How near to knowing what it will look like are we? There is not much time for the 12th Super League team to pick up the cast offs but there may well be a fair few of them given that the reserves and DR are not running. We have a pretty good Idea about the destinations of some of our leavers but not all. Leneghan is reported to have said that we would be taking a smaller squad on so I imagine the likes of Woods and Jake Shorrocks will be moving on but what about the junior lads who would have been hoping to get a contract? I imagine that the loan market might get quite interesting.

Wingers / are the big question.

We have 3 wingers in the squad in bibby, Dom and Marshy.

Marshy will miss the first 3 months of next season. That leaves no cover for any injuries.

Maybe they are thinking there will be games where French or Field have to cover the wing spot.

Centres we only have 2 in Hardaker and Gildart. When we get injuries we will be relying on Isa

I don't think we'll see Isa get any game time at centre other than maybe if we get an injury during the game. Not sure whether Hankinson will still be here. Aside from him we have Field or French who could play wing if needed. I wasn't super impressed with Hanley, Halsall or McDonnell on debut but I'm sure we will be looking at giving them some gametime next year. Likewise Pearce-Paul who is a centre/second row and looked a bit more capable in that Saints game.

Bibby is a centre Bateman has played there in the past its the wingers we are short of .

Why would Field play on the wing? Is the only reason for this because he is fast?

He is a half and occasional 1.

I’m not sure we need a winger. It would be nice but at the end of the day it isn’t a priority.

If we get an injury on the flanks then someone like Hanley needs to step in.

We have all seen what a dominant prop can do to a team.

For some reason we thought we had one in Burgess despite his injury.

A dominant prop is a must have for me, other than that I’m happy with the squad and think it could be very dominant.

I think we saw last night that prop is still an area that needs attention. We get pinned in our own half a little too much for my liking and I think that’s because of a lack of go forward through the middle. We don’t have a hooker that will run the ball a lot and we only really have Bullock who is capable of eating up the ground in the middle (and I didn’t think he had his best game). Getting Havard back in the team will be big but I’d love one more. It’s unlikely we’ll be able to get one with George Burgess on the books, so unless that changes I think we’ll be going with what we have.

Absolutely this.

I think both Burgess & Clarke have proved to be very poor signings based on what they have shown this season and it’s clearly cost us dearly.

We won’t have Flower & Clubb is not the player he was these days.

Having Field & Bateman is great news but we are going to have the same issues without bringing in a very solid prop.

As I said in another thread the two main issues were high tackles and a lack of go forward (a consistent problem for several years). The first issue can only be solved with coaching, improved tackling technique and more self-control. Wigan tried to solve the second issue by bringing in Burgess and Clark - both have not worked out this year and weren't even in the 17. Singleton isnt a prop who will make big metres so we're really back to square one on that one.

Well yeah mainly speed to be honest but I've only seen his highlights. Can he really not do us a better job than Bibby there at the start of the year as French did when he first came over? I can't see them dropping French, Leuluai or Hastings for him until he's proved himself. There's Field at 1 with French on the wing I suppose but I'd rather not lessen French's influence on games. Longer term I think they're hoping they can have a Field-Smith partnership with Leuluai retiring and Hastings likely leaving.

One back up option could be to move Hardaker to the wing with Bateman to right centre.

Spot on.

I can't see how or why we'd move either Hastings or French. That leaves Field to either fight it out with Tommy for the other HB spot or possibly a bench spot.

Field is going to have to earn his spot and that might mean playing on the wing. If Bibby can do it, then I'm not sure why it's such sacrilege to suggest someone as fast and elusive as Field.

Maybe it's one of those "you've got to be in the game to understand" type things?

Good if we get an injury mid-game but I'd hope we never start like that. Bateman at centre for England in the World Cup was so bloody frustrating. Bags of metres coming out of yardage but his winger may as well not be playing. Plus again we're lessening the influence of one of our best players.

+ Zak has been doing a great job, so that would be another crazy move to make.

Sometimes there's something to be said for just keeping things simple. This is a team that was 5 mins or so off winning a GF. French, Hastings & Zak need to be kept as is and Bateman needs to do his thing in the forwards.

What has Bibby done to not get a shot at that shirt?

He has grown into the position nicely and will be an asset in 2021.

We use our wingers as ball carriers early in sets Field nor French are that guy that does that.

I’m expecting Field to drop in the halves with Hastings and Tommy off the bench sharing duties with Smith.

There is a lot more to wing play than speed.

Field isn’t that player despite the speed.

Looking forward I think the succession plan is in place to have Field and Smith as starting halves in 2022 assuming Hastings heads home and Tommy retires.

178 metres for Bibby last night and the scorer of our only try. He has got better and better in this spell and I have no fears over him starting the season on the wing. In saying that though, I do fear relying too heavily on Manfedi’s fitness. I don’t think we will mind. It sounds like Hankinson will be moving on as well and I just can’t see is going in to 2021 with zero senior back up for either the centre or wing positions.

I'm not as down on Bibby as others but he doesn't look a winger to me. I'd only be happy with a slower winger if he is really strong to the point where it's like tackling an extra forward coming out of yardage and he's not getting stopped from 5 metres out. Hall, McGillvary, J.Carney, even lesser guys like Ah Van, I get that. Bibby isn't in that bracket though, I don't think he's strong enough to make up for the lack of speed, and he doesn't have another string to his bow like agility/aerial ability/Makinson-like finishing. I think a proper winger would have done more with some of the ball he got yesterday. From memory (can't bring myself to rewatch the whole game) he overran his centre for one pass to touch, dived way too early for one opportunity, and fair enough scored a good try.

I don't mean to slate him so much because he would be my plan B if Field didn't work out, I agree he offers a lot in yardage and I do think he may make it at Wigan as a centre (maybe replacing Gildart if/when the NRL come knocking).

He gave it his best shot last night and that will do for me. I prefer speed on the wing but I'm old school.

I agree, there is no way field will play on the wing. We could have done with him yesterday, running at a tired Saints defence.

To start off by saying you are not as down on Bibby and then absolutely dismantle him as a player is somewhat strange.

I wasn’t combined with him on the wing but he has grown into the role very well over the last few weeks since called upon.

He did overrun his centre as did Burgess who you would call an out and out winger.

We are a salary capped sport in a time when finances are under pressure.

We have had 4 frontline wingers at the club before...it doesn’t work.

Field is not a winger. Never will be.

Sticking someone on the wing because they have pace doesn’t make sense when they are a half.

George Williams had a bit of toe, but you wouldn’t put him on the wing would you?

Fair enough, I can't argue the point too strongly because I'm literally judging him from a highlights reel.

Spot on, and you are right about Burgess and Clarke, but try telling it to some on here who think that the club never make bad signings.

Remember, Dennis Moran, Frank Paul-Nuuausala, Eddy Pettybourne, Karl Pryce, Jerry Scuseu, Tim Smith to name just six!

Bring in Inu and Kasiano, Job sorted

For the past 10 years we haven't had to "buy" a winger. Charnley, Burgess, Manfredi, Marshall and Davies have all fitted the position admirably.

With having no academy/reserves or scholarship this year it's hard to judge what was coming through. Cian Tyrer looked useful and quick but lacks size and I was looking forward to seeing how Joe Robinson would progress.
I suppose it all depends on IF Marshall AND Manfredi recover. I've said previously Tom Davies IMO should be our no.1 target, big, fast strong and an excellent finisher.

I would agree with all of that, now that Tom has proved that he has recovered from a bad injury I would be on the phone immediately if I was Rads. I think Tom has another year on his contract at Catalans.

I think Rads, IFL and Lam will have learned a lot from the the Grand Final and they will be plotting to put it right. Four things that I would want to sort:
(a) We need more punch down the middle when our starting props leave the field, that means getting Burgess fit or replacing him and finding a replacement for Clubb.
(b) Our halfbacks need to take on the defensive line more. Field's speed and making more yards down the middle should hopefully resolve this issue.
(c) We need genuine finishers out on the wing. We need to recruit a winger.
(d) We need a more consistent goal kicker and we have to improve our kicking from hand. Let's get a specialist coach in.