I think post was originally referring to Ian's sexual preferences, and I was trying to deflect it away from that

Mark Preston surprised me. Thought he did well considering not many had heard of him

I'm not homophobic, I'm not scared of me house!

You must be very rich. VCRs cost a fortune in those days. Our first one cost £600 and that was a couple of years later IIRC. Never seen the vid you mention.

Rented one from what was the place called? Ron Lee? Like a Wigan only version of Radio Rentals. A lot of my mates parents rented them to (some were even daft enough to get that phillips weird proprietary one) that's when i first started seeing Winfield Cup videos. Recorded the 1985 challenge cup final it was the first year we had it (didn't have it for 84 Widnes, thankfully

)

There's loads, but one that stands out for me is Brian Carney.

At Gateshull it seemed he had the raw talent to be a decent Rugby League player and I remember him making a special tackle on Renouf at the Boulevard that was well documented, but he seemed abit green, unconfident and unsure of what he was actually doing.

Coming to Wigan and being surrounded by characters such as Andy Farrell, Gary Connolly, Kris Radlinski and Adrian Lam obviously rubbed off on him and he developed into one of the best winger in the country which lead him to NRL interest and being selected as Great Britain vice captain.

Wayne McDonald. Definitely one of the biggest. Also a bit surprising.

It's amazing how this name keeps coming back to haunt us.

His first touch of the ball, I thought he looked pretty nifty.

I remember thinking: "Bravo Wigan! They've done it yet again; they've found another unknown - like Kevin and Tony Iro - who will go on to be a world-beater in the famous Cherry and White".

Twenty seconds later, I realised that we'd actually entered a new era of signing complete unknowns who were unknown for a reason, i.e. because they were total crap.

Shem Tatupu anyone?

I don't think Kevin was an unknown because I remember reading about how good he was before we signed him. I agree about Tony though.
Tommy's big hits have surprised me.
The player that surprised me most was not a Wigan player. It was Brian Bevan. He was about 37 and 9 stone we through and still scored two 70 metre tries in a game against Wigan. Amazing. Never saw him at his peak but my dad said he ALWAYS beat the full-back.

There were loads, particularly during the Golden Era of the early 1990s. Everyone says that Wigan bought their way to success by buying all the big players - they didn't. They bought players in, but they were mainly players at small clubs, who Wigan made great.

Such as...

Billy McGinty - no one could understand why we'd sign a journeyman, comparatively small second rower from Warrington, who weren't that good at the time

Neil Cowie - who the hell was he?

Ged Byrne - I still maintain he is one of the best signings we ever made. Never really a permanent fixture in the first team, but he could play anywhere, just seemed to effortlessly slot in wherever he was required, and never had a bad game for us.

Frano Botica - played representative RU, but no-one had heard of him, and it was generally considered that RU players needed a lot of work to turn them into RL players. John Monie didn't want him, and rumour has it that Frano only learned how to kick goals so that he stood a better chance of getting into the first team. One of the best stand offs we've ever had.

Of the same lot, Nathan McAvoy. Say what you will about him being a journeyman and unspectacular, but he never had a bad game for Wigan, and he tightened our defence up no end.

Mike Cassidy

came into a team full of superstars as a kid and ended up being the best forward on the field
the guy was a 80 minute tackling machine, and ive not seen anyone since to match him.
he could also do a bit carrying the ball as well.

Although he had played for East's in Aus, and over here for Leeds and Carlisle, 'Mean' Dean Bell's arrival wasn't as heralded as Brett Kenny, Steve Ella and Greg Dowling's but he turned out to be one of the best signings we made, a fantastic captain and leader, Man of Steel winner, Lance Todd winner, great player.

Nick du Toit - came over as an unknown from SA - apparently recommended to wigan by Ray Mordt (who eventually signed a few years later).

Great aggressive 2nd row - loved nothing more than to flatten the opposition in both attack and defence.

One of my favourite players at the time.

I can't really remember what I expected of Inga when we signed him but after seeing him early doors I wasn't expecting miracles from him.

He then worked on his fitness and turned out to be a dream signing for us. What a player and what a joy to watch.

Ex new zealand captain seemingly ending is playing days in France..didnt think we should have been signing over the hill props.

Anything but over the hill as it turned out and Quentin Pongia became one of my favs of the last decade.

Nick Graham, ginger haired loaner from the land down under

Recently:
Gerome Guisett. I was expecting nothing from him. In fact I was very disappointed when we signed him. He wasn't the best prop we ever had but he wasn't a bad'un in Wigan colours.

Past:
Sam Panapa. Played in every position bar prop and never let us down in any. A great player and a real gent.

Tuigamala for me.

I must admit i am not the most Knowlagible about RU and watching his first few attempts at league i feared the worst. he was just so unfit and seemed unable to progress with the ball in hand.

we all know what happened next

one of my all time fave players and possibly one of the most pleasant, polite, welcoming people you could ever hope to meet. Not to mention the fact that he did a lot to sort out a few of our other stars attiutudes

For me Twiggy is a wigan legend

Good call.

He had no pace and wasn't the biggest but he had a good rugby league brain and played a good role for Wigan in his stint with us.

I seem to remember him having a blinder at Odsal against Bradford where he scored 2 trys.

Sam Panapa or more recently Craig Smith who had a bit of a reputation in the NRL but came and put his heart and soul into every game I saw him in. Met them both and both top blokes.

was a shame we couldn't get him for the following season, he was better than one or two that where knocking around at the same time

matin hall . came from rochdale as cover for dermott, but ended up a first team regular

Ian Gildart. I had pee next to him at Central Park when I was a kid and nearly crapped meself at how tall he was!

he couldnt burst out of a wet paper bag though