Anyone who has watched any NRL this year will know this is a very, very good signing. Bowen has been brilliant this year. In my eyes a 'marquee' signing is a Barrett, Lyon. Bowen is not that, but I can bet my bottom dollar he will be the best fullback in the league next year. People need to remember he will not be palying every game due to to Hampshire and Tierney. Best we could do in a bad situation, I am delighted with this signing.

I would go as far as saying Bowen pretty much carried the cowboys into the playoffs this season, and bar Greg Inglis he has been the best fullback in the NRL. Just go on to the stampede fans page to read what the fans think of Bowen, the cowboys have made a mistake and the majority of people know it. He is the definition of marque signing, still one of the best in the NRL and will do wonders for hampshire and tierney.

i will feel a lot more comfortable next season when high balls are going up (even tho Tomkins has improved massively on it).

Sam was going to play in the Best league in world rugby, what other options were there for us at fullback....Brett Hodgson..??

Sam is a one off we get to see once in a generation and we were never going to replace like for like. Hopefully if Matt can give us 15-20 top games and help bring Tierney or Hampshire through that is the best we can hope for in the short term.

It's all well and good producing exceptional talent but the structure of the league in the UK doesn't help clubs keep that talent by being a poor comparison for the international game. Also a very poor reward in financial terms for some of the bestplayers in the game.

I have been watching You Tube clips of Bowen ever since his name surfaced and he has been an excellent player and had we signed him, as you say, five years ago he'd meet the "marquee" tag. As it is we have signed him at the end of his career so he just doesn't.

He has been signed for 12 months with a further 12 month option. I posted a while ago I felt the reason Blake Green was only on a two year deal was because the plan was to have the likes of Hampshire ready to take over full time. That was met with general agreement from those who commented and I don't see Bowen as anything other than a similar (but more risky due to his knees) kind of stop gap. Why IL thinks anyone can't see this and would consider Bowen a marquee signing I have no idea.

Will Bowen plug the gap left by Tomkins? Probably but it really isn't anything to shout about. One step forward and two back at best is my view on the whole deal (i.e. selling Sam and signing Bowen).

If we forget about the "marquee signing" nonsense and just leave a marquee as being a big tent then I think this is a good idea for twelve months so that Hampshire, Tiernay and whoever else we have on the books who fancies the No 1 shirt can interchange as a player and learn from both Bowen & Radlinski so that we will have outstanding full backs in years to come. Wouldn't have been put in this position at all had Sam not seen the greener grass. MB may have had problems with his knees but Wigan are not so daft as to sign someone who wasn't up to the job so let's give the guy a chance FGS

have you watched any cowboys match this season? he doesn't look to be slowing down at all if anything hes just had the best couple of months in last 3 years. Also he shows no weakness in he's knees at all, you talk about people lapping up propaganda well your falling for the cowboys/NRL big time.

It's an unfair question to ask you because there is nobody anywhere near as good who's available. Especially given his mentor role with regard to Hampshire and Tierney.

I'd have preferred Sam to stay too, but we live in the real world and he's gone.

If you want to get hung up on the use of that famously elastic phrase 'marquee signing', fine ... but don't be surprised if most fans are more interested in who Bowen actually is and what he can bring to the team.

I'll take your word for it he didn't want to play for another NRL club but the reason he was retiring was also because his current club didn't offer him a new deal due to their view that his knees were not up to another season. You can't leave that rather important fact out of it.

He was a legend there and for them to release him was a decision not taken lightly.

As to being our goal kicker, I think the added stress on his knees would rule that out.

this is also the same management that signed scott moore, bowen has said hes knees are fine on more than one occasion.

One can only imagine what this forum would have been like had the internet been around in 1984.......'who is this Ferguson guy, why couldn't we had signed Eric Grothe'?

Wigan needed to add some experience to the dressing room. You can rest Bowen in certain games to give the young lads more development and bring him back for the big SL games. Hopefully our style of play will evolve next season so we are not as reliant on releasing the full back. The only worry is him swapping tropical North Queensland for winter in Wigan!

Listen, if you are over the moon with it, and consider it a "Marquee signing" then knock yourself out. There is no standard definition of a "Marquee Signing".

Personally it falls way short of what I would expect for Wigan RLFC "Marquee Signing".

Hopefully will be a "good" signing though.

Do You watch the NRL every week? You can lie and say yes and say Bowen is an average player or you can be honest and tell us that you dont watch it and have no idea how good Bowen is. Which is it to be?

Some Wigan players will complain about anything. I had aload of people on my back in the rumours and signings section for daring to say Kyle Amor is not a "massive signing" for saints and we sign Matty Bowen who has played for Queensland and Australia and Wigan fans still find something to moan about.

Can't wait to see him in a Wigan shirt, despite losing Sam Tomkins we will still have the best fullback n the league.

If anybody is doubting the signing then go on the normal video sharing site and type North Queensland Cowboys 2013 and watch their highlights. Bowen is still a top player

The "propaganda" referred to was that of the "cowboys/NRL" as mentioned by dubairl. Spread by no one else but them. Try and keep up or the snide comments fall flat.

they desperately need a quality hooker and that doesn't come cheap on top of extending Jonathan Thurston, James Tamou, Matt Scott and a few others they have looked at the long term not the now and then short term and Bowen is going because of that and that alone anybody who's watched him can see its not because of he's playing abilities.

Surely your not commenting strongly on a player you haven't watched other than highlights on youtube? STUART FIELDEN WAS A RIGHT OFF INJURED FOR CLOSE TO 2 SEASON BOWEN HASN"T BEEN INJURED FOR MORE THAN 6 WEEKS IN THE LAST 2 SEASONS!!!

And most people want Hansen to carry on and extend he's contract so stop talking bull including Wane and Lenengan.

I've aired my views about us letting class players leave and then replacing them with lesser players and cheap gambles but that really isn't the case here. I'm annoyed we didn't hold Tomkins to that third year but once we decided not to where else were we meant to go? Bowen is a top class player, he may be no Tomkins but who is? The only players I can think of who would have been of at least equal class are Slater, Inglis and when his minds right, Ben Barba. They simply aren't realistic in this day and age.

A deal like Mossop and Hock out with Powell and Clubb in makes me wince but not this deal. He's about the best we could muster for our requirements. A top class player who isn't young enough to block our young stars paths in to the first team.

But it wasn't what I was referring to.

Sorry if it came over as snide, but it's not irrelevant in this context - as you know perfectly well (and it certainly isn't snide by the standards of other comments made).

At present you are coming over as someone who is desperately scrabbling around for a reason why this is a crap development.

Losing Sam is bad, of course it is. We all know that. But you can't seem to accept that the club have done their damnedest to get a good replacement. It's a very odd attitude, but not inconsistent.

Great signing. He will put the fear into opposing tea when he has the ball and he will get me on my feet at the same time. One of the best full backs in the NRL. That sounds 'marquee' like to me. I can't wait to see him play next season.

Great signing. He will put the fear into opposing tea when he has the ball and he will get me on my feet at the same time. One of the best full backs in the NRL. That sounds 'marquee' like to me. I can't wait to see him play next season.

i record and watch every nrl game this season and he will do for me.now because we have an experienced fb we can take a chance with the young lads on pats wing,hopefully one will grab it with both hands.best of a bad job imo.sam has not been making much impact in the last few weeks.

There are some people on here who I dare say call themselves Wigan fans, who do nothing but moan about everything! You all know who they are. The fact is in my opinion, we've signed one of the top 5 full backs in the world to replace one of the top 5 full backs in the world! (Slater, Tomkins, Bowen, Barba & Inglis). If that's not good enough in the current climate, the only alternative is to hire a tardis and go back to 1985 when Wigan signed everybody they felt like!
Bowen is a top signing and will make a few people on here eat their words. Instead of being constantly critical of the club, get behind it. We might still win the double!!