like a champion and acting like one. This is Wigan and he is hardly the modern day Darren Lockyer.