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

Every week at the start of Grandstand they showed that famous Welsh RU try and you see JB available at least twice, and every week I’d shout “pass it to Bev”...obsessed

John Bevan was only 22 when he signed for Wire so he must have been broken through in RU very young to have been a Welsh international and already done a Lions tour.

[*

Back in the 70's, John Bevan was every Warrington schoolkids' hero.

At a time when RL players came in all shapes and sizes, he stood out like some athletic God.

He was an absolutely superb all round player.. Fantastic try scorer, great defence and also a fine rugby brain.

He is one of the few players from that era who you could say, with almost certainty, would be a top player in today's modern game.

After playing he worked as staff, but he walked away from the club after we treated Roger O’Mahoney so disrespectfully.

Led Boyd was awesome for wire and I'd put him up there as a top class signing rumours at the time he and Andy Greg never seen eye to eye..Morley was the best modern day signing along with Mona's...the semi in 2009 was Mona's at his best...I know we av daz Clark who for me is the best hooker in super league by a mile shame our pack doesn't quite compliment his efforts at time...now we have Greg inglis so another chapter enfolds

Boyd was a supreme leader and took that side to another level. The latter part of the 1985 campaign was awesome ending with the fantastic final win over Halifax. Bob Jackson was not what you might call groundbreaking but deserves a mention