Good luck Matty. Good decision for player and club.

any truth in Ryan hampshire coming to us? ive heard a few people say it!

or is this the perfect opportunity for him to break into your side!

He will only come to Leigh if he can play half back, thats statute in any contract for him.

Usually when a player with limited ability moves on it is a happy moment but with Matty it's different. For what he lacked in skill he made up for in abundance in tenacity and determination. It's a very bitter sweet transfer but he deffo goes with my best wishes and will be the only St Helens player i will ever applaud when he comes back here to play against us.

I think all us Wiganers know deep down that Ryan Hampshire has no future at Wigan.

Yep. Sad to see but he just isn't the player we all thought he was going to be. Could possibly be another Joe Mellor. He's turned into a nice little player after a slow start playing in the first team.

With regards to Matty Smith. He's helped deliver 3 trophies in his time here so he will always have my respect. Always played with his heart on his sleeve and sometimes thats all you can ask for from a player. Been a great servant to our club. I was really pleased to see Lockers allow Smith to lift the trophy with him, he deserved that moment. All the best.

Did we receive a transfer fee?

I hope he doesn't churn out a 79% success rate kicking for the saints next year! Good luck Matty and thanks for giving us your best efforts.

Smart signing by Saints.

They have been crying out for a durable half back and he also gives them a lot of knowledge from his time at Wigan.

They are looking stronger for 2017.

I think we waived it as a goodwill gesture for Matty's efforts

Gutted to see Smeegs go. What he lacked in flair and skill, he made up for with determination and guts. He will be sorely missed in our team.

The most glaring example of our reliance on him was our absolutely shocking performance in the Widnes game. He didn't play and we looked absolutely rudderless. Underrated player and will do a decent job for Saints.

Nice to see some balanced opinions and, more importantly, respect for the guy on here as he is a really decent lad who never really wanted to leave Saints in the first place - people forget that. The reaction from a lot of Saints fans today has been, IMO, grossly unfair especially as he hasn't even played a game for us yet. What we will get with Matty is 100% every time he pulls on the shirt and I hope that maybe playing with a bit more freedom will bring out the best in him.

I can see already that he has become a better player from his time away from Saints and he will have learned from playing with some excellent pros. Perhaps he will never be a world beater but they come along once in a generation. He'll go ok and I suspect it may be your loss and our gain.

All the best Matty and thanks for the memories.

I suspect that some of your lot will take their time forgiving him for winning trophies with Wigan. BUt you need to tell them to man up and swallow thier pride.

Matty's a solid performer, not some overpaid cavalier who won't bother chasing the enemy when they've broken the line.

What he lacks in flamboyance he makes up for in grit. He always gave Wigan 100%. For his home town club it could be 110%.

I think Smith could be one of those players who don't realise how much you will miss him until he has gone. He has been frustrating at times due to his lack of taking on the line but maybe he was just playing to instructions.
Sounds like he has got a great deal for himself and his family so good on the lad.

That won't happen as people, from all Clubs, are so parochial it means they often can't see reality. How long did it take Wigan fans to swallow their pride over Sean Long?

However FWIW I agree with you - I am not over the moon with it but neither am I despondent. I have seen far worse 7's in my time.

Shame juve weren't so generous with Pogba!

I'm sorry to see Matty go - Especially to that shower over the lump.



Seriously, he always did his best for us and as others have said, whilst he's not a flair player (that was Blake Green/George Williams' job), he was the solid midfield general pretty much every game.

He never let us down (other than frusrating us with some off-days with the boot) and I have no doubt that - unfortunately - he will improve Saints in the halves.

I now feel compelled to dislike him (hard to do, even now) and hope that he wins nothing else for the rest of his career, but I find it difficult to do anything other than wish him all the best.

Best of luck Matty, just not against us.

It says much about the culture at Wigan that absolutely no-one could question the efforts of Josh, Sarge and Matty this season. They all knew from way back they were leaving. I suspect that Matty and Sarge will be a success, especially Sarge. But Josh would be welcome back any time, even if he has to play centre.

RedVee is in meltdown, its worth him moving just for that

I can't work out whether I'm happy or disappointed he is going. He's a good scrum half, nothing special but dependable and professional, I have no doubt he is a fantastic player to have at the club for his attitude and influence. He's been the target of much criticism this year, I think the way he's coped with all the injuries to key players and shouldered the responsibility, on his own at times is admirable.

I suppose I have to ask who is better, TL or Smith? I'd say TL, so all things considered probably best for us. We could find it a lot harder in the derby's now with the knowledge Smith has about the way we play.

And so it should be! If the shoe was on the other foot I'd be livid.

Only a few months ago they were looking at Tommy as thier next 7. A truly top draw player who is bang in form and has been highlighted as having the potential to be a half decent coach as well. Instead Tommy signed for thier biggest rivals and they are left with a limited player who was deemed surplus to requirements - a cast off almost.

That's not an easy pill to swallow for Saints fans. When you then factor in that we swooped in for FPN under thier noses the joke really is on them.

You may indeed be right. Although I don't think Tommy's kicking game is anything to write home about.

My point would be - how many games did Walsh play over his contract? How many games did Todd Carney play over his contact at Catalans? Terry Campese at Hull KR? If you ranked Matty against them you would say he was fourth. But how many GF rings have they got between them?

It's all very well having top class players, but if they are sat in the stands they are no use to anyone. Matty will lead Saints next season. He won't duck out of tackles like Walsh. He may not be as good a player, but over the course of a season he will be much more use to them.

Leaders in any sports team are worth their weight in gold. Walsh was not a leader. He came for the salary and offered Saints nothing, just like Carney at Catalans.

BTW I'm less worried about Tommy getting injured because Powell has stepped up once and he can do it again - I'm certain.

Am I the only Wigan fan that remembers just how bang average a scrum half Leuluai was? I was hoping he left before we found out he was a good hooker.

In essence we have replaced Smith with a faster, more agile and much worse kicking game player that can't kick goals.

Williams firing off means we're in a bad way next year.

Looking at Josh's comments recently I reckon we'll see him back at Wigan in the near future.