I certainly hope so, Wigan have opened talks with Pat to extend his stay for a further 3 years according to todays press. A few thoughts on this with Pat being targetted by a number of NRL teams and also chat a few months back that he may like to try his hand in the NFL. Could Pat demand to be the highest paid player at Wigan, and with him being worth his weight in gold would he rightly be awarded as our most valuble asset? Will his injury be a talking point? A few players have come back from similar injuries and not been the same player, especially with Pats being his kicking leg. He is contracted to the end this season, and i would love him to see his career out at Wigan. www.wigantoday.net/sport/wigan-w ... _1_3055485

I certainly hope so, Wigan have opened talks with Pat to extend his stay for a further 3 years according to todays press. A few thoughts on this with Pat being targetted by a number of NRL teams and also chat a few months back that he may like to try his hand in the NFL. Could Pat demand to be the highest paid player at Wigan, and with him being worth his weight in gold would he rightly be awarded as our most valuble asset? Will his injury be a talking point? A few players have come back from similar injuries and not been the same player, especially with Pats being his kicking leg. He is contracted to the end this season, and i would love him to see his career out at Wigan. www.wigantoday.net/sport/wigan-w ... _1_3055485

Quote ="{Hogan}"I certainly hope so, Wigan have opened talks with Pat to extend his stay for a further 3 years according to todays press. A few thoughts on this with Pat being targetted by a number of NRL teams and also chat a few months back that he may like to try his hand in the NFL. [uCould Pat demand to be the highest paid player at Wigan[/u, and with him being worth his weight in gold would he rightly be awarded as our most valuble asset? Will his injury be a talking point? A few players have come back from similar injuries and not been the same player, especially with Pats being his kicking leg. He is contracted to the end this season, and i would love him to see his career out at Wigan. www.wigantoday.net/sport/wigan-w ... _1_3055485'" In a word, no. He's a winger. A good winger but a winger none the less. I've always been a little puzzled by the love in surrounding him. I do think he's a good player but last season has shown that you don't need the worlds best wingers to score your tries. If last seasons early form is anything to go by, then Amos is easily the best winger at the club if not the league. He's got bags of acceleration, a great step and fantastic hands all things that Pat does lack. It does read like I really don't rate Pat but that's not the case, far from it. His defence is solid, his work rate is great and his level of consistency is fantastic. There's also his kicking but he's certainly not worth being the highest paid player at the club. All my opinion of course.

Quote ="{Hogan}"I certainly hope so, Wigan have opened talks with Pat to extend his stay for a further 3 years according to todays press. A few thoughts on this with Pat being targetted by a number of NRL teams and also chat a few months back that he may like to try his hand in the NFL. [uCould Pat demand to be the highest paid player at Wigan[/u, and with him being worth his weight in gold would he rightly be awarded as our most valuble asset? Will his injury be a talking point? A few players have come back from similar injuries and not been the same player, especially with Pats being his kicking leg. He is contracted to the end this season, and i would love him to see his career out at Wigan. www.wigantoday.net/sport/wigan-w ... _1_3055485'" In a word, no. He's a winger. A good winger but a winger none the less. I've always been a little puzzled by the love in surrounding him. I do think he's a good player but last season has shown that you don't need the worlds best wingers to score your tries. If last seasons early form is anything to go by, then Amos is easily the best winger at the club if not the league. He's got bags of acceleration, a great step and fantastic hands all things that Pat does lack. It does read like I really don't rate Pat but that's not the case, far from it. His defence is solid, his work rate is great and his level of consistency is fantastic. There's also his kicking but he's certainly not worth being the highest paid player at the club. All my opinion of course.

If he wasn't a goal kicker then you might have a point. But goal kickers of his standard are hard to find and in the immediate future I don't see a goal kicker anywhere near his standard on our books. So I think he has to be retained for that reason. Not sure highest paid players is the way. I wouldn't like to see his wage inflated at the expense of keeping on other local lads but having said that, we've all the key academy talent sewn up now.

I agree to a certain extent, but with him being the top points scorer on this country 3 years on the bounce i think Wigan will try everything they know to keep him in the pink and white.

A fully fit (and back to his best) Pat Richards is a no brainer for a 3 year extension.

I reckon the club may offer 1 year extension (with an option for 2 more, depending on his recovery this season).

I think Wigan want Pat Richards and Pat Richards wants Wigan. I don't see him returning to the NRL or trying out any bizarre American sports. He is the best winger I've seen from Australia since Brett Dallas. His consistency week in week out has rightfully earned him the plaudits from winning the MOS prize. However, I wouldn't say he is our most valuable asset and certainly wouldn't put him as the highest paid player at the club. Other positions are of greater importance than a winger - even if he is the best in the league. This is exemplified by Karl Pryce plonking over tries during that patch and to an extent, not that the lad has not done well, Darrell Goulding is just a make shift winger who went on to represent England! My point there is wingers tend to be replaceable. A great halfback or prop forward is more difficult. However without a doubt, should Richards make a full recovery from his injury and continue to put in the performances then he should be signed up on round about a three-year deal. His goal-kicking is a tremendous asset and he is certainly one of the best in the league in that department. That part of his game would be more difficult to replace & will count in his favour when negotiating a new deal.

Remember he wasn't a kicker when he came to Wigan. He was pushed into it due to us not having one. I'm not saying anyone could do it but before they came to Wigan Amos had kicked more, Deacon had kicked more, Pryce had kicked more, Riddell had kicked more. I'm sure with a lot of practice any one of those could have been up there with Pat as a kicker.

Am I right in saying his conversion rate last season was around 75%?

Who else was around that figure?

Without a doubt he should be retained but not as the highest paid player.

Well this isn't exactly coversion rates because Penalty Goals can be missed but this is Goals Scored divided by Tries Scored in the Super League Regular Season last year. Gives you an indication of who is going up in sixes rather than fours.

Hull KR - 95.4%
Hull - 91.7%
Crusaders - 90.4%
Leeds - 86.5%
Wigan - 86.3%
Harlequins - 86%
Salford - 85.8%
Cas - 81.7%
Saints - 79.2%
Bradford - 78.7%
Catalans - 75.6%
Wakefield - 75.2%
Huddersfield - 72.6%
Warrington - 72%

Exactly what I was going to say.

An hour before Kick Off in the Grand Final he'd have been offered a straight extension by x years, but from everything we've seen in the way Lenagan does business, I'd be surprised to see a long term contract offered straight away.

As Matty said, get him on contract for 2012 and then re-evaluate the situation later on.

Poor stats IMO.... we score most of our tries on the wings.... I think half of our tries came from 3 players alone, 2 are wingers. Half of his goals are from the touchline.

Good point, i think 52 of our tries came from the Winger last season.

Richards is a 'points machine'. Keep him at all costs.

We haven't had a kicker of his calibre since Botica !

Frano Botica wasn't a kicker either, before he came to Wigan. He said he had to find another 'string to his bow', as the half back line at that time was awesome.

Would be devastating if we lost his services IMO.

A multi talented player who's clearly well respected amongst his peers - he's certainly well worth a 2-3 year extension. You know any accepted contract won't contain silly money with Lenagan in charge.

He can kick, finish, take high balls with ease, is solid in defence and works hard for the team. Whilst the comment of wigan_knight is a large exaggeration, it would be daft not to keep him on if he wanted to stay.

Richards is the best athlete at the club. He doesn't have the acceleration, agility or top speed of Roberts, but Roberts doesn't have Richards' size or leaping ability. He's a freak of nature really.

As for a new contract. Yes, if it fits into the wage structure. I wouldn't break the bank for him.

He's tall and he can jump? Is that what constitutes a freak of nature?

He's huge (both tall and muscular), quick and agile. He just doesn't have Roberts' level of speed/agility. He outruns plenty of wingers.

If you can find me a player who'll score 30 odd tries and will kick 120 odd goals. If you can find me another winger with both those abilities .then i'll admit my words were over the top.

I wouldn't swap him for any winger in the game.But thats just my opinion.

Spot on imo.

I have always put the 'Love In' down to the fact that he is well respected amongst our female supporters, my gf especially



Great winger who's goal kicking is a great asset but would we fall apart without him? i don't think so.

I think the club should wait until Richards has made his comeback before offering him a new deal. Any new deal is likely to see him pick up a large amount of money and it makes no sense to offer a long term deal or an expensive one to a player who's out with a serious injury.
You only have to look at David Vaealiki to see what an Achilles injury can do to a player. There's no guarantees that Pat will be back to his best when he returns, and there's no guarantees that he'll be able to keep himself injury free and avoid the frequent injury troubles that players often face when they've been out for a reasonably long time.
His injury could well affect his game. He might not be the fastest winger so losing pace isn't too bad, but it can also affect his ability to make those leaps into the air which is arguably the most dangerous part of his game.

As a player I think he's talented enough that he could fill in other positions as well as wing if necessary. He's capable at fullback and would still be even if he comes back and isn't quite the same player as before. There is also the possibility of him playing centre. Before anyone brings up the terrible time he had in that position in his first season he's evolved as a player since then and he had some very good games at centre in the NRL which is where the idea of playing him there came about.
Not that I'm suggesting it should be done, just that Pat has the ability to play a big part for the club and could be versatile enough to keep his place or at least be a valuable part of the team even if he loses pace or any other of his outstanding abilities as a winger, but I think the club need to assess his recovery and return to first team action before deciding on a new contract.

I think under Lenagan, the days of "highest player at the club " are pretty much gone. One of the things he originally stated as an aim, and has since achieved, is to bring more parity to the wage structure - hence how we can now sign up all those youngsters on long-term deals. The players he inherited on relatively high wages have all either been renegotiated or released.

I suspect now the main first-teamers are all on broadly similar salaries.

And mine.

I must say, I'm shocked at the some-what negative reaction to keeping Pat for another 2-3years.

I think he's a superb asset to Wigan and would be sorely missed if he left. I understand wingers are replaceable but even still, show me a winger that scores that many tries and kicks that many goals and I'll start to agree that 2-3years isn't necessary. Think of the games this season that have been won with his boot!

I don't so much think its negative, just a realisation that salaries need to be more even and that in the grand scheme of things it would not be the end of the world if he left Wigan for more money elsewhere. I also think the point made about his injury is an important one.

This is not to say that people don't appreciate what he brings to the team and i certanly hope he stays at Wigan for years to come.