Gildart excellent news. Would have been very hard to replace.

I hope Bateman stays, I do think though he is very replaceable. I don’t think we can replace him from SL but comfortably I think the NRL will provide us with a quality replacement.

Comparing SOL with Bateman is unfair. Bateman is a great player, SOL was a great player too at the same age, with much more to his game.

SOL has been World Class, Bateman will never be World Class.

I think it's probably you who are the exception here. Not many think Hardaker is a Sam T kind of full back.



OK. Blake Green. Feel better now? Is he available? No idea. Would he come if we asked. No idea. I can name any random non-rep NRL halfback you like but I have no idea what the contract status is of any of them are nor do I know if they would be amenable to a move to the UK. That is what Radlinski is paid to find out. So given I think we need a better 7 to exploit Hardaker's talent I also think Radlinski needs to get on a plane to Oz to go and find one.

Great news, glad he's decided to stay.

Considering Gildart (seemingly) hasn’t been given marquee status, one could assume that Bateman would receive it or we have a signing in the pipeline (if Bateman goes)?

There is a rumour posted on the A&L facebook page from some NRL source that says both Sutton and Bateman are off to the Raiders.

They also said Gildart was going to Saints

Bateman is not marquee status!

Lockers had this weird stigma attached to him in his early to mid twenties that he was some sort of average Joe (by a section of Wigan fans and most opposition fans) and it took that man of the series performance you mention, years worth of ridiculously consistent performances for Wigan and latterly another couple of international man of the series awards before pretty much everyone has been turned around.

John Bateman is top superleague quality and has the potential to be a good international player but he isn’t and won’t ever be in Sean O’Loughlins League. He doesn’t have the natural ball skills or size of Lockers. These two things combined have made him the World Class player he has been (and on the odd occasion he still is).

This!!

Good player but never a marquee one.

I remember meeting Rouges Gallery for the first time, we discussed the fact that people on this forum failed to understand just how good SOL was, he was the focus of lots of negative comments at the time by Wigan fans and opposition fans too.

It’s interesting to see some of the posters we discussed that day now raving about Locky.

Bateman has the mentality to be a World Class player.

He however lacks the physical gifts that others have.

Too small for a World Class forward, too slow for a World Class back.

I’d be more than happy to see Bateman leave if we could get an aging Hoffman back.

Wow, re-signed a young lad that the club paid for and developed and he held the club to ransom, just like Tomkins.

Happy Clappers clapping, crowds are gone.

Long Live the Happy Clappers.

Couldn't agree more NK. I never got the negativity from certain fans as it just didn't equate with what we saw on the field, the opinion of his peers or, most tellingly that of the coaches he played under. I truly think the only reason was the old line that I heard peddled at the time that he wasn't Andy Farrell. As I used to say when I heard this "and Andy Farrell is no Ellery Hanley.. What's your point?"

Tbh, this is the main reason I called LSOW on his post. I thought we'd left this revisionist view in the trash heap of history where it belongs. Even opposition fans (well, enlightened ones anyway!) no longer subscribe to this view. I've seen Saints fans call him the best player in Superleague, I've seen Leeds fans say his withdrawal was the difference between us winning and losing the World cup this year. I guess it just galls me when our own fans trot out a long debunked line. Maybe it should be water off a duck's back by now! lol.

I'll share a little story with you though. When Daz Goulding was coming through the ranks I remember chatting to him (he was a good friend of a neighbour) and all he could talk about was how hard Gaz Hock was and how good Sean O'Loughlin was. I've seen nothing over the years to cast doubt on either of those appraisals!

I used to get terrorised on the Virtual Terrace especially when I was trying to explain just how good O’Loughlin was. It was a losing battle for a long time.

There have been very few players who can mix their game like Lockers and play to whatever role you need them to. That recent performance at Catalans pretty much summed him up.

What separates Lockers from the vast majority of players is not only his incredible ability and determination but moreso the sheer consistency that he’s played at that level over many years. I too was made up for him as an individual as well as for the club for the 2010 success.
He has a genuine aura around him and it’s clear as day that other clubs fancy their chances against us a lot more when he’s not in the 17. He has the respect of players, coaches and fans all around the world and rightly so. The day he hangs up his boots will be a very sad day for rugby league in this country.