I was thinking the same myself.

If he's to come back to the club it should be as a prop who'll cause loads of damage around the middle. I hope the club get him to use these 2 years off to bulk up and bring him back to play in the front row.

His running game would cause so many problems up the middle and he'd make metre after metre.

Sounds like the classi reverse-engineered rumour - "we've won games since he left therefore he was part of the problem".

I imagine bust-ups happen virtually every day in training

Important points made there

First time hes ever been away from family for such along time. 4 months without seeing your family plus a child only born a few weeks before he left

It would effect me i dont know about the rest of you

Given his likely ban for 2 years, its not a stretch to say he might have been part of a problem!



Exactly and who wouldnt be affected by that, recently his form has been excellent and I look forward to a top class performance from him on Friday, its taken us years to have a quality back 5 and all people want to do is find fault with it.

I've not managed to get to any games recently, last one i saw was HKR on the box.

However, in that game he had a mare. Was a fault for the first two tries and then on two occasions was in clear open space and should of used his so called pace to pull away to score. OK he was caught by Fox who in his own right is a speedy winger but Roberts didn't get anywhere near the line. Dare i say it that Mr Calderwood would have scored.

What has he done in the past few games to improve so much?

Made most of his tackles, scored tries and generally looked very busy. He's not giving world-beating performances, but he's certainly improved on the HKR game.

To be honest, comparisons with Calderwood don't hold much water. Calderwood left because he and Noble didn't get on. It wasn't because we were planning to bring Amos Roberts in.

You're probably right that comparisons to Calderwood are pointless but for me its no contest - Roberts all the way.

I'll tell you the one thing Calderwood never seemed to be able to do which irritated me - he never dived for the try line. The last two tries against Bradford and Catalans for Roberts Calderwood would never have scored - they were smart, low diving finishes. Lost count of the amount times Calderwood could have squeezed in at the corner but bottled in and cut inside. The CC semi final at Warrington would be one example.

Neither because you know as well as I do Roberts poor form can't be explained simply a lack of any relationship with his centre. Are you seriously suggesting that is all there is too his lack of early season form?

I was making a general point anyway that there is no excuse for an NRL pro to take the best part of a season to settle in. And IMO there is not.

We have had plenty of players over the years who have settled in right away as has already been pointed out on this thread by others. Did Dallas have such a shaky start? Not that I recall. Barrett playing a key role at 6 was up to speed as soon as his calf injury cleared up, Robbie McCormack was an instant hit at hooker. The list goes on. Even Phelps made an impact from the start of his career here.

Any experienced pro be they from overseas or UK who joins Wigan and is poor for the best part of a season can't be excused for taking that long to adjust.

Dave

He was played at centre and was poor, got switched to his correct position on the wing and his form nearly kept Dallas out of the side when the latter was ready to return from injury. Not a coincidence because Richards is never a centre but is a winger.

If I had a pound for every time Richards gets held up as an example of a player taking time to settle in that conveniently ignores the fact he was played out of position I could buy Wigan a top class prop.

Dave

And don't let the fact most players do adjust quickly get in the way of the over the top support of Roberts and Riddell. Still, I suppose people have to make up excuses for them or they would have to admit these players are not what they cracked them up to be.

Dave

Alright then, what about Lammy and Craig Smith? It took them a season for us to see their true class, especially Craig Smith. I remember lots of fans unhappy with Smith after his first year and wanted to see him go.

Speaking of top class props, do you feel that the year it took Craig Smith to settle in also meant that recruiting him was ultimately a bad move?

There are exceptions to every 'rule', Dave.

Roberts is finally starting to show the form we hoped he would. People are different and react to new circumstances in different ways.

No doubt the usual people bellyaching were the ones who said Gene Miles was a waste of space for half and season and that Craig Smith was house because it took him a season to show his best form.

Not if it doesn't fit in with this week's agenda.

Go on then, be quick while offers last !!!

Exactly, even the pearl was bein called for after the game against Hull in the cup!

some people on here (certain mod(s)) have very selective memories

Gene Myles also.

Dont forget Greg Florimo.........................................oh, er, wait a minute

Since when did one player taking too long to settle in become a valid excuse for a different player doing the same?

Craig Smith played for us for two seasons and we got one good season out of two. Was that worth it? I would say not and he was rightly criticised for his first season with us because his form wasn't very good and he was reputedly on a very high wage.

The original post at the top of this thread asked how do people think Roberts was going and the fact he was poor in the early season meant the old "it takes time to settle in" excuse got wheeled out again. It is no excuse and never has been IMO.

These players are not dragged here under protest. They are not inexperienced players. They are not poorly paid and have a job most people would kill for. They really have no excuse for monthis of poor form.

Dave

maybe a fair point regarding smith but roberts is on a 4 year deal so if we get 3 1/2 good seasons out of him is that really that bad? i think not

If Amos carries on improving at this rate for 3 years will you still be disapointed?

Roberts really has started upping his game in that last few matches.

I was saying he should make way for Ainscough to have a spell for a few weeks but he is definately proving me wrong atm.

Little things like his dab through are pleasing to see because he is trying to create opportunities and putting effort into getting over the line. All this shows some new enthusiasm that he seemed to lack previously.

Keep it going Amos

I didn't say it was an excuse. You said you were tired of seeing Pat Richards' early poor form being used as cover for Roberts, and then gave your reason why that example is irrelevant. I merely pointed out that there are other examples too, which are perhaps not so easily dismissed. Lammy did very little at first. Gene Miles's first half-season was a disaster, and those are all what I'd call 'world class' players.

We should also remember that Roberts was on the comeback trail from a hand operation. He missed his first match, if memory serves, because he was still deemed to be unfit - now surely that's a reasonable excuse?

Craig Smith played for three seasons and overall along with O'Connor was arguably our best front rower since the days of Platt/Skerett/Cowie. We certainly missed him when he went and have not had a better prop since IMO.