At 22 I think you can rule out a move to NRL just yet...too soon in my view. Well done on getting him signed to a 5 year deal.

I have gone from thinking what an upity little last year to thinking he now has the potential to be a RL great.

You can see him maturing this year which I presume is the influence of the coaching staff and the senior players around him.

In a perverse way I am looking forward to watching him on Saturday

Darts, he's the new Phil Taylor !!!!!!!!!!!!

On the RL Gerrumonside programme on Wish FM a week last Friday he was asked about NRL and he said he's really happy at Wigan with his mates and that Australia isn't something he's ever really dreamed about. He said it sounds strange because a lot of players say they've always dreamed of going to NRL but for him it never has been and he doesn't see himself there anytime soon. I got the impression he's happy where he is and hes got a family and group of friends who keep him grounded.

He could be the greatest EVER if he stayed at Wigan for his career, I honestly think that.

I honestly belive that with the right money he will stay at Wigan for the rest of his career, when it all comes down to it its not just about the Rugby its about his life over here, hes loving it.

Deary me ...........he was crap for you men...
I was stood in the Wigan end with my Pie eating chums for the game when Kev Penny ripped him two bum holes....he was hated by the boys brigades back then.....

as Soon As Tomkins would have arrived on the scene he'd have been shipped out to Huddesfield or Salford.

out of that List of which many you are simply having a laugh ..Stephen Myler....indeed...!!!!

Jason Robinson was the SPORTS biggest loss
Sony Bill was the NRL's biggest loss
and Isreal Folau is the games biggest kick in the nuts

but the rest were all replaced by just as good or better

--------------

He was born in Milton Keynes.

My god you are ignorant.

And blind as a bat.

To pretend that that list of casualties has been unimportant to the game beggars belief.

Has it ever occurred to the "we can always replace them" brigade that if we actually kept them their 'replacements' would still emerge, meaning that we'd have even more quality players in the competition.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, whatever you do - whether it's a central pot of additional funds, salary cap modification, changing the rules re. personal sponsorships or whatever, you MUST do something. Doing nothing is not an option.

What is it about Wire fans? They seem to be on a campaign to prove (if there was any doubt) that they are the stupidest fans in RL. I just wish they'd take their campaign somewhere else, and leave the Wigan board alone...

I'm not sure whether or not I'm allowed to agree with you Cruncher. If I comment on the SC or on the other structural and management failings of RL I get called an obsessive, though recently I was abused for apparently no longer commenting on SC related issues. You couldn't make it up!

But anyway.. I agree with you entirely. The status quo is not an option. I would add that we need to incentivise clubs to raise their income. Wigan turning over less than £5m in a financial year simply isn't good enough.

forgive my ignorance .....

I forgot to mourn the passing of Saints Player of the season Kyle Eastmond...


come on some ridiculous names on that List, Craig Gower the blokes a nut job the NRL couldnt wait to get rid of him, he's never a loss to our sport Quinns will find out not long into next season.....thats a walking car crash waiting to happen.

Gasnier Was a loss to a certain extent as he is still a top quality even in his final year in the NRL but he spent every contract renewal being linked with Wigan to try and get improved deals in the end he was always going to take union money regardless of where he would play. but he's come back to RL and won a Grand Final and a world Club challenge

Farrell had no Rugby Left in him when He left for Union.
Carney left for union aged 30 and was essentially a flop

Josh Hoffman has been impressive this year for the Bronco's yes Karmichael Hunt would have either remained in the Broncos squad somewhere in the backs or gone to another NRL club but the broncos havent missed him so far.

So I'm not about to Panick And Start demanding the RFL give pots of Money to Wigan And Warrington because they have Most England internationals in their squads.....How Would that be good for the League?

So I stand By My Ignorant point that the majority of those Names have not been Missed by the sport.

Spot on.

We need to keep ALL our talent and then ADD to it.

He may not rate Myler, Eastmond, Ashton etc. but keeping them gives us a bigger pool of players and also stops our biggest rival sport from imrproving.

Another way to look at this issue is to go back to the 10 years prior to 1995, when Wales in particular, saw a number of their top players come to league. The departure of players to league was perceived as doing irreparable damage to their game and was cited as the reason for the poor international performances during that period. The change only came when the Welsh RU was able to compete financially with League and that stopped the flow of players immediately. The Union players who came to league had varying fortunes but there is no denying the contribution to League that the Welsh players, plus the odd English man have made to the game.

In any business model, your strength is in your key players. A value has to be attached to this and to retain your key players you have to be able to match this value, plus match their goals and aspirations. The question is, how to solve the problem, because as the game stands at the moment for a British player, it is essentially Grand Final, Challenge Cup and a not very inspiring international scene.

We always refer to Australia for comparisons and for good reason. If you talk with rugby people down there, the League people rave about the State of Origin and the Union people are in awe of it. It shows that you don't need lots of teams to have a credible top flight competition. Rugby League should put together a showcase competition based on GB, NZ and Australia - but in a modern context, well funded and properly presented. Let the same spirit of Origin be brought into the competition and give the star players of our game the chance to play in what should be recognised as the best competition of any code.

Nobody has really suggested that though have they? The main point I gather on here is that there is currently very little to no incentive whatsoever for RL clubs to produce their own talent and then try to keep them at the club, or failing that, within the sport itself. That needs to change, and quickly. The talent pool in English RL is very small as it is and we can ill afford to keep letting it shrink

Funny how it used to be Saints fans we had this argument with, and then Kyle Eastmond announced he was going, and suddenly they joined the casualty list as well. (Cue a Saint popping in with some unconvincing bit of bravado like "he was never any good anyway", or "we can always replace him" - but that will be purely to save face).

Have Wire had any high profile defections yet? I'm not sure, but the more they have, I suspect the less their fans will appreciate the "let's sit on our ar2e2 and let it happen" approach.