This is absolutely embarrassing.

Williams to NRL
Bateman is coming back, but not according to Bateman.
Points docked
Bad start

Now this

ILs obsession with getting Edwards as coach has forced Wane out.

I’m normally a happy clapper but this is a joke.

This.

Again I’m traditionally a glass 3/4 full type when it comes to IL. He has sorted pretty much every facet of the club in his tenure and deserves HUGE credit

However..

This is bloody embarrassing

Annoyed at Edwards too, especially after giving video interviews inside the stadium with a bloody Wigan staff polo shirt on!

Comical and damaging not just to Wigan but to the whole sport, if he changes his mind and stays in onion with Wasps (as is rumoured)

Lenegan has done a brilliant job up until 2017/2018. Ever since then he’s made bad decision after bad decision imo and we’re starting to look like a laughing stick, minimal investment into the first 17 and now this coaching debacle, both choices were wrong and we should have just got someone like Watson/Furner for 3/4 years

I still think Edwards will come in 2020, how long for remains to be seen. I think it’s pretty obvious and has been for a while that he will go back to RU, probably with Wales.

But just for the sake of debate; who else could we look at? Ian Watson would be a good shout IMO but as a bolt from the blue what about James Ford? If not as head coach as assistant head coach to learn his trade in Super League. He is a fantastic coach, taking an unfancied and uninspiring York squad up from L1 as champions and now flirting with the top of the Championship. When Edwards does come in I wouldn’t mind him appointing Ford as an assistant.

Firstly I will say I have a huge amount of respect for IL and what he has done for the club. The turnaround from when he took over to where we are now is nothing short of miraculous.

We cannot let a poor start to the season and this issue cloud our judgement on what he has brought to the club.

I do however get the feeling that he or someone at the club attempts to spin stitustions with a view of taking a negative and turning it into either a positive or moreover an attempt to soften the blow in an attempt to reduce the impact of revenue streams into the club, such as merchandise and attendance figures.

I think this is a somewhat short sighted policy. We as fans cannot and should not expect to know the ins and outs of what goes on at the club, however I’m of the opinion it is much better to rip the plaster off rather than peel it off slowly. People will get over things much quicker than having these now almost regular on going sagas when players leave of their future return or trying to outsmart the cap etc.

Basically deal with the issue and move on, if certain clauses are in players contracts for a potential return don’t publicise them as you are just creating expectation and storing problems for the future.

I don’t know who is accountable for some of the spin that we try to put on things and I’m not pointing the finger. What I do think however is that a World Class administrator should be running our club on a day to day basis. Rads due to his lack of experience in such a role really doesn’t fill me with confidence. That may be harsh but I just don’t see without experience elsewhere and understanding how other clubs run in our game and other sports he can I still a best practice culture as a top administrator.

Best thing we can do is simply stick to facts to the best of our ability, as a min review:

Positives:

Edwards-been announced as a coach from 2020, not the most welcoming dialogue from him, but from a factual standpoint he's still coming, this is a major signing.

We can only judge these at the time of signing or as of now:

Recent Signings:

GREEN/AMBER/RED

Greenwood (V happy with) GREEN
Hardaker (Happy with as a player, however there's a reason why we signed him) AMBER
Bullock (looks positive but untested in top flight competition AMBER
Hankinson used salary cap as cover, was this a good move? AMBER
Sammut; 31 going on 32 fallen short at SL level to date with lower standard clubs, was looking for a regular job after leaving London RED

Issues:

Bateman- claimed to be coming back to Wigan after 2 seasons in the NRL. Not accurate from the club. RED


Other information to consider, in ILs time we've seen a number of top players in their prime level our club for greener pastures.

TOMKINS NZW
TOMKINS CATS
TOMKINS (J) SARRIES
MOSSOP PARR
SARG GCT
BURGESS SYD
TOMMY NZW
SUTTON CAN
WILLIAMS?

Whilst under contract.

MM and FPN also

Every cloud has a silver lining somewhere.

never missed a game and very rarely a tackle. People called hisa go forward but he run to find the floor for a quick PTB, he played how his coach wanted him too

The words Edwards has used in interviews are not helpful and fuel speculation and speculation is what journalists thrive on. You only have to look at some of the headlines from various RL new sites which seemed to get more sensationalist by the day.

The idea Edwards will return to RU one day seems to have rubbed a few people up the wrong way. Why? No coach is ever going to be Wigan coach for life and all he has said is he wants a long career in coaching generally. Is this supposed to be news?

I am still of the opinion he will be coach next season. If he isn't, well that will go down in history as one of the most momentous balls ups in all my time watching Wigan. How can you parade such a high profile signing in front of the press and then not have it come off? What can that possibly do the reputations of all involved but trash them?

Edwards reputation is built on honouring his commitments which is why he's not head coach in 2019 so for him to go back on his word destroys that in an instant. If IL has decided he doesn't want him or has done something to make Edwards position untenable before he even gets here then his reputation is toast as well. As others have implied he's been economical with the truth over Bateman and I personally have never liked the way he spins things but lining up Edwards and then not employing him will be the last straw for many Wigan fans who rightly in my view are questioning how the club is being run recently particularly over recruitment of players.

The only way Edwards walks away from this with his reputation in tact is if IL shafts him and if so IL can expect a lot lower season ticket sales and I'd even go as far as saying calls for him to sell the club. If Edwards instigates not coming of his own bat then that's his reputation in Wigan destroyed but it won't do much for IL's either for being made a fool of.

So I go back to my original point of view which is he will be here as coach next season. I think there is too much to lose for both Edwards and IL for this not to happen. And in any case there is always the possibility he really does fancy the job!

I seem to remember Wally Lewis being signed and showed off by Mo, Wendal Sailor? .. Gasnier? It's not like this does not and have not happend.
Depending on our season, who we bring in, if Edwards does not arrive and if we do make a few big signings I can only see this disappearing along with Edwards reputation in and around RL and Wigan.

If IL goes then we'd be in the same state as Widnes unless someone very wealthy was ready to purchase and fund us from their own pocket.

I don't remember it being that way at all. We were going to sign Wally Lewis, but Ellery Hanley voiced his disapproval was how I recall that incident. Lewis was never 'shown off'. I would have been 'over the moon' with that signing.

I remember mo going to Aus to sign gasnier and mouthing off about it and coming back with vailiki lol

Lewis signed on tv after cup draw ... Your right that Hanley wanted more money than him or he wouldn't play... think it was during the Roos tour. Sailor agreed to come but didn't he never signed the contract but Wigan broke the news we had signed him was during the Super League war.