Then let them go to a rival. We aren't and should never be used as a springboard to the NRL.

What is Dodd good at? I’m not acting the fool, I’m genuinely interested. He was so highly rated coming through but I look at his core skills and they’re all ok and no more. I think that Achilles injury has played a big part and taken some of that zip away. He reminded me a bit of Sean Long early on, with that scampering style of running but on the back of that injury, he’s had to fall back on his passing, kicking and organisational skills and he’s been found wanting from what I’ve seen. The beauty of Harry Smith is we know exactly what he’s good at and what he’s good at, is exactly what we need.

Prior to that injury on Good Friday, he was sublime. Constantly taking on the line, had a great short kicking game, range of passing, his pace off the mark and sidestep was outstanding. I think your Sean Long analogy is a good one. Our attack was superb, we were pasting some teams, (scored over 40 at HKR for example just a few weeks before his injury)

I know Rogues will probably back me up on this but at the time of him coming through he was described as the finest young talent coming through and by a distance.

The hype was huge and he was playing really well up until that Good Friday injury. I think the jury has probably hit him physically and mentally. He looks a bit short on confidence and I do think we’ll see him bounce back next season.

What Stu said haha.

Dodd pre injury was better in every single facet of the game than he is now. He offered so much more of a running threat, his kicking was varied and he was solid in defence.

He reminds me now of how Luke Walsh was after he broke his leg. He does the bare minimum and just goes through the motions.

I can’t decide if it’s a lack of confidence or our very basic game plan holding him back. Or maybe both.

But to answer your question, he had literally everything you’d want in a half back before his injury.

The problem with all this speculation is we do not know the details of his contract. He may very well not be breaking his contract.

We have no ideas what clauses are in there which both parties (Club & player) will have agreed on.

Very rarely is a 4 year deal not got a number of break clauses in them and performance/selection bonuses in there.

Given the obvious interest from the NRL I’m sure he will have had a release clause in there.

No point criticising the club with only half a story or an inaccurate perception of the facts.

It’s a big ‘if’ but if Wigan signed Owen Farrell, maybe they’ve done so knowing they can get money for Smithies now and it works for both parties for him to make the move now. I’m not saying they’ll have pushed him out but it could’ve been a case of his agent saying there us interest, Wigan seeing what they can do elsewhere and then it all falling in to place. I can’t see the Farrell deal happening and maybe the same sort of scenario played out with Luke Thompson. Rads admitted recently that Thompson only had a medical and signed the deal about two weeks ago. A transfer fee now and a top replacement seems a better deal for us than no fee and potentially no decent replacements being available in a year or two.

I've not criticised the club?

Salford, Castleford & Toulouse in for Cust according to League Express.

Seemed like you were criticising the player and club for letting him and others break contracts when you wrote -

“Here's a novel idea, if you're a talented player and have aspirations to play in the NRL don't sign long term contracts with your current club. Instead of a 4 year one, sign a 2 year one and just leave at the end of it.“

That’s how it came across to me anyway.

All I’m saying is we don’t know the clauses in those contracts and both club and player may well be honouring them.

We are and have been for quite some time. Whether we like it or not 99% of the best British players ultimately want to go to the NRL at some point. We're not in the same situation as 20 years ago where we could reasonably hope to fend off NRL interest. Too big a difference in the money, quality of competition and international selection prospects. We need to work that reality to our advantage, not pointlessly try to fight against it.

I would not he surprised at all if Wigan used this as a selling point to help secure the best youngsters (we'll develop you and help you achieve you ambition of playing NRL as we have with Tomkins, Williams, Gildart, KPP, Smithies etc). Presently the only way not to be a stepping stone to the NRL is to not get players who will ever be good enough to play there (bar the very odd example such as Farrell who clearly chose not to for whatever reason).

Together with Hanley.

Add another sub plot to the Smithies thing, some respectable people (who used to post on here) are saying he's not been picked because of the way he's gone about getting his nrl move.

If that's the case, it validates other fans perception that Wane is highly influenced by his Wigan connection when it comes to the national team. If that's the reason he's been left out it's completely uncalled for. I'm struggling to see why he hasn't been picked otherwise though. I think Smithies & O'Neil can feel very hard done to not to be in there.

Such a tough spot to break in to loose forward. There’s no way anyone is playing ahead of Radley and then you could make cases for Knowles, Smithies, Cam Smith and Elliot Minchella at least. I’m not saying Smithies shouldn’t be in but I probably wouldn’t have picked him in my squad just on performance alone (and he has been excellent).

I agree with the post above actually that Brad O’Neill is unlucky. He would’ve been in my squad, instead of Danny Walker and I think he’d have worked well alongside Daryl Clark. He’s very young but he looks made for test match rugby league to me and I’d have given him a taste of it before the World Cup/Ashes.