I'll go back a bit further:

[uPhil Ford[/u

Classy GB Winger, nicknamed the 'Indian Rubber Man' due to his ability to literally 'bounce' out of attempted tackles. Complemented Henderson Gill on the other wing......Had the speed, had the skill, but was unfortunate that he became part of the deal to purchase the best British player for the last 40 years.


[uPhil Blake[/u

Awesome player, very very classy. Went to Warrington from Wigan (again in a player/cash exchange IIRC), was it for Andy Gregory? (Someone please remind me). I remember at the time not being that bothered he left, but only in recent years I remember him with fondness!

Paul Atcheson.................Could have had a heart but didn't

Phil Blake was at Warrington first and came to Wigan on a short term contract in 1989. He and Les Davidson played a few games games for Wigan as IIRC the Iro brothers were playing on Tour for New Zealand and Wigan drafted Blake and Davidson in.

Didn't Monie want to sign Phil Blake for the next season but we signed Botica instead?

My god! How the mind plays tricks with time!

John Monie wanted to sign him again but got delivered another player instead, Frano Botica. Blake was a class act but who knows if we had got him instead of Frano and his goal kicking whether we would have been as successful.

I agree with Rouges about Wright and Houghton. I was gutted when Wright's career was cut short as he really was a very very good player.

Houghton wasted his talent and in contrast to players like Blake, Monie never rated him.

Another player who never reached the heights he could have was Steven Wild. He's done OK at Hudds but he never quite got the breaks or gave the impression he playing to his full potential here. I think he had a storming debut season, got injured and never quite got back from it before he was let go.

Dave

To be honest, I'd love to see his medal collection from his time at Wigan and St Helens.

Does anyone think Joel Tomkins and Darrel Goulding will be in these categories in 2 or 3 years??

IMO its a big season for both of them. Joel needs to create something extra in his game, i think he should be making at least 2 clean breaks in a game, thats what we need from him. He was running good lines off Barrett at the end of the 08 season and he looked top class. Our back row looks very defensive since Hock left.

Personally i don't think DG is good enough. Lacks the pace, size and skill needed to be a quality centre. He has shown the odd glimpse that he's got a bit of skill, but hasn't done it on a regular basis imo.

I think you are slightly off topic here. The players being discussed in Roughes first post were players who could have been greats e.g. Wright if he had not got injured and Haughton who just didn't apply himself but clearly had the talent.

What you are saying here is you think these two players are simply not good enough which is not the same thing.

Dave

Both these players clearly have the talent though. I specifically remember everyone raving about DG when he was coming through the ranks so he "could" be a Wigan great, but probably won't be. I suppose i am slightly off topic in that they are not ex-players so its all a bit hypothetical.

Nigel Wright and Simon Haughton are the obvious ones for me because they showed the class, at times. It wasn't just about potential with them, we knew they could deliver. Both men could have been fixtures at test level, never mind just in the Wigan team.

Spot on. It's always a shame when you know a player can deliver but they fail to do so. Normally it's injury as it was with Wright that gets in the way but when it's lack of application as it was with Haughton that is very frustrating.

I can't remember if it was on this board, Mike's "other" Wigan forum even one of the other small Wigan forums that have come and gone but Simon Haughon's Dad used to post! It made for some interesting threads!

Dave

The reason my first choice as "could have" was Chris Melling was that having watched him graduate through the lower teams you could see that he was a class player.

He was quick, had good hands,was evasive and an excellent kicker of the ball from both open play and at goal.
However, his biggest asset was (thinking about the captain thread) that he was a great communicator (talker) and organiser from the fullback position.
I really believe that he could have been the regular England fullback and Wigan captain by now.

It's such a pity that the two knee injuries (re-constructions) robbed him of those opportunities.

Would agree with Wright and Haughton.

Also would include Hock in that bracket. I think he had the potential to be one of the best British 2nd rowers in the last 20 years, and look what happened.

Sure he did "ok", he may even have done "well" , but he could have been so much better.

Danny is a diabetic and I'm sure that has a bearing on his erratic form.

My eldest daughter is a practice nurse and monitors him on a regular basis.

Paul Johnson anyone? His brother's death hit him hard and he never really came back to form playingwise, I remember when he was back of the series for GB in 2001, could have easily been England's first choice centre by now. Luke Robinson's a good call too, he never really seemed to improve after he left.

What about Bryan fletcher?... To be honest missed most of the season we had him as I was travelling, just wondering what people thought of him? I no he had a big rep before signing.

He was well past his prime when he came to us and still did a great job in a poor side, wouldn't put him in this thread at all.

You could always tell that Fletch was top class, just a pity he played in a dog sh! t team.

Aye, he'd have still had a place in today's team (would do a better job at prop than Fielden!).

Let's not get carried away. "Todays team" is very much unproven.


Ofc Fletcher would walk into it. He is a quality player.

Agree with Nigel Wright - probably the best stand off of his generation (or certainly would have been injuries permitting - and from what I was told at the time it was a miracle he could even play at all given how bad his injury was)

How about

MARK PRESTON
Seriously quick but never really hit the top level - with such pace he should have been a top winger for many years.

TONY IRO
Big and pretty quick but always seemed to be overshadowed by his brother - also never seemed to settle into a position - physically looked the part but never seemed to make the most of it -at least when at Wigan.

How about Brian Carney? On his day he was arguably the best winger in the world but injuries and various other things meant he had far too few of those days in a Wigan shirt.

I bet a few Bradford fans and big Les would have something 2 say about that.

I can't disagree, but it depends on what people expected of him at the time and now. Looking at the big picture he has not done badly for himself with Huddersfield although the same could be said for a handful of former Wigan players.

Due to the increased competitivness of the league players that have been shown the door at Wigan have in some cases gone on to achieve well at other clubs and its certanly made watching other games that don't involve Wigan a lot more interesting.

Im not sure if Robinsons exit has necessarily set his career back, it could be argued that it has done quite the opposite.