Quote DaveO="DaveO"I do not think that has any relevance at all.
The way it has been worded is that Wigan did not go out of their way to make Finch's decision that hard. We also caved in and let Lima out of his contract early. We knew of Carmont's and Tommy's position before this season started so IMO it should have been working to sign Finch up back then rather than hanging about (which it did given Finch said himself talks began a month or two ago).
However you justify it the club has got itself into a position of losing four of the best players in the league at the same time. If it does as you say we will be considerably weaker next year.'"
Jesus christ, it's all doom and gloom then. We are going to be the worst team in SL, we have still yet to announce that we are swapping Sam with Mathers and are bringing Moran out of retirement as our half back.
Finch will have been offerred a decent contract, he's chosen not to accept it and is leaving. There is nothing in any of the statements that suggest anything other than he wants to go back to Oz and there is an offer there for him. As for Lima, I don't think there is any point keeping players here against their will, I know the old "my wife's homesick" is a soft excuse but moving across the world is a big commitment and some people don't take to it.
I've just posted in the Rumours thread, we don't know fully what next years recruitment is so you can't say for definite we will be a worse team. People (i.e YOU) were saying the exact same things last year when we lost players.
FWIW I think Thornley will do an excellent job replacing Carmont, I've not seen a lot of him but he does look an exciting player. Dudson, Spencer, Burke and Crosby will all be fighting for starting berths against Mossop, Prescott, Lauaki and Flower - still a strong front row with plenty of depth. Smith I'm unsure of but I'm willing to give him a chance. My main issue is who will be stand off, but the coaching and backroom staff will have known for some time losing Finch was a possibility and will have been searching for a suitable replacement.
Realistically how much will Roberts', Fielden's, Finch's, Tommy's and Carmont's wages add up to. Surely enough for a marquee signing once we've paid Smith's wages and put McIlorum, O'Loughlin and some of the youngsters have been put on improved deals.