I saw a Saints fan on social media saying him and his pals got speaking to Tomkins post game and he said that everyone should beware of Danson because he’s given free reign to spend whatever it takes to keep Wigan at the top. Now I do take it with a pinch of salt because Sam likes to pull peoples leg, especially if they’re from St Helens but it does make you wonder.

That’s true NK, Rads was given an open cheque book when he went to Australia.

The open cheque book is great but only for the 3 marquees.

We do need to remember that there is a salary cap in place.

If we've clever with our use of marquee exemptions, we can maybe secure a couple of star signings at some point, but ultimately there are limits to what we can spend.

Just to be able to use any dispensations is a huge plus. Tempting the best junior talent to the club is another huge bonus if you can offer better terms. That would offer a real legacy for an owner.

Do you know what the SC rules are around academy, juniors etc...(if there are any)?

One way Danson could ensure the future of the club is to continously target the best juniors (which im sure the club do already) but if there is money to spend then spend it

I don’t and was wondering the same. It would definitely be the route that will leave a legacy for somebody like Danson. I don’t know the reasons behind it but the academy hasn’t been quite as dominant this past few seasons, so maybe it’s an area of improvement. Ultimately though, the results at that level don’t really matter, as long as you’re bringing players through.

I always wonder about the marquee player rule.

Nathan Clery is on about $1.4mil a year. Reece Walsh has just signed a deal averaging $1.1mil for the next few years. A lot of very very good players are on about $800k - $1mil


800k Aussie = £415k ish
1.1mil = £568k
1.4mil = £723k

I’ve not a clue but I’d guess French/GWilliams are on about £350k+

I’m surprised Simon Moran hasnt got Take That to do a few gigs and offered for example Cleary £1mil a season for 2 years.

Maybe it still wouldn’t be enough to tempt when you account for life style, playing in the top league, they get $35k per origin game etc

Or perhaps it’s the risk of alienating the rest of the playing squad by having a player so highly paid (although I’m guessing Bevan French is on about 3/4 times the salary of ONeill).

Or the risk of injury.

Who knows but for me that would be the dream for Super League, each club getting a truly great player in their prime.

We interviewed Kris Radlinksi this morning for the Wigan Way Podcast
Free Reign to spend whatever it takes was definitely Not what was said.

Mmmmm "Open Cheque Book" can be interpreted in many,many different ways
There are many other factors besides money that okay a factor in players recruitment, squad management etc.

There are Budgets in place.at Wigan

This simply isn't true. More financial flexibility perhaps but certainly not an open cheque book.

When’s the interview out mate?

Like he's really going to say otherwise? If he did, it's just an invitation to add an extra zero to a price.

You do know he doesn't always tell the truth to the media right. That's not a bad thing either.

I doubt Tomkins would’ve missed an opportunity to pull a few legs tbh. I do agree with SP above though, nobody at the club is ever going to say that and nor should they. It doesn’t look like we’ll go short anyway, certainly in comparison to most other clubs and we cannot ask for more than that.

My son is editing etc as we speak
They're doing the Saints review tonight and tomorrow so would possibly expect that first, and then release the Rads one maybe Weekend
It was very enjoyable and even though he went into loads, there was other stuff before/during and after that were equally fascinating to listen to

They've invited them back in future to do a Matty Peet interview (we had half an hour with him just chatting and discussing Fridays game) and also they asked would they like to do a full day with the squad in the future and watch them train, team meetings etc. It seemed like they were really keen on doing more collaboration.