Some thing we all knew about but its official on site ,

Wigan Warriors will say farewell to four players at the end of the 2010 season with Mark Riddell, Iafeta Paleaaesina, Phil Bailey and Shaun Ainscough all leaving the Club.

Mark Riddell confirmed to the Club at the end of June that he wished to return to Australia for family reasons and, on compassionate grounds, the Club granted the hooker a release from his contract for 2011. The contracts of Paleaaesina, Bailey and Ainscough come to an end in November and the decision has been made by the Club that they will not be renewed.

Speaking about the departing players, Head Coach Michael Maguire said,

"We are sorry to see the departure of these four players and thank them all for their service to Wigan.

"We knew about Mark's situation in June and we will be sad to lose him but fully understand the reasons behind his decision.

"Feka Paleaaesina and Phil Bailey have both given exceptional service to the Club. Phil has been an extremely valuable member of the Senior Group and has shown his commitment to Wigan both on and off the field, particularly with his willingness to play out of position whenever called upon and his support of the younger players. Feka has added many special moments to games for Wigan fans and his popularity, good humour and sheer effort for Wigan have been exceptional.

"Whilst he played so well in the previous Season, Shaun Ainscough has played only once so far for the First Team in 2010 having spent a good proportion of the season under dual registration and on loan. The decision to release him to allow him to get Super League experience elsewhere was very difficult but we felt this was the right choice for Shaun and for the Club at this time in his career. It is never an easy decision to release players but under the constraints of the Salary Cap we will never be able to keep every young player who comes through our system and it is important to give them the chance to develop elsewhere. We hope Shaun does well and, as a Wiganer, he will always be welcome back at the DW Stadium.

"I wish them all well for the future and I know that all four players will want to end their time at Wigan with success as we now look forward towards the Play-Offs."

There are still players within the squad that the Club are talking to about new contracts.Announcements on the future of these players will be made in due course.

Fans will be able to thank the departing players after Friday's game when the side will also be presented with the League Leaders Shield. Tickets for Friday's last home game of the regular season aginst Bradford Bulls are still available by calling the DW Stadium Ticket Office on 0871 66 33 552 and online Click Here

No word on Phelps leaving.

I wonder whether he'll be kept on.

Interesting that there is no clarification on Phelps position.

Personally, I hope we do keep Cam on as a utility back.

He has never cost a fortune, always gives his all when called upon and seems to play with a smile every game (i.e. he really enjoys playing rugby league).

We need cover for the back-line and we will still have an overseas slot open if we decide to sign anyone else.

You'd imgaine that he'd be one of the players ''within the squad that the Club are talking to about new contracts.Announcements on the future of these players will be made in due course.''

It'd be very odd for them to have made a decision on his future and not communicated it at the same time as the rest of them.

he wont be on much money, the only issue is do we need his quota spot?

No news on Fielden?

So that's 3 imports in with 3 already out - Phelps to be decided and Roberts presumably staying.

Does anyone know the rules as to how many imports are allowed and who is or isn't classed as an one?

We have Warrington signing Hodgson when I thought their quota was already full, Hull KR with loads and Celtic with a stupid number. How does it all work?

Cam had on his twitter "Will hopefully know wat im doing next yr soon maybe someone can cast a spell" twitter.com/phelpsy6

Cam had on his twitter "Will hopefully know wat im doing next yr soon maybe someone can cast a spell" twitter.com/phelpsy6

I'm sorry, but this is exactly the type of wishy washy crap that irritates me on these forums. Just because the lad smiles a lot it doesn't mean we should be re-signing him or even using that as a reason to keep him on at Wigan. It's a ridiculous point to make when you think about it. Every player in Rugby League must enjoy what they're doing otherwise why do it?

See my post on the Rumours Thread about PhelpsHe isn't worth a quota spot. He played one and half games at the start of the season (against Crusaders & Hull KR at home) and was average, but since then he has been very poor when he was called upon. Against Salford away he looked very slow and off the pace & was completely embarrassed at Sheffield Eagles. He isn't a top Super League fullback - like Amos Roberts/Sam Tomkins - and is very average in any other position he plays in due to his lack of pace/acceleration. I don't buy into the fact he gives us great squad depth because of this. You also have to consider his value as a utility player because I think he hampers the opportunities of Josh Charnley, Stefan Marsh etc. Also when you compare him to our other quota players - Brett Finch, Jeff Lima, Ryan Hoffman, Amos Roberts - he isn't even in the same league as them. He was a rejected youngster from Canterbury who wasn't good enough for the NRL. At the time he was just a stop gap & now we no longer need him. We have Sam Tomkins & Amos Roberts who are light years ahead of Cameron Phelps at fullback (I would have hoped their performances just highlight how average Phelps was). And we don't need a quota spot to be taken up by a utility player and we now certainly don't need one for fullback. I think the free spot could be better used in another position such as at hooker to replace Riddell or at prop to strengthen the forwards or to perhaps replace Fielden. Then again it could just be kept free in case an opportunity to strengthen mid-season arises.

I think what speaks volumes of Cameron Phelps is that he is being shown the door at Wigan, but no club as of yet has even been linked with him. He is VERY average. Likeable lad with a brave heart, but not good enough for a side with title ambitions.'"