Looks like Mitchell pearce is on his way out of Newcastle Knights due to sexting another woman. Looks like the club are saying he is on the outer and him being there is now causing a divide in the locker room indicating it was another players Wife/Girlfriend.
1. If he is moved on it could free up a return for Widdop back to the NRL.
2. Potentially he might want to get away from the limelight if it goes wrong, and may be an option for us?

Not sure how viable it would actually be to come over here as his wedding as been called off, although they have said it's due to covid not because of this. But even if he does move on it could still pave the way for Widdop. Which would suddenly free up alot of money for us to make a play for someone else......but who?

It’s like an “Only Connect” question, I think I’ll need a few more clues and that’s without the distraction of Victoria’s décolletage.
Happy New Year everyone.

Probably another misfit on a huge contract.
I think we've been here before

My "horned viper" agrees

Widdop isn’t going anywhere

Victoria Coren Mitchell Pearce, is that the answer CH?

Yeah i don't think he is either which is a shame for him if his Family stay in Aus.

It's not a shame at all if he gets himself settled down, price gets sacked and we get a new coach who uses him properly, for his kicking game especially.

Can't disagree with this

Let's get the positivity flowing before the season kicks off...want away marquee player becomes a hostage of fortune aiding and abetting the sacking of hapless coach

U R a one!

Haha works for me. Seriously though I just don't think we will be able to get a better player than widdop at this stage so if he is happy to be with us then I'm happy with that.

I agree CW8 freeing up the money works if it can be better spent on a replacement or elsewhere.if the coach wants to shuffle the line up or has a ready made replacement coming through the ranks

As it stands we are a better squad with him than not and having his wages in the bank imo as he wasn't stealing a living a la Roberts/Asatosi and doesn't appear to be a disruptive influence like Pogba at United

He's not a disruptive influence and he is a good professional, but he may just not be that good any more: injuries and age have taken their toll.

That's open to debate but on the face of it that's not a good enough reason for us to simply pay him off a year early is it, where's the benefit to us?

It is open to debate, but my concern is that he's not going to give of his best when he'd rather be somewhere else, and that's on top of not looking anywhere near international class during 2020. Take the point that he's highly unlikely to be replaced, and hope he's better than anticipated if and when he wears the P&B in 2021.

I take your point and agree that it's a concern keeping a player against his will but I'm hopeful that in Widdop's case if he is with us then he will "give of his best" he just strikes me as an honest guy.

That's all we can ask for imo

Agree, I don’t think he is a mickey taker.

Back in the UK for pre-season apparently, hopefully if things get back to normal it will show on the field with him. with Inglis in the team and a better forward pack i'm excited for this season

Preseason starts next week for Wire, not overly surprised Widdop hasn’t been able to find a club in the NRL tbh given his recent form and injury record the last few seasons.

Unless there is some other saga or drama to come out of an NRL club regarding one of their halves and a player gets sacked/released. I think the opportunity has well and truly passed, all the NRL teams are pretty much settled in preseason now.

Yeah i couldn't see any club with any money to pick him up, And i agree with the above that he's proberbly the best half we could get now. I hope he can settle in and find his form. But to be fair it's the coaching and skill levels that needs to improve.

Christ if he's back already he's only had about 9 or so non quarantine days over there

Family Christmas’s (sp) can be over rated (but not in my house, I still love it)

Widdop here for next season then as no other team in the world apart from Warrington want to pay his 500k salary.

Is preseason actually going ahead now there’s another lockdown?

And more importantly, will Inglis still come for preseason, or delay until mid-season, or jack it all in for the NRL?