Not a chance in hell saints will pay transfer fee.

I would be happy with Smith. English, in his mid 20's, IMO he is exactly what we need. A half back who (if we want him to) will stay for 5/6 years. Not a world beater but a decent organiser, a pivot with a good kicking game. With the coaching and structures in place at Wigan I think he could well blossom into a very good player for us.

I'd love Gaskell to be true but I just can't see stains selling him to us. Maybe if we gave Bradford a few quid to do a Higham/Newton style deal.
IMO he has more potential than ANY other player over the hill.

I'd be happy to pay a transfer fee for Gaskell. We're not going to use all this salary cap money/Joel Tomkins money signing expensive Aussies this time round. If Gaskell is unhappy then go for him.

He might be a bit more happy this afternoon. He is on the bench against Hull FC.

Agreed, but Finch should be priorities 1, 2 and 3.

With Gaskell being the age he is Wigan will have to pay a fee whether he's OOC next season or the one after.

I think Smith will go ok at Wigan. Everyone knows he's a decent kicker in open play and with the way Wigan's attack is structured playing in the pivots is simply a matter of organising people, knowing the set moves and picking the right pass out. Easier said than done I know but Brett Finch isn't really an exceptionally talented player but this season he's looked like Trent Barrett!

I don't see anything special in Matty Smith. He's ok that's it. It's a shame a club like Wigan doesn't have any halfbacks coming through its junior ranks like we do with Gareth O'Brien.

Matty Smith's not even been as good for Salford as Myler and Ratchford were - he's the type of signing that I would associate with a club like Huddersfield or Warrington maybe but Wigan? Seems a bit like Man United trying to sign Stewart Downing or something.

2 words ,Kyle Eastmond

remember him ? !

The BIG mistake was keeping Scott Moore and letting Smith go.

Correct,with good old hindsight,things would have been different.

It's shame a club like Warrington have taken so long to produce anyone such as a Gareth O'Brien in any position



How long have you been waiting to post he above?





If Warrington have started to get their act together producing young players you will soon notice that not everyone of them who looks good as a junior will make the transition to the senior squad. Wigan [imay[/i be seeing that with at least one of the current junior half backs who may have been expected to step up rather than us go for Smith.



I am surprised we seem to have gone for him as well but as I said this may be because the expected progression of at least one junior player isn't quite going to plan.

That was lack of obvious foresight and stupidity.

That would be Wigan with the TWO current England academy halfbacks.

Oh don't worry I know all about that.

I've been hearing glowing hype from our fans about our young players coming through for years. Jamie Durbin was supposed to be the next Allan Langer, Steve Pickersgill (who was a decent hard working player) was supposed to be as good as Morley at a comparable age when he was in the Academy. And we all know what happened to Kevin Penny.

So yes I have a naturally cynical view to young players coming through, I wait till I see them actually handle Super League and prove themselves before getting excited. Sometimes it's the ones you don't hear so much about that manage to handle the step up - Paul Wood slipped into first team under the radar but he was one that looked the part from the word go...Chris Riley was very much seen as second best to Penny but Super League exposed Penny whereas Riley thrived as a try scorer.

So yes the jury is out on Gareth O'Brien but in his first team appearances so far he has looked confident and settled quickly so I have a feeling he is going to be an SL standard player. Still replacing Briers will be a big ask.

For one who did 'make it' what happened to 2 who have not. Has anyone any idea whats happened to Keith Holden Jnr and Bobby Goulding Jnr at Warrington? They were so good you brought Ratboy Ratchford from Salford.

Out of interest why is every post you make on here an attempt to draw a reaction?

Is your life that empty?

The comments made are pure cr@p anyway. Sam Tomkins as a half back came through our ranks, just another Dire worshiper who is deluded.

Think his lifes as empty as the Warringtons trophy cabinets going to be for the next 10 years

Dont feed the trolls!

I know you're simply trying to get a reaction, but for what it's worth Wigan have Sam Powell who partnered O'Brien in the halves for the England Academy side and was last years under 20's player of the year. However, players generally do struggle to break into the first team when they have a broken leg.

And as Rogues said, we have two academy international halfbacks and had another one last year who's unfortunately been out injured for around a year.

Then there's Mellor at Widnes, who isn't as good as O'Brien admittedly, but then serious injuries do funny things to players.

When it comes to halfbacks, it's fair to say we aren't too jealous of Warrington at this moment in time.

We have 2 cracking half backs in Williams & Hampshire, but both are just too young at the moment.

We have Mellor & Powell at the moment who should be in a position to challenge for a spot next year, however I believe injuries have held back their progress and development.

Before that we had the Coyle brothers, Kevin Brown & Luke Robinson.

Who said we don't produce any half backs?

I also think u will find that Stef ratchford was on wigans books for sometime but unfortuately u can't keep them all, however he's a wiganer through n through

I may be wrong, but aren't they both about 16 years old? Be at least 3/4 years before they will be near any first team action.

Goulding Jnr must about 18 or 19 now and is playing for Wire U20 (a very good side this season). Holden appears to have fallen off the radar, maybe injured?