Back that late? I would have thought April more likely at the latest.

Hats off to him for having the guts to try and make it in the NRL. He's giving up a regular first team spot in Super League to be a fringe player and try and break into the team at Brisbane.

I think we may all have moved to another world by then.
Dont know about Aus but, our economy is screwed.

Just for interest, have you checked out the difference in sponsorship between the NRL and SL

NRL $1.8 billion
SL £90 million

THeir deal is roughly 10 times as big as ours and that's before all of the add ons and other major sponsors.

I'm looking forward to the "brain drain" reversing though.

He has a big time charlie attitude, he'll get minced in the NRL and come crying back to the UK in no time.

I hope he goes well. One thing's for sure, Bennett won't pick him unless he's good enough. The Broncos have no shortage of talented young forwards vying for a game.

The general trend with UK lads going to the NRL is that our backs really struggle, and our forwards on the whole thrive.

Few harsh comments in here, he's going there to improve as a player and whatever his attitude has been in the past, he's still a young lad. He could well mature and work through that, and I hope he does as he has bags of raw potential. Best of luck to him.

Having travelled in Aus, having an son there as well as regular business interests there before I retired, Their economy is not in great shape it is only the mining in the northern territory that keeps the figures healthy. The other states have been close to recession for a few years & their high wage economy is costing jobs as they outsource to Asia.( In my opinion)

Their economy won't grow and grow forever but any recession they do have will be pretty minimal in comparison to here.

Just like Tomkins, Burgess, Mossop etc.

Yup, along with all those well known highly successful Wakefield players who have tried their hand in the more competitive league. Hang on a minute.............

It's a myth that Tomkins & Burgess didn't perform in the NRL - when fit.

I see that the Wigan fans are getting a tad defensive when their players abilities are being questioned



Please enlighten me as to which of your Wigan players that have played over in the NRL has earned adulation and respect from the Aussies?

Joe Burgess was a flop at the Roosters and merely a squad filler at Souths who only got a gig cos Maguire was coach there
Sam Tomkins was nothing more than a bang average player in the NRL despite being on mega bucks,He wasn't even in the top bracket of full backs
Mossop was bloody awful over there at Parramatta,before returning to Wigan and being bloody awful there too
Sarginson will be back in SL very shortly and probably at Wigan as he is nowhere near good enough for the NRL

IMO players like Morley,Ellis&Sam Burgess have earned the ultimate respect over there and even Tom Burgess and George Burgess have earned far more respect from the Aussies than the Wigan flops that have come home with their tails between their legs

Haha really?

Regards

King James

I don't think this forum has enough pages for people to post all the NRL players who've come over here and turned out to be bang on average or worse.

Joe Burgess wasn't a flop IMO. He signed for the wrong team, who had two very good wingers already. It took him half a season to toughen up in contact, which is far harder for an outside back moving from SL to the NRL than a forward. I've no doubt he would have stayed at Souths if he wanted to - he was looking quite comfortable at the end of last year.

Tomkins played OK and was a core part of the Warriors attacking game and his defence was pretty sound. His problem was that his kick return was awful due to his lack of size/speed. May be harsh but that is a core part of the full back's role and he was easily the worst in the NRL in that area.

OTOH Mossop was a complete dud and Sargison looks as bad as Eden in terms of not being physically up to it.

A very good summing up, Eden has pace & skill but like most super league backs lacks the size & sheer power of the southern hemisphere centres & wingers, at our club he showed promise & at Cas outside a good centre &half back is ripping up super league. I watch nearly all the NRL games & the size of most of the players never fails to amaze me. We only have 2 or 3 wingers who compare in size. Unless you have sheer pace you have to be something special as an average size person to make it in the NRL. I have no idea where these big guys are in the UK? There may be a few in union but they won't come for our money we just don't seem to breed them that size?

Definitely in Tomkins case. Another who signed for the wrong team. He added a lot more vision to his game over there, there wasnt another full back who had the speed of hand with some of the quick tip ons he did getting smashed in the process. Just because he hadn't the size to run like the inglis's of this world doesnt mean he was a failure. He added structure to a joke of a side who fling the ball about willy nilly. I'm not a Wigan fan and its Wigan hating fans who keep spouting this nonsense

What makes me laugh is the people who say Tomkins was a dud are never really able to back it up. I get it, he's a player most people outside of Wigan fans want to dislike but that doesn't make him a dud. I don't know the exact figures but I seem to recall he was up there for assists and a few other elements in his first year. The second year he was clearly playing busted. The criticism of him seems to be picked up from the Aussies/Kiwis themselves who love nothing more than see a pom "fail" and will shout it from the rooftops to massage their own ego.

Mossop was a flop but he hardly went over there with a glowing rep so that's not exactly weird. Same with Sarginson. Sometimes it makes the best of you - Greenwood and Wardle seem to be going alright

I'd argue Burgess was not a flop. He was 3rd or 4th choice winger for the Roosters and barely got any game time. He did well for South's attacking wise and struggled defensively, like every British back I've ever seen play in the NRL, not something that can only be levelled at him.

Agreed! Other fans hatred of Tomkins/Wigan are blurring what a good job he actually did. Obviously not watched what he was doing

Gareth Ellis says hello.

lmao thats stretching it a bit.....

Well Josh Hodgson seems to be making a good fist of it. Does that mean I have the right to criticise Wigan's NRL duds?

Anyone can criticize anyone. I don't agree with this idea that because your team has had less players go to the NRL you can't comment - however, you have to be able to back up why they were duds, surely?

Why is that stretching it? He's a Wakefield academy product, plus he was far more successful over there than any Wigan players have been in recent years.

Just for balance, despite his own views on how he went, Hardaker was a dud last year. It would be really interesting to see how the 2015 or 2017 version of Hardaker would go in the NRL, but last year he went over after half a season of not bothering for Leeds and was unsurprisingly poor at the Panthers - especially physically.

IMO there are no SL outside backs who are "NRL ready". There are a few who I'm sure could make it if they stuck at it - Burgess is one, Manfredi looks big enough, Ryan Hall (a few years ago), Watkins McGillvray etc. They all need to learn to defend and attacking plays, but the physical side is something that seems to be ignored.

I think forwards generally adapt better, partly because their role is simpler, but also because the best forwards clearly enjoy the tough stuff. Going to a physically harder competition is challenge they relish - unlike most outside backs....