Take a bow Joe Burgess.

Clearly the lad is a great talent he is physically superb and has some great skills.

I just wish he didn’t need a massive kick up the to get the best out of him.

So much talent but it only seems when he is shown the door at a club he gets his head on and tries to prove them wrong.

Salford have one hell of a player next year...if he remains motivated.

With Marshall’s injury and him hitting top gear I keep sitting their wondering if it’s too late to keep him but will we get out of him what we’re getting currently on a regular basis? He us absolutely busting a gut at the minute to impress, putting effort on efforts in defence, hustling people and working his backside off in attack.

So much talent, an absolute top player in natural ability terms but he’s the ultimate drifter, who just walks through some spells in his career. If he does hit top form next year Salford will have a gun back line. It’s a bit maverick in parts but Escare, Sio, Watkins, Sarginson and Burgess will trouble plenty of teams. I could’ve sworn they were meant to be skint!

I think he’s been awesome the last few weeks.

Considering we’re (probably) losing French and Marshall will be coming back from an ACL, I think it would’ve been shrewd to keep him on. Bibby had a tough time tonight and we don’t have anyone about to step up from U18s. If Marshall and Manfredi get injuries next year we’re screwed. Unless we sign another winger of course.

I was gutted when he signed for Salford, when he's on form he's immense, as good as any winger In SL. It was his lack of form last year that scuppered it for him.

I've no doubt he'd sooner be at Wigan than going to Salford. I'd much sooner he was at Wigan. We're OK having 43 props, but 3 wingers. No get rid...

I think had Marshall picked up the injury before Burgess had signed for Salford we would have retained him.

I now fully expect us to bring in a winger in the offseason.

Are you so sure it was purely our choice? He may prefer being first choice at Salford rather than reserve when everyone is fit at Wigan. I also presume he would generally be a bigger fish at Salford so could be offered a larger portion of their cap.

That’s the point.

If he played like he was motivated week in week out he would be one of our starting wingers.

Oh for sure! I'm just not convinced it's as simple as Wigan deciding we want him after all now.

Have I missed something or has it not been made official that Burgess is going?

Clearly not given he is leaving and has signed elsewhere.

Not sure if it is official or not but he is joining Salford.

It was the right decision by Wigan.

He's been immense recently, but that's after a long period of being mediocre / losing his job.

I gather he's on a big wage too.

Immense?? Really

Done more than Manfredi has since his return!

Joe Burgess is a very good player and certainly better than hype jobs like Marshall or Grace for example.

He's got size and a solid skill set which means, even when he's coasting, he's a valuable player to have around.

Not sure thats very fair on Marshall. Hes done very well for Wigan

He's been fantastic in attack, but poor in defence imo.

I'd happily lose his few moments of magic, for a more rounded player that gives his centre partner confidence.

His defence has improved massively. I was always in the Davies > Marshall camp based on their defence but fair play to him he has clearly worked on it.

I think that was true a season or 2 ago but the difference between then and now is marked in my opinion. He has improved his defense an awful lot since his first season in the first team

Do i think Burgess is the better player? Yes. But only when he can be bothered. Effort isnt the only thing that should be considered but its a big part of the equation for me. Jist look at Isa as a good example

He has improved, but for me he's still a way off what I'd expect for a starting winger in our first team. This isn't aimed at you btw, but I genuinely despair when I see fans being happy with starting players who have some major flaws in their games.

I'll always hold the belief that if you're a regular starter at Wigan then you should be at a certain level with your game and certainly not have any major flaws. Every number from 1 - 13 in the Wigan team has, at some point, been given to some of the best players to ever play the game. Now I'm not saying we can have a Boston, Robinson or Richards every year, but we should have at least have a player that doesn't have a major weakness.

That may seem harsh, but I think we've all been guilty of accepting slipping standards when it comes to what constitutes a Wigan player.

Pre-lockdown Marshall was the form winger in the league IMO

This is exactly what I'm talking about.

Watch the Wakey game again as an example. He scores a cracker, but is all over the shop for two of their trys (simple walk-ins as he bunched in on the centre).

Form in attack - possibly, but there's more to the game than being a good finisher.

We're in danger of going off topic, but having just watched those tries back I haven't a clue how you're blaming him for that last try. They had a 3 on 2, so he took the man furthest inside. If he doesn't do that then the centre scores. They should score every time in that situation (in fact teams tend to practice that exact drill in warmup).

The one before that is the team as a whole really, the line sits back. Farrell is slow to slide over which means Bibby lets his centre get to his outside shoulder. Marshall probably should have gone for the centre earlier or trusted Bibby to still deal with him (even though he had got to his outside), but his inside defenders have left him with work to do there.

Would you descride it as immense?

Gareth Hock was the most frustrating Wigan player ever. On his day, he was the most devastating second rower in the world bar none ! He had skill to burn, ( but he didn't know it). But unfortunately for him, he screwed it all up. I've been watching Wigan since 1958. My parents since the late 1920's, and my grandparents since 1900 if not before, as my Grandad was born in 1883. Hock was good.