So he walked out on Canberra and weasled out of his agreement with Wigan, admirable.

I still can't believe that people are defending GW. He was under contact and we allowed him to leave (doing him a solid), he then signs a deal saying that he'll come back but pulls out of it. I'm not going to mince my words here - the guys an absolute scumbag. There's fewer things lower imo than a person who either can't keep their word, or breaks the trust of someone who has looked out for them.

I'm also annoyed at IL (a guy who I like):

1 - why aren't we enforcing the agreement? Is it not worth the papers it's written on (like the Edwards handshake)?

2 - why aren't we asking for a transfer fee, or taking the big nosed pr!ck to court? It's bigger than getting him back, it's a precedent for the future.

Having just read that statement from the club I’m feeling very disillusioned.

I’m not sure what it was supposed to achieve.

Whatever the intent was there is absolutely no positive to be taken from either a team or a club position.

Very concerning.

Cunningham never played for GB after MCIlorum made his Wigan debut. GB were put "on ice" in 2007 hence why McIlorum never played for them. They were only "resurrected" in 2019, and got tonked by New Zealand, Tonga and PNG!!

I appreciate you’re hurting but Wigan can’t point the finger at any other club for trying to buy a title without being labelled as gross hypocrites.
Havinng said that I don’t actually understand how signing players to play for a team is actually a criticism, given that is the way our sport works, unless you think that French, Field, G Burgess etc were homegrown products of Wigan but got separated due to some tectonic plate movement or got whisked away by an evil witch or…well you get my drift m sure.

The funny thing about this particular "parody" is that Warrington are being sneered by a Wigan fan for imitating..........?

I think that's a bit dramatic. What were you hoping the club would say? They've communicated the reasons he's not coming back to the club - if they had said nothing and Warrington announce his signing then fans would be demanding an explanation.

It seems that the agreement to re-sign Williams was actually a little stronger than most thought I.e. a written contract not a gentleman's agreement. But pursuing legal action because a player doesn't want to join us would have made Wigan look absolutely ridiculous. And what if Warrington (or any other club) refuse to pay a transfer fee? Would fans really want the club to essentially hold the player in handcuffs and prevent him from playing rugby?

The club have politely and professionally laid the blame squarely at Williams feet, as they should. He talked his way out of a contract at Canberra, blaming home sickness, fair enough. He then had a huge chance to return to the club he left, that he appears to have a written agreement with, and then talks his way out of that.

None of this is Wigans fault, look simply at the player, who within the space of a month had talked his way out of 2 written contracts/agreements.

Says more about Williams than the club.

If a player says they don’t want to play for you there’s very little point signing them. Perhaps we have negotiated a fee with Warrington?

It is disappointing that after treating a player so well we get let down though I don’t really begrudge Williams chasing the money in a short career.

The club need to treat this as a lesson and have no more NRL get out clauses in contracts. If you sign a deal you honour it.

There was a time when that statement was so true but now to try and get it to work you need to include two players who haven't even signed for Warrington yet plus a kid who was signed to play for the reserves, played twenty minutes for Warrington's first team before being released on loan for for his contract to run out.

Also somewhat ironically you try to throw this old chestnut out in the week when England name a squad containing as many Warrington Academy products as it does from Wigan's Academy.

I'm surprised Wigan have let him go to Wire without demanding a fee, if that is the case.
When Iestyn Harris signed for Bradford after his stint in Union, Leeds received a large fee due to him breaking a similar agreement.
I agree with the post above, this decision says a lot about Williams. Allowed to leave his contract early to go to Aus, gets homesick so breaks his contract with Canberra, then reneged on his agreement with Wigan. Not a good look.

The fact of all this I Williams doesn't want to play for the club so why bother with him . Allow him to make the mistake of going to wire. He will soon realise it never becomes the year of the Wolf's!!! Bye Bye George