Must have been a rumour, though having said that the people who sit in front of us in the east stand said straight away after the announcer asked us to remain in our seats at half time for a big announcement we'd be signing J T.

I'm guessing Liam Farrell at 12, SOL at 13 with Joel at 11. Where does this leave Bateman?
PS I'm chuffed that Joel has come back to RL.

interchange, Wane said he was disappointed that he has had to relay on him after saying he wouldn't play to much this season and it will be more about stripping him down and building him back up. Guessing that plan went out the window with Hansen.

Right, but what about the long term? Where will Bateman fit in, your 11, 12, 13 all have at least 3 years in them. Has Bateman come to Wigan to be a bench player?

Given he was signed when we still had Hansen (giving Farrell, Hansen, Lockers) as the back row then I assume he must of been fine with the idea.

Especially as Wane told him he wouldn't play much this season! Turns out he has, partly down to him getting lucky, but mostly down to him playing so well!

If Clubb in the second row had worked out Bateman would be getting the rest he needs. As it turns out, it's not worked out for Clubb there and he's clearly a prop so we need another second row.

Bateman will start plenty of games. There will be injuries and this gives Wane the option of resting O'Loughlin without there being a huge drop off in quality.

I wouldn't rule Bateman out from having a crack at making a centre spot his own either. He's shown some classy touches in that position in pre season and at Saints on Good Friday.

What is the issue with being a bench player? It's not football or Union. There is no stigma attached to being in the bench, you will get as many minutes as the lads that start you will just come on against a more fatigued defence.

It's a 17 man game not 13.

Bateman and Tautai on the bench is a vast improvement on out current rotation.

I just hope that people are patient with Joel. He's not played for a while. In fact he's only played Union for the last two and a half years. It will take him a while to get fit enough to play League again. Don't be surprised to see him off the bench for the rest of this season from about August onwards. That's about 4 or 5 games before the playoffs. He might even figure at centre for a bit.

It'll be next season before he's back into the Wigan way. At his best I reckon he could play just about anywhere, and it's great to see him back. Definately our next Captain after Lockers and he's still young enough to play for a good few years.

By the way, does anyone else think that this significantly improves our chances of seeing Sam back in a Wigan shirt?

If anything, I hope it significantly decreases the chances of ever seeing Sam play RU. He will want to give the NRL a proper crack IMO, I think he'll at least do the 3 years of his current contract before he considers moving on.

Made up that Joel has resigned.

I would argue that Faz is more at risk than Bateman of losing his place.

Mind you JT will really need to earn his place before thinking about replacing either.

I always harbour hopes that returnees can play the role of advising other players against going.

The silken words of agents and Union execs can be offset by the experiences of players who felt it was a bag of doo-dah and probably weren't impressed that the "yes, you'll play for England" guarantee actually saw them in some B-team somewhere, which no-one was interested in, or a seven-a-side tournament.

I totally agree, though, that Joel, at present, won't be the Joel we knew and loved; the fierce competitor, the best athlete at the club, etc. If nothing else, Rugby Union has several times proved that it can train all that out of you. He's got some busy days ahead.