How about Finch and Burrows?

Have to agree with this, especially if Catalans go after Carney, any of their halves would be good enough imo.

(Plus Bosc would probably get injured enough to force us to blood Mellor too

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Finch and Sam. We have no pace there and as we saw today better sides mark Sam out of it at full back. This has happened [ievery[/i time we have lost to Wire and Les Cats and it happened again today. Sam should return to 6 where he is more than capable of taking a game by the scruff of the neck and he has pace to burn.

We never make any mid field breaks from 6 or 7, only 9 and that makes it far too easy for team to defend as they can concentrate on the flanks. No substitute for pace and we have none in the half backs.

Deacon showed that next season would be a season too far. Teams can simply cover all his options and force him to run knowing he has no pace. We desperately need much more pace at half back.

Totally agree that we lack pace in the halves. But I wouldn't move Sam there personally. I'd much rather see Mellor come into the halves. He'll provide Wigan with that extra pace and deceptiveness that we're lacking at 6 and 7.

Sam and Joe would never have been able to work together effectively in the same team at 6 and 7 IMO. But with Sam at FB it means we can have the best of both worlds. I also think Finch is the perfect halfback partner for Joe, and between them they should offer all you could ever want from a halfback partnership. I've always been a fan of contrasting halfbacks playing together, as they both bring something different to the table. At present Deacon and Finch are to alike for me.

If there isn't a realistic option who we could sign then Mellor and Powell should be given the chance to battle it out for a place alongside Finch.

They could do for us what Gaskell and Lomax are doing for Saints.

The trouble with this is they have not been given a single chance this season and Deacon retires at the end of this one we assume.

That is also why I mentioned putting Sam back at 6 because I had assumed we were not buying anyone and you can't just chuck one of those two into the halves full time from day one next season and expect it to work.

We can't just give Mellor the 6 shirt without him playing a single SL or cup match before.

He's not ready for it - we need someone with experience to play there and then give Mellor a few games off the bench and then let him work his way in.

Deacon's role within the side is usually nothing more than passing during set moves and occasionally kicking cross field when close to the line. His input in the game has been diminishing this season and he very rarely seems to put in long kicks any more.
To have a player who predominantly just passes seems a little bit of a waste. Yes he has plenty of experience but I think if we are in the position where the club is desperate to keep him playing next year then that's pretty worrying. It's time for him to move on, he's past his best now and it's time for another player to step up. The main problem is that neither Mellor or Powell have been given a chance to do that.

That's pretty much what Saints did with Gaskell. Last season Gaskell came off the bench once for half a match and played one full match. The next time he appeared at first grade was with Lomax at Leeds away in March. Since then he's played every first grade match bar five he missed with an ankle break and about three when he was played off the bench for the last 10 minutes (scoring a try on each occasion) after Leon returned and proceeded to do nothing at halfback. Today, Gaskell had the best match he's had at first grade all season. It takes a good coach, hard work and talent from the player and patience from the fans, but it can be done.

If we wanted we could just put Mellor straight in imo. We could beat most teams in the league with blindfolds on the standard is that crap. We need to stop faffing about and give the lad a proper chance or get rid.

It's not really though. We're talking about going in to the season with Mellor as the 1st choice 6. Not just getting his chance through injuries. Pryce still has the 6 shirt and Gaskell has played when he's out.

Nor had Daly Cherry Evans before the start of this season for Manly, English clubs need to start showing faith in their own and not go signing overseas players at every opportunity.

I see what you're saying, but has he not made that many appearances because of Pryce's injuries?

It's good to see local players coming through for teams (except when they run rings around Wigan), but I doubt he'd have played as much if it weren't for that.

I like what I've seen from Mellor, but throwing him in with no contingency is too much of a risk for me, we need a more experienced player to help him ease in for the first few months or so.

Spot on that - it's time all SL Clubs realise that the future is through development, not funding Aussie pensions. Every Club is the same - not just Wigan and they are all guilty of the 'overseas first' mentality to varying degrees.

Maybe it's time to give the lad a go even though I have not seen anything of him; only heard good things about him and also Matty Russell.

Exactly. There is no way Saints would have chosen to go with Gaskell as first choice half back from day one of this season. To suggest that they have deliberately given the guy these number of games and so have been very smart is wide of the mark IMO. If he'd been fit Pryce would have played all the games IMO and Saints would have been as guilty as Wigan for not blooding the younger half back's when they had at least one leaving at the end of the season.

Oh yes, I agree. I was simply pointing out that it is possible to grow a first grade halfback on the job, so to speak. It probably isn't ideal but it is possible.

Chase & Finch would work.

Sam is going to stay at fullback, the issue with Sam is he looks knackered and none of our other big players are stepping up.

Chase isn't a Wigan player. So if Deacon retires as we expect who plays 6 next year? Mellor or Powell into the halves as 1st choice on the back of zero experience in SL starting every game? Or move Sam back to 6?

Im well aware he isnt, Im basing my comment on several rumours Ive heard, then again, yesterday I heard Deacon is now considering going round again. Which would surely provide the platform to blood Powell & Mellor.

Anyway assuming neither of the rumours are true about Chase and Deacon (which I think is the most likely outcome ), would you put Sam back to 6 next season of go with one of the two young half backs as 1st choice start instead?

The one thing I'd be very surprised about would be if the new coach moved Sam back to 6. I don't buy this "teams have found him out" business. He was poor against Saints, but so were a lot of players. The forwards didn't lay a good enough platform, we spent a lot of the game on the back foot and then when we did have possession and territory our attacking plays were woeful. Sam couldn't chime in to the line at speed because the passing to get the ball wide seemed like it was in slow motion!

The players look shot, Wembley's completely taken the wind out of their sails. Madge has now got a week to prove he's the best in this league to get them ready for Sunday. A good performance and we can forget about this weekend, though at the moment I don't like our chances of getting to the GF.

But if Wane does not do that who plays 6?

People seem to be ignoring the fact we probably won't have one next season as things stand.

We're not going to go in to the new season without a recognised 6, realisitically (hopefully!!). If Deacon is retiring (which he should imo, one more season is beyond him) then I'm sure IL and SW are working on identifying and bringing in a suitable replacement.

I think Mellor could handle being thrown straight in at 6. For starters he'd be partnering Finch, someone with all the experience in the world. No doubt Brett would be doing the majority of the organization, taking the pressure of Joe, allowing him to play his own game. Mellor's served a reasonable apprenticeship for mine. A year on loan out at Widnes playing every week, and playing well every week from what I've seen.

As for the comparisons with how Lomax has fared this year. Lomax had to be partnered with Gaskell another inexperienced half. There lies the problem. Had Jonny been put aside Pryce for the season, I've no doubt he'd have had a much easier start to this season. But it wasn't to be. And even though Lomax and Gaskell were introduced into the team through adversity, it doesn't appear to have had any negative effect on them. Yes they had a few tough games here and there, but other than that I think they've coped extremely well.

I think sometimes when we consider playing youngsters we tend to over complicate things. When really the league other than four or five teams is quite poor. If you were bringing a youngster into the NRL, well fair enough that's a tough non stop environment. But that's not the case in SL. Some weeks we go through the motions and still rack up forty points. That's not the kind of competition that a youngster like Mellor is going struggle in IMO.