There’s one thing for sure, we absolutely won’t get a half that’s better than or even as good as GW full stop, never mind for less of a salary.

Oh do Warrington only have to pay 75k?

You're right, i obviously don't.

'Spunking most of our cap' A back handed dig at Warrington i.e Warrington have. You obviously don't know a lot about a subtle dig.


This is Warrington though. They are probably paying him minimum wage on his official contract. Where the rest comes from, god knows.

Then we need to take the opportunity to add extra quality in other areas.

Toronto used to pay huge signing on fees, which I believe do not count towards the cap, and a fairly standard salary £30-60k per year. I don’t know if Wire have done this with GW mind but notably they haven’t announced his signing as of yet so there’s clearly a few issues to iron out.

Bottom line is that he didnt want to come back and play for us, just as Edwards didnt want to come back and coach us.

If its not about money, then there is something going on behind the scenes that is putting folk off coming back to Wigan. Something that IL doesnt want to let the fans know - otherwise why wouldnt he push for a compensation package from GW/Wire for reneging on a legally binding deal?

What do you think that is?

A secret reign of terror instigated by IL and KR? A culture of utter ruthlessness? A total lack of moral scruple? Inflexibility on an epic scale when it comes to contract enforcement etc?

All the evidence suggests the exact opposite is true. Whatever the problem, it didn't prevent Bateman coming back, or Sarginson, or Budgie.

And I wouldn't use IL's refusal to sue Williams as proof that something is wrong. How would it look, trying to legally oblige someone to play for us who really doesn't want to? And who wants to get into court cases etc? Look at what happened with Iestyn Harris. After all that fuss, the guy was rubbish when he finally started playing again.

Better just to accept that for whatever reason, both Edwards and Williams changed their mind (Edwards gave various reasons depending on who was interviewing him), while Williams seems to be in a bit of a mess at the moment and clearly wants some kind of fresh start.

All we really know is that two sons of Wigan have dumped on the Wigan club. I don't understand why it always has to be Wigan's fault.

IMO there’s 2 realistic reasons he’s not coming back.

1: The Warrington financial offer was too good to turn down.

2: He simply wants a new challenge. I’m sure he’s noticed that the players who have returned have generally struggled when they’ve come back. I can’t think of a single one who has been better than when they left and he felt as though the same would happen to him.

Maybe he also felt his chances of silverware are better at Warrington than Wigan. When you look at the players they are signing and being linked with compared to us I can’t blame him for that.

I don’t see this being indicative of problems behind the scenes at Wigan. He’s the only player thus far that we wanted to re-sign and haven’t.

It could be a blessing in disguise for us if we invest the budget we would have paid Williams into a couple of decent props.

Such a strategy wouldn't make a difference to cap spend. The proportion of the cap taken up by a player is determined by their 'salary cap value', this is a figure determined by the governing body and isn't necessarily the same as the amount going into their pay packet. If the governing body determine that a player is worth £150k (Williams' likely value if he is a marquee player at Warrington) then a club cannot pay him less than that in order to fit him in under their cap limit. If they could do that then Warrington would not be looking to shift players to accommodate signing him. Warrington can pay Williams as much or as little as they wish to, and he agrees to, but it is the governing body that will decide how much of their allotted cap he takes up regardless of his wages.

Learn something new everyday

He’ll need a thick skin at Warrington then and best be good at ducking in case a season ticket hits him.

If he doesn't perform they'll be burning shirts with his name on the back like they did with Matt King.

maybe he'll get homesick....

Left out of the England squad.

George Williams has been urged to find a new club quickly after being left out of England's squad to face the Combined Nations All Stars.

The half-back had been named in Shaun Wane's initial 24-man party, but is not fit to take part in Friday's match at Warrington's Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Williams, 26, has not played since 22 May after being released by Canberra Raiders on compassionate grounds and Leeds captain Luke Gale and St Helens stand-off Jonny Lomax come in as half-backs.

Warrington full-back Stefan Ratchford is another half-back option for Wane as Williams, linked with the Wolves himself, was given a message by the England coach.

Wane told BBC Radio 5 Live's Rugby League Podcast that "it is very important George Williams gets fixed up with a club and gets some games under his belt".

Wire centre Toby King misses out after picking up a knee injury in their win over St Helens while Salford Red Devils full-back Dan Sarginson is ruled out after being given a three-match ban following his side's narrow success at Huddersfield Giants.

The Giants' Jermaine McGillvary and Jake Wardle have also been cut from the final 19-man squad.

Six uncapped players are named in the line-up, with wingers Tom Davies and Ash Handley, loose forward Morgan Knowles, prop Mikolaj Oledzki, back rower Joe Philbin and reigning Super League Man of Steel Paul McShane set for their England debuts.

England (from): John Bateman (Wigan Warriors); Daryl Clark, Mike Cooper, Ben Currie (all Warrington Wolves); Tom Davies (Catalans Dragons); Liam Farrell (Wigan Warriors); Luke Gale, Ash Handley (both Leeds Rhinos); Morgan Knowles (St Helens); Reece Lyne (Wakefield Trinity); Jonny Lomax (St Helens); Paul McShane (Castleford Tigers); Tommy Makinson (St Helens); Mikolaj Oledzki (Leeds Rhinos); Joe Philbin, Stefan Ratchford (both Warrington Wolves); Sam Tomkins (Catalans Dragons); Alex Walmsley (St Helens); Joe Westerman (Wakefield Trinity).

Pat Richards?

He wasn't a hidden gem. He came to Wigan after a very good season with the Tigers. Was instrumental in that team winning the premiership.