But would you give him a three year deal?

so your happy to replace a 26 yr old, and 28 yr old, both who are arguably every bit as good as Ellis, with a 32 yr old ?

i glad your not running the club

CASH not Cas

Are you seriously claiming Harrison Hansen and Gareth Hock are "every bit as good" as Gareth Ellis?

Am i the only one who doesnt see what all the fuss is about Ellis?

He must have something because hes quite highly rated but in the games ive seen him play hes never stood out as being anything out of the ordinary

Well if you're asking whether they're better propositions for the next 3 years than the 32 year old Ellis, I'd say "most definitely". Why, do you think otherwise?

agueably..yes

Whatever you think, to lose both those players in order to acquire a 32-year-old would be a ridiculous piece of business.

Ellis is 30 and will be 31 at the start of any career with a super league club.

He will no doubt be class for whoever he signs for.

The accolades he receives for his performances in the NRL obviously signify he's a stand out over there but in the internationals of recent years he's been extremely disappointing - almost anonymous.

The question has already been raised: would you give him the three-year deal he is demanding?

I'm not sure how you misunderstood my post. See if this is any clearer: Does signing a player on a three-year deal who will be 31/32 when the season starts, will no doubt demand top wages as a former NRL player (high demand at other clubs, international forward etc), plays in a position you already have about 7 other options for, will eat away at the chunk of the salary cap needed for perhaps other positions (centre/halfback/hooker) and will push back players like Farrell, Hughes and Burke in the pecking order, strike you as good business?

We're in the business of trying to develop our own players from our academy and integrate them into the first team squad. Wigan have an abundance of back row forwards coming through, most who will probably go on to play international RL. Despite the loss of Hoffman and Tomkins we've still got around 7 or 8 lads who could play in the second row.

No doubting Ellis' talents (although perhaps they are over exaggerated by some) and he would improve the squad, but we don't need him. We need a replacement for Carmont and we need a replacement for Tommy. You sign Ellis, you push back our own lads and eat away at the pot used to replace the players mentioned.

That sums it up pretty well.

more than sums it up well, we lose a world class player in Leuluai and Carmont, we need to replace at least 1 of them with an international in the correct position. Spending a high proportion of the cap on a 2nd row forward just does not make sense

I can see catalan being interested in him. The Beaver will likely retire at the end of the season so they will need to replace him.

You put a lot of negative spin on signing one of the best second rowers in the world. He would be 31 next season, hardly ancient now, in fact I prefer older players in the pack personally. oh it puts one of the academy guys back a little bit? wow, big deal, happens and thats life unfortunately, not everybody is good enough for the Wigan team. I want to see the best Wigan team possible on the pitch. Bringing through our academy is a great thing, but then I didn't see many moaning once Ryan Hoffman arrived? Did he hinder our squad at all? I'm sure he wasn't on baby wages.

Tuson/Farrell/Burke/Hughes, future England internationals? Come on , take those cherry and white specs off, they are solid squad players, but sadly none will ever grace Englands 11/12 shirts.

If I where him and not insistent on returning home to Yorkshire I'd give Saints good consideration (on the presumption they'd be in for him).

Stay well away. We don't need him. We have a great young pack already with Hughes, Burke, Spencer and Crosby all ready to step up and Ellis would be denying one of those a spot

Just to add. I'd have him over Tuson in an absolute heartbeat.

I can cope with loosing a workhorse but nothing special 2nd row from Wigan for a world class one.

Hes a great player but just not what we need. In the times of the salary cap we cant afford luxuries like that.

We need to get O'Loughlin signed on for the rest of his career never mind Gareth Ellis.

Because of that new invention called a salary cap..you may have heard of it? That cap space needs to go on positions that need filling, most notably both half-back slots, not on a position where we have our best strength in depth.

If we need to strengthen one area second row would probably be my last choice at the moment. We're well covered. Silly move.

Surely a more pressing priority for next season will be the halves/hooker with Tommy leaving and Finch OOC. As others have said, 2nd row is the last position that needs strengthening.

Exactly. I hope the days of us signing players the wrong side of 30 are gone. With the team we have and the strength in depth that we have got there is simply no need, especially at 2nd row.

It would be a brilliant signing for them if they could get him, however, the articles suggest he is returning to ENGLAND for family reasons. I doubt he would go and live in France.

As someone else suggested. I would like to see him go to one of the lesser teams to pass on his expertise from the NRL. The top clubs in the league already have it. Failing that he would be a great addition to either Hull or Hudds to help them step up to the next level and start making some finals.

Would love to see Burgess and Graham also return at some point.