Signing Inglis out of the blue got me thinking about other big signings that we have announced over the years, we have had quite a few earth-shakers.

I've ranked these not on how they played in the P&B but on the significance of the signing at the time, how much it contributed to changing the club's ambition and the way we were perceived, how excited the fans were with the signing. I started watching post Boyd and Woods and Dessie was already here so others will have to say where they would rank on this list.

How would you rank these guys (and have I missed anybody off

)?

10. Josh Charnley (201icon_cool.gif
This came at a point where we needed a lift, coming off the back of a dismal season in the Middle 8s. It was a while since we'd made a big statement in the transfer market and bringing in Charnley who had given us grief in the past in battles with Wigan was a nice fillip that helped create a more optimistic atmosphere for the new era under Price.

9. Brett Hodgson (2011)
We were starting to make strides under TS and for the first time in decades were genuinely talking about having a tilt at the title, so we were looking for players who could take us to the next level. One of our needs was a goalkicker, so landing a player of Hodgson's all round class was Christmas come early. We'd already seen him excel in SL in Hudds and win Man of Steel, he just brought class, confidence and composure. You knew that he was a signing who could not fail to upgrade us.

8. Daryl Clark (2015)
Clark was a promising 20 year old when we signed him in 2013 but part of the terms of the deal was that he would stay one more year at Cas before joining in 2015. Well while we were waiting for him, he won Man of Steel. This was like our equivalent of Saints signing Sculthorpe from us: we had a top young talent with his whole career ahead of him.

7. Matt King (200icon_cool.gif
This was an exciting announcement. We were signing a current Kangaroo and NSW centre/winger who had been crushing it as part of the Melbourne Storm side that was becoming the glamour team of world RL. He was one of the most recognisable figures in the NRL as well with his great size and big hair, we knew that landing him was major news.

6. Greg Inglis (2021)
For shock value this is number two, nobody saw this coming. The crazy thing about this was, over the past decade, Inglis was the 'unrealistic example' you'd use if you wanted to describe SL making a groundbreaking signing. Its like saying Messi to the Premier League. You can argue about who has been the best player in rugby league over that time - probably Thurston - but Inglis has been the best athlete. He's the Mal Meninga of the modern era.

5. Allan Langer (2000)
Similar to Inglis in that he's an all time legend coming out of retirement. I put Langer ahead of Inglis on this list of mega signings because a) his stature in the game is possibly a bit higher and b) where we were as a club then is way off where we are now. Us signing Langer then would be like Wakefield or Hull KR signing Inglis now.

4. Martin Gleeson (2004)
This might seem a bit controversial putting him ahead of Inglis and Langer but this was a unique signing (made possible by unique circumstances with his betting ban) where a young British player approaching his prime was signed by a mid-ranking club from a top club. It was the complete reverse of the normal food chain and I can't think of any equivalent since. It was the first season at the HJ and probably the signing that gave momentum to the new era - we were able to attract a number of internationals on the back of Gleeson. It also raised the expectation and pressure. I remember distinctly the press conference when we announced it which had a strange atmosphere. Gleeson looked like he didn't want to be there and Cullen seemed tense and defensive on what should have been a positive occasion.

3. Jonathan Davies (1993)
Davies was a once-in-a-generation player who we knew was an individual match-winner and would change the complexion of Brian Johnson's workmanlike side which had a good team spirit but was short on inspiration. Like Hodgson we were getting so many things with Davies - goalkicking, leadership as well as his own individual genius. He was also very likeable - if we'd have signed any of the other greats of that era (Edwards, Schofield, Hanley, Offiah) from our rivals we'd have been pleased but it would have been difficult to adjust to seeing them as a Wire. Davies was easy to accept and the fact he'd been a Widnes player wasn't an issue, fans of all clubs liked him. The best thing about this signing was that as big as it was at the time, we didn't even realise then how good he would go on to be with us.

2. Adrian Morley (2007)
If Gleeson was the first signal that the club had a new level of ambition, signing Morley took us on to a new level. He was a forward - which showed we were in the business of winning not just making glamour signings - and he'd been there and done it in the NRL so his calibre was unquestioned. Any club in the world would have wanted Morley at that time, and we got him, and landed him on a four year deal which meant we knew he was going to commit a large part of his career to Wire. We knew he was going to be the best forward at the club for two decades and give us a much tougher, more serious image and bring proper leadership.

1. Andrew Johns (2005)
OK this was a loan deal and so a bit of a gimmick but it was the biggest signing coup I can ever remember from any club. At the stage we signed him Johns was head and shoulders the best player in the world, he'd been injured in the first part of the season, Newcastle were on a record losing streak, he came back and turned them in to a winning side. He tore it up in Origin for NSW. He was just unstoppable at that point, even in a competition as good as the NRL. The excitement around the HJ at the time he signed was unparalleled, I remember the huge queues in the club shop for the Johns merchandise. I have a tacky training top with Johns' face and giant signature on it and JOHNS 31 on the back that I still go running round London in. We signed him at a time when for the first time since Davies, we were a winning side playing good rugby - it was the best part of the Cullen era, and there was a lot of optimism around the club. Signing Johns sent it in to overdrive.

Agree with most of them. Joel Monaghan worth a mention. He was an Origin player at the time and had payed for Australia. No Australian team would touch him after that incident and so it felt like a risk but what a player he was for us.

Andy Gregory..showed our intent on breaking Wigan's dominance in the 80s..shame he went there after a relatively short career at wire

As a Wigan and RL fan I would have put Michael Monaghan in there, for me he was the best all round hooker in Superleague.

what about Chris Bridge?

Alex Murphy & Bobby Fulton.

Yes Joel was a major signing, the only reason it didn't feel as big was because he was replacing Chris Hicks so it didn't feel like a major upgrade that would take us to a new level. Charnley was coming in to a wing slot which used to be Matty Russell or Mitch Brown.

Some quality players there. No sure it's fair to have John's as the best signing though as didn't he only play 3 games on loan?!
Sandow should be on that list as he was unplayable for the first half of the season you signed him...

Slightly different, because obviously back then Aussies brought in were mainly on short term deals, but when we brought in Steve Roach, Les Davidson and Phil Blake for the 1988/89 season, that was as ground-breaking and as big a statement of intent as we have ever made.

Typical Wire though, we then proceeded to have one of our worst ever seasons, only brightened by a Cup run, which was ended at Maine Road by the flukiest/greatest drop goals of all time.

Michael Monaghan and Hicks signed at the same time as King.

With hindsight all three of those were great signings. But when we signed them, King was the blue chip superstar.

MM and Hicks had not been Origin or international players so were less well known in the UK.

In MMs case there was a question mark. We had been trying to sign Matt Orford from Melbourne Storm, for 2006. When that didn't come off we ended up getting Michael Sullivan, who had been playing as a bench hooker for Cronulla and said he wanted the opportunity to be a halfback. It didn't work for us, and we ended up using him in the same way as a hooker, which left us without a proper halfback replacement for Nat Wood who had retired.

While Sullivan was with us, Orford had joined Manly and taken MM's halfback slot, so MM got shifted out to hooker. When we signed MM we heard the same story - he wanted the chance to play as a halfback again. Because we'd been through the Sullivan experience there were concerns at the time MM was signed that this was going to happen again...MM would come to be halfback, not be very effective, and end up being shifted back to hooker, leaving us without a halfback.

Which is exactly what happened



The difference to Sullivan was that MM became as you say the best all round hooker in SL. It still meant we were using makeshift replacements at halfback for a couple of years but once we signed Myler all the pieces fell in place.

But when we signed them, King was seen as more the sure thing and there were question marks over MM. King took a while to settle too though - neither of those two really got going until TS arrived in their second season.

Hicks was the most consistent from the start but slipped under the radar as a signing because he didn't have a high profile in Aus, although he had a good NRL record.

King, Monaghan and Hicks have to be the best signings we have made in a long time that we signed at the same time. I know King and MM Took time to hit there strides but can you think of any year since where we've signed more players in 1 year that have gone on to be quality and have such an impact?

That's a good question. The 2008 signings seem like a special crop: I missed out Louie Anderson who also signed that year!

We had a really golden spell of recruitment for a few years:
2007: Morley, V Anderson, Paul Johnson
2008: M Monaghan, King, Hicks, L Anderson
2009: Carvell, Higham, Mathers
2010: Atkins, Myler, Solomona
2011: Hodgson, J Monaghan
2012: Hill, Waterhouse, Ratchford

2012 weren't bad either!

Some inspirational signings mentioned here but arguably the signing that was the one that knitted it all together was Tony Smith. Should he be in on the list ?

Agree he should be.he sorted a few players out got them playing to there potential and gave us fans some fantastic rugby to watch and with the bonus of silverware...

Probably the biggest coach signing that we have brought in: 2 Super League titles, a WCC and GB/England coach before taking over.

Before that the biggest (of my time watching) was probably Dorahy.

Actually as a statement of intent I would include Henry Fa’afili, it signalled a significant step up.

Yes Fa'afili was an important signing because it followed quickly after Gleeson. It gave credibility to the things we were saying when Gleeson was signed - this is just the start, we're looking at bringing in a number of international calibre players etc. Also, he was signed mid-season to come over straight away, whereas Gleeson was suspended till the next season.

Fa'afili was a current NZ international winger who was known over here from getting a hat-trick against GB, so it was a big signing at the time. I got a NZ Warriors shirt off ebay to wear for the rest of that season.

The Gleeson and Fa'afili signings kept momentum going at an important time for us in our first season in the new stadium as these stadium moves don't always go right. Wigan's crowds dropped when they went to the JJB and the atmosphere was awful for a while, same with West Ham going to the Olympic Stadium. It can take years to recover from that as fans just start saying its not the same as the old ground. We had momentum in the second half of 2003 and Wilderspool was rocking in that last game when Appo got a hat-trick, then it carried over to the start of 2004 when we opened the HJ with that win over Wakefield. By mid season we'd stalled though because of some bad results and the old feeling of negativity, another false dawn was creeping over the club, then we signed Gleeson, backed it up with Fa'afili and then announced Logan Swann and the return of Toa (which was incredibly popular) for 2005, and it really helped create excitement which made the move to the HJ a success. The club did a great job of building a brand along with the move to the HJ, from that first season we were always an aspirational club. So much of that was of course due to Simon Moran's increased involvement.

Before we got Gleeson, the rumours had already started around agents and journalists that Warrington were looking to make a big splash. The whisper on the grapevine was that Iestyn Harris was coming back from RU and Leeds might not take up their preference option on him. Someone sent a fake press release around, with a picture where they photoshopped Harris' head on Mark Hilton's body and it made some reputable news outlets that Wire had signed Harris.

I’m surprised no one has mentioned Boyd, we made stir when we signed him (not a particularly positive stir) but he helped improve the culture of the club and brought the best out of an exciting crop of young forwards.

He was before my time so I didn't put him in my top 10, but signing one of the "1982 Invincibles" must have been on par with the Langer/Inglis signings at least.

It was. The fact he was serving a large ban for eye gouging and had a reputation for, putting it nicely, enjoying the biff, helped to really sell it too.

His debut in a Lancs Cup semi against Widnes certainly had an incredible atmosphere.

For a man of my vintage, Gregory was a massive signing (but Wigan weren't dominant then, SAM).
I started watching in late '79, and from then, until Gregory's signing in Jan 85's transfer deadline, we didn't sign ANYONE of note.
The transfer embargo of Australians was lifted circa' 84, Wigan signed Brett Kenny and John Ferguson (both brilliant). St H got Meninga (a God), and Halifax signed half of the ARL, and ended up winning the league (the next season) . We went for Paul Younane, who, at best, was average.
A few months after Gregory, we got Boyd, Blake, Tamati and Rathbone, and we reached 2 finals and won 1. So Gregory (for me) was a groundbraker

If Greg could have given us 2 more seasons, we’d have broke Wigan.

John Bevan for me, should be on that list.

Spot on he'd be on my list too. Although it was easier to tempt Welsh RU players to our code he was an international and British Lion in his prime