Waterworth played well against the Aussie tourists. His passing is exceptional really fires the ball out from dummy half

Waterworth is only 18 years of age and a very talented young player. It will depend on how he "fills out" IMO.

A regular spot on the bench for Hampshire when Bowen is at fullback would help to alleviate the problem Wigan could have with no back up for MM on the bench,
To spell MM move Smith into the hooking role for a spell (he almost plays as an extra dummy half as it is) , this would allow Hampshire to come on and resurrect his halfback partnership with Williams.
It is only by giving the pair a chance in their natural positions that Wigan will see if what was a devastating partnership in junior rugby could grow in the first team, done gradual it could only benefit both players and the club.

I think that Larne Patrick will be outstanding this season for us off the bench and will make a real impact

But the player i am most looking forward to watching is Budgie, I hope that he can continue his fantastic 2014 form into the new season and progress even further

Hampshire will be really someone to look forward to watching. Fir his own and also that he'll replace Bowen next year.
Will be interesting to see how the club sort out Burgess's replacement. Manfredi is the obvious one and his introduction throughout the season will be something to look forward to.

There are some intriguing new half back partnerships in Super League this year -

Walsh/Burns at Saints
Kelly/Campese at Hull KR
Dobson/Chase at Salford
Roberts/Gale at Cas
Dureau/Carney at Catalans

I'm looking forward to seeing all of them. I also hope that this season sees a reversal of the decline in standards of the last few years.

I think we are strong throughout the team and I expect big seasons from Joel Tomkins, Josh Charnley, Matty Smith, Micky Mac, Faz and Lockers of course. I'm looking forward to seeing Williams and Hampshire develop. And I fervently hope that Lee Mossop gets back to full fitness.

Bar Gale, all are overseas players. That's a very sad indictment of what's happened over the last few years in producing quality halfbacks through the academies.

Really looking forward to seeing billy bostons statue errected just to annoy the football lot

Yes, as ever, you make a good point.

I'm really only talking about it from a spectators viewpoint. I think it's good for Super League that the likes of Walsh, Carney and Kelly are playing in the competition. The standard will hopefully improve.

Of course Wigan are doing their bit to give the youngsters a chance and let's hope that Williams and Hampshire can succeed. Warrington haven't gone the overseas route to be fair and Leeds seem keen to bring Sutcliffe through, and they did bid for Ryan Brierley.

Interesting debate; does quality always come through? Do overseas players stop British talent from succeeding?

My view is that there are enough spots in Super League for quality to emerge. Youngsters generally get their chance and if they are good enough they stay in the team. On the other hand, the current system doesn't help. I would favour a return to U20s or even an U21s team to give them a little more time to develop.

As aboveus says, at least Wigan have made a real effort to bring youngsters through (to the benefit ultimately of other SL clubs, as well as us). Most SL coaches don't seem to have the faith in their youth that SW does.

Anyway, the only ones on that list I really rate are Walsh (always liked him at the Panthers) and Carney. And Carney, anyway, in my view should never have been let into SL. Why should we take the rejects that (even) the NRL think are unacceptable?

The NRL haven't actually banned him though after Cronulla sacked him for a leaked social media photo that showed him urinating in his own mouth, no other NRL club offered him a deal.

I suppose the simple fact is that whilst we may not particularly like him and whilst we don't rate him very highly as a role model, he is free to work here. And the bottom line on this is - Super League is far inferior to the NRL, so if a player as good as him becomes available, someone will offer him a deal.

I am looking forward to seeing him play and I hope, just like Joel Monaghan did, that he manages to turn over a new leaf. Though I think you'll get short odds on him not lasting too long at Les Cats as he does seem to be a lost cause.

We took some frightful stick from over the hill about us playing with two overseas halfbacks around the times of Barrett and Leuluai but in truth I can't blame Saints. They produce as many young players as anyone pretty much and haven't had much luck on the young halfback front.

Saints and Catalans have the best halves for me but I'm happy with our lot especially the options and depth we have.

And like Gelling...............

The NRL may not have banned Carney, but they would surely have had to approve any contract with a new club, and, as Blake Ferguson and Russell Packer have found out, this is not (rightly) a rubber-stamping affair. Joel Monaghan was a bit of a different case, and, as you say, he has applied himself well at Warrington. Carney has had plenty of 'last' chances.

And if SL is as inferior to the NRL as some suggest, it's hard to imagine why the like of Asotasi and Pettybourne weren't instant world-beaters over here. Whereas in fact...

It's not that hard to imagine at all.

Asotasi came over for one last payday, underestimated the challenge and couldn't adapt to Warrington's style after the ultra conservative approach of the Rabbitohs.

Pettybourne played his NRL career as a second rower. After his success playing prop in the World Cup SW played him there exclusively. However, in hindsight he was probably played out of position.

More instructive of the relative merits of the two leagues might be the case of Luke Walsh. Journeyman pro with Penrith, nowhere near representative honours in spite of NSW losing run (before this season), yet lauded over here (rightly) as the standout scrum half in Super League. In his time the likes of Pearce, Maloney, Carney, Soward, Kimmorley, Jamie Lyon, Wallace, Campese and Trent Barrett were all picked at half back for NSW.

Wasn't Luke Walsh in the top 10 of the vote for the Dally M player of the year in 2013?

I remember reading that when he got installed as a 50/1 shot for man of steel.

Luke Walsh was in the top 10 of Dally M voting in 2013, joint 7th I think. Hardly a "journeyman pro" status mate.

It isn't nice to think about but I must admit the Walsh & Burns partnership has the potential to be top quality in modern day SL standards. A relative of mine who lives in Sydney and is an avid Penrith Panthers fan was telling me about how well they clicked with each other in their 3 years playing together at 6 & 7 a few years ago.

Although I worry about the hole that Blake Green's absence leaves for us I am genuinely excited about George Williams. Although he is young, the rate of improvement shown last year was superb and he could really go to the next level with the starting spot. Throw in Matty Smith who has improved massively to become a top organising halfback and a pivotal part of our team; we have a really good, all English mix.

Hopefully, now Williams is playing 6 as opposed to 9 he won't be doing as much defensive work and he'll avoid the burn out he seemed to have midway through last season. We can always put Powell or Hampshire in if he is due a rest.

Exciting times!

Ok. Poor choice of words. The point remains. He's the best half back in Super League but didn't get near the Aussie or NSW rep teams did he. Not knocking him. But the poster was suggesting that Super League is on a par with the NRL I was using the example to illustrate the relative strengths of the competitions. Which I think you know anyway.

In all honesty mate I hadn't read the full thread so probably didn't take the comment in context. I just saw that comment whilst scanning through.

Looking forward to see how Daryl Clarke goes this year.

He got a lot of attention last year and to be fair I had not really taken much notice. However towards the back end of the year it was pointed out that he shows a lot in attacking from the ruck, but does he have other elements to his game? With a move to a new club will he flourish or will he flounder. Also how will that impact on Warrington as in Daryl and Higham they have 2 similar styled hookers.

Were as when they had monaghan you could argue that they had 2 different styles to throw at teams.

Surely Todd Carney is the best half back in SL? I'm looking forward to seeing him play.
Clark will be interesting as he's now a fish in a big pond. Wire look strong with great talent and strength in depth. Russell looked good last year maybe he'll kick on in 2015.
Ryan Hampshire is a very exciting player and can't wait to see how he goes this year. Tautai's always looked talented, it will be good to see how he goes in a better team with better players around him.
No particular player stands out at Saints but with Longy coaching their backs and halves they should be very much improved and different this year.

No player stands out? In Luke Walsh and James Roby we have two of the best players in Super League. Surely you aren't that blinkered that you can't acknowledge that?

Ps I don't feel we need that much improvement and difference in all honesty and Cunningham won't be looking to make huge changes. We did OK last year.

To be clear: I wouldn't go so far as to say that SL is on a par with the NRL; what I would say it that the top SL sides (like Wigan) are competitive with the best NRL teams, but the overall standard in the NRL is clearly higher. As for Luke Walsh, I've always liked him, I did at the Panthers. But regardless of whether the NRL is "better", I do think that English clubs generally play a more attacking style than the defence-minded NRL. Because of this, I thought Walsh would suit SL. And he has.