Shaun Wane does appear to be going for size.
Some big men in the pack. Mossop, Prescott, Dudson, Taylor & Hock are all 6'3" or more. Then there's Lauaki, Lockers & H who whilst not as tall still have a great presence in the middle of the game. The smaller guys are Micky Mac, Tuson & Faz. Both MM & Tuson tackle far above their weight and Faz is an excellent pack man.
The pack is the fulcrum from where all actions stem, they could be formidable next season with that amount of size, skill and pace.
Our halves are the uncertain factor. Smith has never really been convincing nor did he have a really poor game. Green has looked pacey and dangerous with good hands too the few times I've seen him. Behind a good pack they could do very well indeed.
As for the backs, four of the five were with us last season although Pat missed a sizeable number of games.
With George gone Wane has a choice of some big men, Hughes ain't small whereas Gelling and Thornley are around 6'4" which is some size for a centre.

We have a young squad but plenty of experience especially in the pack. The halves are not newcomers either.
I'm pretty optimistic to be honest. Teams with physically big forwards and pacey halves and backs usually do well.
Can't see us dropping out of the top four, the squad appears too good for that. Though only time will tell.

The above are all daft options IMO. Hughes doesn't have the skill to make it as a centre, he should be used as a back rower or not at all unless we are really depleted. Last year we signed two centres (Gelling and Thornley) why the hell are we putting a back rower in there?

Lauaki trys hard but I'm still not confident he is strong enough to make it as a prop, Flower likewise. I would use them in the rotation because we don't have many options but to give them squad numbers ahead of Prescott and Taylor makes no sense

I don't see a future at Wigan for Tuson, his 10 minute cameos are pointless too. Why not play Powell, Murphy or L.Tomkins off the bench instead and give McIllorum a break rather than knacker him out playing 80 every week, then getting surprised when he makes poor decisions?

A centre off the bench is a waste of a spot too but I'm sure that's not what will happen. I'll not criticise any more until I see the squad he picks but this is not a positive indication.

Basically what I was thinking. I was just WAY too lazy to type it out

Interesting comments re: Jack Hughes. One suggested a "daft option" who "doesn't have the skills to make it at centre". To be honest Darrell Goulding was probably "a daft option" for squad number 3 in 2008 and 2009 - especially given he was relegated to number 24 in 2010 - but he has now made that shirt his own for me. In fact in 2009 Goulding was squad number 3 but only started three games, so perhaps it means little that Hughes has Number 4. Perhaps Wane's done that to give the lad a gee up?

Whilst I agree the squad looks very thin on paper, players need opportunities and we really need to take a longer term view on such options. In this modern game of salary capping you cannot have the mentality of "we'll win it next year". Maurice tried and tried doing that and it failed miserably. The buy a big name way of doing things failed also under Maurice. I mean even Steve Renouf (one of the great centres in the games history) won bugger all here!

Yeah we could have re-signed Carmont and Finch and they would have been better options, but we'd still have been in the same boat at the end of next year....so what would have been the point? We need to take a short term hit for longer term gain.

For me our chances next year lay solely on the half backs and whether than can produce a kicking game. Leeds and Warrington made both finals last year, just ahead of Wigan in both regards, and it was the last tackle option that was the difference. Very small margin that cost us. If we can create some pressure on last tackles then everything else will click into place for me.

The kicking game is an important area where we actually look to be stronger in this coming season. For all of their strengths (and we all know they had many) as halfbacks Finch and Leuluai's kicking games were both pretty shocking. Leuluai's did improve this year but he never really had the range to kick well from distance. As for Finch's kicking, the last game against Leeds summed it up; he's pretty clueless when it comes to tactical kicking and it probably cost us the game.

From what I've seen Smith and Green should be a big step up, so at least there should be some improvement in that department.

Squad numbers mean nothing.

I'm pleased. I'm confident Jack will making an excellent centre. Given time I'm sure he'll prove all his doubters wrong.
He's big, strong and deceptively quick, I'm sure he'll develop his game as a centre offering great attack and defence on his side.

If the forwards make room for Matty Smith he'll certainly be an improvement on Finch or Leuluai in the kicking department. In games they don't though he may struggle ala Wire away last year. He looks a cracking player when he's got time but does seem somebody you can get at and knock off his game.

Him and Green will decide our fate this year. There's talk of us needing a centre or an experienced prop and maybe we do but I think there's enough quality to challenge if these 2 fire and get Tomkins and Hock stay fit all year.

Saints have revealed their squad today, less depth than we have IMO.

I couldn't agree more, the half-backs will be the key for use next season. The forwards are ok, pretty much the same as last year - hopefully Prescott will play more games and make up for the loss of Lima, the backs are mostly the same. Green for me could be the difference - he could offer something a little different than Finch who at times was a bit one dimensional, and he is supposed to be quick - so having someone able to take the line on more could be a significant advantage.I just hope that some of the fans given the half-backs a chance - it will take a few games for them to find their feet, patience will be needed. Also as options/cover we have Powell and Tomkins can also slot into the halves so we are probably as well off as most teams.

not sure if its the way the wind is blowing but lots of people on here now getting at finch - easy target i understand having left but for the first 2/3 of last season he was the stand out player for us who were the stand out team in the league.

I don't think people are disputing his quality. They are just raising the issue that the Leeds loss wasn't just down to Murphy dropping a bomb and probably had as much to do with a few poor kick options by Finch.

The kicking is one thing but the amount of stray passes he threw in big games (usually on our left flank) was beyond a joke.

More than a couple of these resulted in intercepts and a full length try.

Big, big fan of Finch from day 1, but he really let us down at the back end of this year.

I'm not a Wigan fan, but you have been easily the best team through the year in the last 3 years. But looking at the squad where has the cap space gone? Off the top of my head you've lost Lima, Fielden, Carmont, Leuluia (sp) & Finch. That has to be around 500K? Where has that money gone