Quote ="DaveO"Be interesting to know what effect it had on his decision making that Cats broke the rules and approached him early. If he thought there was no way Wigan were going to match that and made his mind up before any deal form Wigan was put to him perhaps the club could learn a lesson here and not leave it late before engaging with players in the last year of their contract. I know in theory the rules mean it ought not to matter but clearly a player with a deal on the table is going to seriously consider it in the absence of one from his own club.
Then again he may genuinely wants to sample the lifestyle in the South of France and if he does no one can blame him. We benefited when Pat Richards left a GF winning side in the NRL to come here because he wanted to sample a new lifestyle.
That said the fact Wigan decided to be cheapskates an not take up the extra year on his contract for no other reason than money (that didn't count on the salary cap...) was an open invitation to look elsewhere. As was the fact the four year deal on offer was a pay [icut[/i.
Doesn't matter if it would still have kept him as a marquee player and the fact it was an offer that would still have given him a contract that was one of the three best in the last ten years and the fact this has even been mentioned comes across as a rather snide remark and excuse making by the club for offering him a pay cut. The fact we must have paid a couple of players a huge contract in the past 10 years and more than offered to Sam now (otherwise the club would have said it was [ithe[/i best contract offered) is totally irrelevant given the different rules on pay at the time and standard of players available.
Remember Sam cost the club £75K on the salary cap so had zero effect on its ability to retain other players. The club has not been forced to offer reduced wages and/or not pay him his current salary for 2019, it has [ichosen [/inot to. The key question is therefore if it doesn't want to pay Sam this much is it going to want to pay any player that level of wage and if not what standard of player does it expect to sign? It may be able to mitigate this loss somewhat by signing Hardaker but it can't rely on other clubs top players getting sacked so it can sign them on the cheap.
Bottom line - can Wigan still afford to sign the best?'"
Wigan is run as a business and Mr Lenegan has said this over and over again. At the end of the day, if Wigan cannot remain solvent while paying Sam's wages, they are entitled to not do so. Mr Lenegan has stated that he does not wish not pump his own money into the club, and Sam's wages would have contributed massively to that.
On that of that, Sam has not played his best rugby the last two seasons, and has been out injured for a considerable amount of time. It is the clubs prerogative to pay players what they deem to be a fair price. Sam has not earned the price tag he thinks he is currently worth. Wigan offered him a substantial sum to stay on, albeit not at the rate he was on previously, and Sam has walked away from this.
I am happy that the club will only pay players what they feel they are worth. This is in stark contrast to previous regimes who had players on big contracts and not performing. David Vaeliki anyone?
I wish Sam all the best, but can't help thinking he's making a mistake. Not only is he going to a lesser club for more money - there is a real chance he alienates a majority of the club's fans, which could affect his future if he wants to return under any capacity.
