I get what you’re saying but if we applied that same thought process, Escare should start before Hardaker. We brought Sammut in for a reason and he has to be given a chance to prove himself otherwise bringing him in was pointless. I am in the same boat as you and I wasn’t particularly chuffed when we announced his signature but I’m prepared to give him a fair crack and in order to get a fair crack, he has to play.

Not being a training ground stalker I wouldn't know but if Lam was running with Williams and Sammut in pre-season wouldn't it make sense to get them together again asap ?

The attendance was 5.5% up on last years home game v Leeds!!

AND

4% on the first home game at the DW v Widnes, who brought more fans then than Leeds did on Friday hth.

But that game was on a Thursday night mid-season. Let's not try and dress it up as anything other than poor.

Yep, probably best part of £100k short in what IL had hoped for in gate receipts.

There's enough people on here and other social media dressing things that aren't poor up as poor, why not try and do things the other way for a change?

That attendance is in line and or better than the Home Leeds attendances we were getting in 2000/2001/2002/2003 when we had some of the best players from all over the world, proof that things weren't always better and bringing very expensive stars over doesn't always improve the crowds.

If we were to get a 20k crowd on Sunday there will be some people dressing that up as Bad - When it will be as good or better than what we have done in the past and/or what Leeds/Saints etc have achieved at their Home Grounds i.e. Headingley or Langtree pk

My hands still haven't thawed out from that game against Widnes!

How about we do neither and just call a spade a spade?

I certainly don't talk the game down for the sake of it. Yes the sport will have peaks and troughs but I don't think its unreasonable to hope that the sport's latest relaunch would result in a boost in attendances.

Anything over 20k on Sunday would be great.

This talk of a ‘relaunch’ makes me laugh.
What’s been relaunched? What’s been changed? The league structure? In that case we see a relaunch every 3 or 4 years.

In my case it’s the constant relaunches which has bored me to tears and one of the reasons I’ve gone from season tickets and 95% of away games until circa 2012, to a maximum 2 or 3 games a season last year.

Away from the league ‘issues’ and back to Wigan, as a general question related to all this, whatever happened to efforts like ‘The Big One’? Do the (much cut) marketing team come up with events like this now?

I don't think you fully do get what I'm saying as you're discussion is off the mark.
Cronk is an obvious improvement on any half in the UK, he has the pedigree and success to support that, at the highest level playing origin and winning world cups and NRL GF, the list goes on. So yes of course I've have him playing our halves.
Again it isn't the same thought process to select Escare over Hardaker. Hardakers ability, stats MOS award etc is way above that of Escare. Escare last season wasn't even a starting member of our 13 when we went on such a run, it was Sam Tomkins who was our starting full back.

Can we say the same about Sammut? Does he record, credentials or anything state he should warrant a place over our halfbacks who went undefeated through the playoffs and won the GF? No absolutely not. How would they react to be dropped after only losing 1 game in god knows how many to Sammut? Who, if it weren't for Wigan wouldn't probably be even playing RL at all! Or at very most be in the lower leagues.
I don't mind the signing, but he's no Cronk or Hardaker, to compare him to either is just silly.

For me, he has to earn his place in this team, it would be a crime to Tommy, Williams and/or Powell for him to step above them.

Lam said from day 1 we need to bring in a half and he’s done exactly that. It might not be the one some people wanted but he’s a half. He’s trained pre season alongside Williams and none us us know how he’s performed but I’d say it’s safe to assume he’d have been playing had he not been banned and that Leuluai would be at 9. Powell May get a bench spot at best.
I’m fairly confident we’ll see him start soon and be given a run to prove himself.

Why do Williams, Tommy and or Powell deserve to be dropped for Sammut? Look at their record in the last god knows how many matches?

There was no point in buying Sammut unless we were going to give him a shot. Unless it's being suggested that he's been brought in purely as injury cover, which hardly seems realistic, especially as we have promising youngsters coming through.

Serious question, this. Not an attempt to trap you or anything ... but why have changes in the basic structure of the game caused you to stop watching Wigan?

Why has tinkering with the format bored you so much that Wigan are now paying the price?

The Wigan experience hasn't changed a great deal. With the exception of the odd blip year like 2017, they've continued to compete at the highest level the UK game has and still don't charge extortionate prices. From a fans' perspective, there've been lots of trophies, the cherry and white legends rolls on etc.

Surely you can see that a key problem the club is facing at present is fans who find reasons not to attend?

Williams and Leuluai don’t deserve to be dropped at all. Powell is the weaker of the 3 players mentioned in my view although he works his socks off and in no way should he been seen as a scapegoat of any kind. However,

Leuluai is a better scrum half than Powell.
Leuluai is a better hooker than Powell.
Leuluai is a better hooker than he is a scrum half.
Williams is a better half back than both Powell and Leuluai

We have yet to see what Sammut can do but Lam brought him saying from day 1 that we need a half back.

I agree the run last year and winning the grand final was excellent for the club but it doesn’t mean we can’t improve on it. Sammut might not be your cup of tea but he must be Lam’s or he would never have brought him to the club. We need to see how we go with Sammut & Williams at 6 & 7 with Leuluai at 9 and Powell on the bench. If it doesn’t improve us, we can bring Powell back in and Sammut provides injury cover.