Confirmed this afternoon. Was obviously going to happen when Orford signing was announced.

I'm not sure that's the right way around... I think it may have been Deacon wishing to move on that sparked the last minute bid for Orford.

You're probable right, but we cant speculate, and this is theway its happened in the papers and internet.

Will he be the starting Scrum half as I think is a far Thomas LeuLuai is far better at hooker

A good, and successful, servant at Bradford - but his exit is long overdue.

McNamara wanted him to be the focal point of the side and he simply wasn't up to the task, but I hope he goes well at Wigan, whatever he is doing.

A great move by Wigan. Another local lad who is back with his hometown club. He will act as cover for Tomkins and Leuluai, in case of injuries or mid-season international duty, while also offering us some strength in depth if Mark Riddell or Mike McIlorum aren't playing up to scratch. Leuluai could then move to nine and Deacon can partner Tomkins.

To have Deacon as a specialist halfback and kicking coach is another excellent move. Deacon's main strengths - kicking and ability to organise a team - is one of Tomkins and Leuluai's weaknesses - so it is a very clever move by the club.

I'm not sure what his coaching potential is like but a year under Mike MaGuire while also serving as Halfback and kicking coach will do well for him. I think we could see a lot of specialist coaching at Wigan with Mike Maguire coaching the backs (as he did with Melbourne), Shaun Wane the forwards and Paul Deacon with the halfbacks. He has the chance to develop under a very highly regarded coach in Mike MaGuire. A team coached by Mike MaGuire, Shaun Wane and Paul Deacon is one I look forward to seeing.

Deacon as a Coach is a good signing, not sure of his worth as a halfback.

Not been the same since he got clattered by Vagana. wigan seem to be getting the off field back room staff right, just wonder if they'll implode as usual because they don't win anything.

baffling signing, he was out of form this season and has lost what little pace he had.

He's been signed as an assistant coach specialising as a kicking coach/mentor for our young halves. He has a 3 year contract for this. In addition he will be on the playing staff for 1 year to cover/supliment the halves as we currently have no cover for those positions.

Not really a baffling signing. Seems like a very good one for all concerned, including Bradford who are more concerned with building a team beyond the 1 year Deacon had left on his contract there.

That was the previous regime who ran us appallingly. They never had long term goals it was always "we'll win something next year". They never made ambitious targets like getting 20,000 in to the ground for Leeds last year (albeit for £10 a ticket). They never prioritised youth development, Maurice always went to Australia to overspend on a foriegner (step forward David Vaealiki). And thus they never got to grips with the salary cap clearly proven by three breaches of it despite us almost being relegated.

The new chairman is prioritising our youth and the fact we were the only side to be able to compete in play offs at all three levels (first team, reserve & academy) last year shows the potential depth we have. Most sides struggled to compete at two levels never mind three. The back room recruits all seem spot on. The club is talking about trying to get a 20,000 average crowd and yes it's very ambitious but I bet they get a long way towards that in the coming years. I think we'll overhaul Leeds as number 1 supported team. We've got close with a struggling side in recent years.

Noble did well to start the rebuild but too many times he accepted poor performances, especially early on in the season at home. I would have loved him just once to rant and rave about a performance like when we lost 34-4 at home to Huddersfield in 2007. It never happened. In 2007 & 2008 he had us over achieving but last year 2009 was a massive under achievement to finish 6th. We were way better than that!

After losing 8 semi finals and 4 finals in the past decade I have to say if we'd have been run from the top like what is happening under this new chairman we'd have won alot more than one challenge cup in the past ten years.

I'm very confident it'll be a different Wigan next season. Much better attitude will be on show.

Bilko and cadoo are spot on, this will work well for Wigan and the whole culture of the way the club is run is changing, we will see a difference next year and I think we will be the next team to dominate a few seasons other than Leeds and Saints. Our club is doing all the right things off the field at the moment, we have real ambitions for the team and for the clubs as a wholl as Bilko mentions IL wants an average of 20,000 which is easily achievable with a succesful Wigan team!

Paul Deacon was never that good as a player, what makes people think he'll make it as a coach?

Same could be said for Noble, never really stood out as a player but has won everything in the game at club level coaching.

Could be said for some footballers. Ferguson, Moyes weren't always the best of players but have proven to be very good coaches. Great players don't always make good coaches either. I'm pleased with the signing, proves where heading in the right direction and looking at specialised coaches that we haven't done before.

So what? Good players are often proved not to make good coaches and vice versa average players can often make a good coach.

I don't think Deacon was ever top draw but he did his job in a simple but effective manner and he has a huge medal haul to prove it.

He's plugs the gap where we failed last year. A directional kicking game around the park was non existent. Deacon will fill that role if used. I was hoping for Danny Brough but Deacon will do.

Why are the two jobs interconnected? They are mutually exclusive of one another.