I apologise to DallasMead I always thought Mike Cooper was 33 years old.

He is 33.
34 in September.

Not that it makes any difference.

But he is playing for us now so why isn't he leading our team around the pitch now?

Still very torn on this. Interview with Powell on Cooper leaving here.

[urlhttps://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/daryl-powell-mike-cooper-wigan-24174087?utm_source=linkCopy&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar[/url

Going in a different direction = Backwards

And while Cooper may be getting on, Kasiano and Dudson are both 31, 32 when them arrive. So it’s not about longevity.

Re: external business commitments, that would not (in a well run organisation) be signed off by a coach. So the change from Price to Powell should not have an impact on that unless the impact is that Powell’s nose is out of joint.

Powell was brought into make changes because our culture is not aligned to winning the GF. He is attempting to make those changes. If we stick with the same players and same ways we will get the same predictable result -> well paid nearly men who can get themselves up for a few games in a cup run every now and again when they choose.

This beatification of Cooper is crazy. He's played for Wire for 12 years under 3 coaches and we are as far away from the GF win as we ever were, the same went for Hill. Makes it sound like we are losing a talismanic leader.

We desperately need change. Whether it will work is another matter, but surely we have to give Powell the chance - he inherited a basket case where, it appears, the players had too much influence and played/trained when it suited them/when they could remember their passport.

It’s widely accepted by those with eyes in their heads that we had a 2 man pack for years, Cooper and Hill. It fell to bits when they went off. So… we get rid of them. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not Morley and Peacock, but there are very few tried and tested good props around. So instead of keeping the ones we have, that work, we ship them out and bring in journeymen and imports, of a similar age.

If we had signed some proper replacement to cover the 50+ minutes of effective work that both Hill and Cooper delivered consistently, I wouldn’t be concerned, but we have got Kasiano (great for 25-40 minutes), Dudson (no comment required), Philbin (effective for 25-40 minutes), Mikaele (untried and unproven, could be Sita reincarnated) Bullocks (bang average) and potentially Mulhearn, who somehow is the best of the pack.

We need change, to get a group of men who are capable of getting to finals, to WIN them. That was the job. If the players have too much influence on when they train, as set out above, that would (should) have been signed off at executive level. There is NO CHANGE at executive level, so those bad decisions have not been addressed. If the CEO has agreed with Cooper re his side business, then the CEO should honour that. If decisions of the CEO are failing the company, then the CEO should pay the price for those poor decisions.

To go from nearly men, to nearly bottom, is not acceptable. There’s cracking a few eggs for the omelette and there’s just tipping the carton upside down

If we win a GF in 3 years, Powell will be justified. If we don't, I won't be thinking "bet Cooper would've won it for us" I'll probably just think he gets added to the list of manager who aint done it. But it's not for want of trying change.

Cooper is basically the last remnant of a good pack which consisted of ,over time, Morley, Carvell , Wood , the Anderson's , Rauhihi ,Westwood ,Waterhouse &, the last to go , Hill. We had journeymen backs ,hookers who wanted to be halfbacks & vice versa & the ex GB coach who delivered for Leeds but couldn't do it for us. We still couldn't rise to the occasion & have dwindled steadily over ten years ,becoming a graveyard for coaches & supporters gate receipts alike. Perhaps our ingrained club culture is what needs the kick up the booty. We are going backwards at a rate of knots.

Cooper is right at the very end of a great career with Warrington, but he’ll be 34 before he makes a tackle for Wigan so he’s nearly done. Wish him well and move on guys. Strong rumour we’ve also signed Vaughn and McGuire from the NRL so the clear out continues apace. All good….

Hill and Cooper in the pack repeatedly failed to win the GF.
Our recruitment for 2023 is not done yet. Let's see.

Josh McGuire is 32, will be 33 in March, is currently injured and has only played in about 5 or 6 games all year. Good player, a touch on the dirty side, but I wouldn’t think his best days are in front of him.

Vaughan is a big guy, but again, 30’s. Tough to judge in a Bulldogs team that are so poor, but seems to plod on ok. Think better value for money may be Vaughan on this, but not exciting.

That’s what I’m concerned about! We weren’t quite good enough, but instead we are flooding the team full of has-beens and Cas old boys. Chayse Blair and James Clare will be coming next

What would we have thought had we kept Cooper at 34 and by doing so Vaughan went to Wigan? Would that have been a good result? I’d have looked on enviously had that been the case.

Wigan fans may have been envious when they retained Ben Flower while we signed Roy Asotasi to be fair, but we know how that went. Aussie props aren’t always the best investment, but with Cooper we know what we have, what condition and that he turns in a shift. 12 months on reduced terms with an option would have been a good deal all round

Thing is we can't criticise Powell on getting nothing out of the current players AND criticise him when he tries to change the players. Powell believes Cooper has gone stale. Maybe it's his 10% missed tackle stats, maybe it's the clothing business, maybe it's his age, maybe his attitude - we just don't know.

We can judge Powell in 2023.

Yeah we have a bloke who’s seemingly more interested in selling bob hats than training for his hometown club. Backing Powell 100% here.

I have agreed with virtually all of your recent posts on Powell and recruitment. However, to be fair we've lost repeated GFs in spite of them not because of them if that's not too daft a proposition

Why? Why can’t paying fans critique the performance, seeing a capable group capitulate infront of our eyes, including conceding 40 points 3 weeks out of 4. Any stats fans know the last time we conceded 40 before Powell?

Why must we wait to see a new group of players come in, then the old “time to gel” excuse just to get to Easter next year before any criticism becomes valid.

We had a group of nearly men, we now have a disjointed group who are 80 minutes off being 11th. The signings in so far and on the horizon don’t inspire progression or change, the don’t appear to allow room for development for youth. We’ve dropped a winger and the kids despite having bad apples and bad attitudes, why not put Cooper on the naughty step if he’s such a poor pro?

But we’re to sit back, stump up our season ticket money and just accept it because he’s only been in the job since October…

DROP HIM THEN!! Why is he starting every week if he’s too busy running a business. Can’t have it both ways!

June 4th 2017

4 - 44 vs Huddersfield

Judge Powell this time NEXT year when he’s got HIS squad. Simples.

Fair points.

Sorry, I should have clarified - of course you can judge and criticise at any time and decide whether to stump up season ticket money. You don't need to sit back and accept it. I think Powell will be given a minimum of another year from now at the very least.

You are quite right. The point I was trying to make was that they were/are not talismanic to success.

Cooper and Hill were and have been our top performers consistently for the longest time so for me booting them out based on not enough time at the club when they carry the team on their backs most of the time doesn't fly for me. You earn your perks. They had.

This group of players have underperformed for 3 different coaches over a period of say 6/7 years. If we don't give Powell chance to reboot this squad, then we'd have to get another coach in, working with these players, with the liklihood of them throwing the 4th coach underneath the bus.

A radical club cultural revolution such as this, and one which is apparently needed, will result in players getting brassed off and underperforming. This bunch have been throwing toys out the pram because they have to finish work on time and won't embrace the changes for the sake of the club - I have no sympathy with them whatsoever.

You're fully entitled not to stump up money to pay for this dross and no one would blame you, but hopefully you and others can see that without pain there's no gain. And it's painful to watch, but I have faith in Powell and will be supporting him, even if some of his players won't.