Im not bothered about him going in the way that; yeah he is replacable unlike Sam.

What does bother me is that he had the chance of being part of something special him, Sam and Logan were probably going to be part of a new Wigan future where most of the players were homegrown talent as they all seem to be coming through now and will hopefully continue to do so.

What worries me now is that him going might mean that Sam and Logan arent far behind. People say Sam wouldn't fit in in Union but if you watched Tuilagi in the world cup youd know that Sam would score many tries every game the way he can break the line is better than Tuilagi and he nearly got over multiple times doing similar things to Sam.

I'm already anticipating it being a yearly thing. Every off season we'll have rumours of whether Sam will be staying or going.

NOBODY is irreplaceable

not even Sam

I have to have a thought in all this for the youngest of the Tomkins brothers. He might get the rotten end of the stick. People/trainers/coaches might say that if Joel and Sam leave,intend to leave, why the hell should we spend time with Logan so that he will probably 'leg it' to Union as well if he makes the grade ?

It's a grim scenario all round.

No. What proportion of RL's academy products who become professional players go to RU? I'd say not many.

True ATM but the notion of us developing players, selling them to RU, investing in youth development... Isn't that the definition of a feeder club?

It is if you set it up with that in mind.

Investing the proceeds from the occasional sale in the future of your team is not the same thing at all.

Fair enough, but as I posted elsewhere there has to be a way of sufficiently recompensing this newly developed talent.

Article on the superleague site saying Sam has committed himself to Wigan. He refuses to rule Union out in later life but is concentrating on Wigan and England.

Certainly doesn't shut the door on borefest but at least it looks like he'll be with us for at least another year.

As for Joel he said he pulled out because he didn't want it to be a distraction to anyone. He admits he's got an offer on the table but doesn't know where it is up to.

If he does go I hope he joins Sarries and not Quins.
At least Faz will know where his rugby career is at rather than some Union coach who after this year will think he's an out and out centre then get it totally wrong.

Good luck to Joel is what I say, the grief he got on here for his so called dodgy defence was enough to for him to make a decision and take a bigger salary in the other code.

He is a loss, but we CAN replace him.

The grief Joel, a professional sportsman, got on an internet forum, will have made him decide to change sports? Get a grip, completely irrelevant.