You are quite right about contracts DaveO. As many have said in the past, it's a pity we are not more like Leeds.

indeed. one thing for sure is that Wigan players over the last few seasons have had some cracking agents working for them!

i'd even go as far to say that there is clearly something amiss at wigan, players leaving left right and centre, the coach announcing his departure mid-season too, it can't all be just a mere coincidence. I hope it is, but I fear we are in for some repercussions soon - hope its not Salary Cap related. i've no idea it is, i just have a bad feeling and I've been proclaiming so on here for a while much to everyone's amusement!

but a club with such a high turnover can't seriously be doing that badly with their finances. back to Gells, I wish him well, but like we have agreed, its not just a matter of signing a returning player here. the lad has done us out of a transfer fee basically as will go on a free surely now? I don't think i'd like to have him back as a result. if the story is true that we had first refusal, then I feel we have made the right choice. i'm sure he'll bag a try or two against us!

Girlfriend was pretty beaten up from the crash, was far more than bruising, he posted the pics of her for all to see on his twitter account. Needless to say of course he wanted to be close to her during this time.
While over there he realised how much he missed home, the life etc. Wanted to be back home; which is more than understandable, his time at Wigan wasn't short, he was over with us for a good spell. Since then he's landed no more of a supporting role at NZW, wouldn't be surprised if he was told he wasn't needed for next season.
So in an attempt to have a career in RL, he probably took what he could to keep playing and earning; a contract with Widnes.
I don't see anything funny here or anything untoward.

Agreed. Also no doubt we would’ve re-signed him if we wanted him. I’m sure his agent would’ve touted him to all SL and NRL clubs.

this is my point, if he wanted to be "back home" with his GF last year and then he later extended it to be for family reasons, why is his home now back in the UK?!!

I agree he hasn't managed to get a club over there in his time there, but he left us for family reasons and now those family reasons don't appear to be an issue again. he got out of a contract, basically which we all know is happening too often now - as a result wigan have lost a player and earned no money from it.

as has been mentioned above, if he just wanted compassionate leave to attend to the recovery of his GF then wigan would and should have permitted it without him having to leave us, surely?!

you may not see anything untoward, but I see another injustice on the part of the wigan club at the hands of players, whether intentional or not.

I can only guess he's back in the UK as it's the only place he can land a contract to continue playing RL.
For all I know he could have split with his gf or decided he misses England, who knows!
Additionally, how do we not know Wigan was his first point of contact? Maybe we turned him down.

All ifs and buts and maybes, but realistically, do you honestly think Gelling was pulling a fast one? Even more so using his beaten up gf as an excuse? Come on.

I think he was more hones than he had to be showing images of her in the hospital, nothing dodgy, just a sequence of events.

at no point did I profess to suggest gelling was up to no good by getting out of his contract. my point is, Wigan have not benefitted from it in any way - again - my point refers to the numpty who is controlling all of this at Wigan. my point refers to what the bloody hell is going on, and has been for the last year or two!

we didn't get compensation from gells when he left and we now won't get a transfer fee for him permanently signing for someone else. had he stayed with us and moved clubs, we more than likely would have assuming he was on contract of course.

fair play to him, i have absolutely nothing against him. I loved him at wigan, he was a right character and had a good game in him when he wanted it. but yet again, wigan are the loser. not because we haven't re-signed him, but because its another player who has used the good nature of the club for their benefit (quite rightly of course) but is come back to bite us on the cherry and whites.

Gelling was one of the best right centres in the country. We resigned a left centre to play there and he wasnt very good at his original role so that hasnt gone well. If I was IL my performance review with KR would be very uncomfortable indeed to say the least.

This was his tweet on 28th Nov 2017 "Currently heading back to NZ,my gf been in a car accident,she's fine but nursing some bad injuries atm.I'll be back when the times right."

Which happened not long after this on 15th "Today is the day I become a UK resident. Currently walking to home office listening to the sex pistols to get me in the zone #GSTQ""

But whatever we can take from "shes fine" and "nursing some bad injuries" he certainly gave the impression he trip to NZ was temporary and especially given he's now back it was never going to be a reason for a permanent move. And getting UK residency is not the act of someone pining for NZ Fjords.

When he officially left Wigan this had changed and he said this "“It’s always tough to move on. I’ve given up my 20’s to represent the club and had an absolute blast in doing so. My family has always stood by me during my time away and the time has come to put them first." and Rads said he believed his reasons for leaving were genuine and if his head was elsewhere they would not stand in his way and yet now he's back here. His reasons for leaving ring a bit hollow now.

I am also sure he does want a job but he'd already got one at Wigan. His GF was obviously going to recover so that was no reason to make a permanent move back and clearly the pull of family was never that great either given he's back here now.

He may well have never had any ulterior motives but this looks very poor to me and it doesn't alter the fact he was a contracted Wigan player in November and he's now a Widnes player in July and Wigan have no fee to show for investing in the player.

It states here www.wiganwarriors.com/news/2018- ... part-wigan Should Gelling return to the UK Wigan have first option to sign him. So for whatever reason we didn’t want him or couldn’t fit him under the cap.

It states here www.wiganwarriors.com/news/2018- ... part-wigan Should Gelling return to the UK Wigan have first option to sign him. So for whatever reason we didn’t want him or couldn’t fit him under the cap.

Hopefully, he'll end up playing in the Championship for them.

Haha, conspiracy theories wild on here, he got out of his contract with Wigan to eventually sign for us? He always comes across as a bit nuts, but not even he would be that daft.

Quote ="Trainman"It states here www.wiganwarriors.com/news/2018- ... part-wigan Should Gelling return to the UK Wigan have first option to sign him. So for whatever reason we didn’t want him or couldn’t fit him under the cap.'" My guess is salary cap given Wigan signed a replacement which makes it Hobson's Choice if so. Widnes can have him as far as I am concerned but intentional or not in Gelling's case, for overseas players professing personal reasons for having your contract cancelled is a neat way to see if you can make it in the NRL and if not, get a club back in the UK without your new clubs having to pay a transfer fee. We'd better hope John Bateman doesn't profess homesickness for Yorkshire so he can get a release from his contract and then swan off to Oz

Quote ="Trainman"It states here www.wiganwarriors.com/news/2018- ... part-wigan Should Gelling return to the UK Wigan have first option to sign him. So for whatever reason we didn’t want him or couldn’t fit him under the cap.'" My guess is salary cap given Wigan signed a replacement which makes it Hobson's Choice if so. Widnes can have him as far as I am concerned but intentional or not in Gelling's case, for overseas players professing personal reasons for having your contract cancelled is a neat way to see if you can make it in the NRL and if not, get a club back in the UK without your new clubs having to pay a transfer fee. We'd better hope John Bateman doesn't profess homesickness for Yorkshire so he can get a release from his contract and then swan off to Oz

Yeah, but you're not pathologically obsessed with trying to turn everything into a negative.

neither am I. if it was a player of value such as Lockers or Williams there would be uproar. it isn't being negative feeling hard done by for the club, who naturally would have either made him see out his contract or demanded a fee upon his transfer elsewhere. with the club in so much turnmoil (off the pitch) its galling to see yet another player abuse, whether intentional or not (and might I add I don't think this is intentional, but still, the fact remains), the contracts a club hands out.

you all moan that the club hasn't got cap space, you all moan when the club don't have the money, cap space or desire to go for big name players, you all moan when our big players leave and we replace them with a lesser standard, yet you all are quite happy to let it dwindle its resources away as soon as a player and his agent throws his weight around.

i'd say there are some that see too much good when there is not that much good to be seen.

Nope, i for one never said that.... You have been told 10 million times not to exagerate.

ok, i'll leave that one with you then.

If you're seriously going to try and make a big deal out of the transfer fee we didn't get for Gelling, then I can't help you.

It's madness isn't it. Plus as other posters have stated Wigan had first refusal of Gells, so somewhere in the discussions we decided for whatever reason to not take Gells back up. I think it ends there really, literally and as part of a discussion.

Good luck to him on a new chapter at Widnes. I just hope when he plays against us it's one of his 'brain fart' games and not one of his more stellar performances!

There's still a good player in Gells. It's more a question of whether he'll ever unearth it on a consistent basis. I remember Jamie Peacock saying he and Kallum Watkins were the best two centres in Superleague but, while one has gone on to cement his place there, the other is still spoke about pretty much as 'no loss to the club'.

I'm a bit on the fence on this one really and, to me, it's more a case of what the alternatives are. If we chose not to take up our first option on him because we have something better in the pipeline, that's all good and well. If it's because we are committed to Sarge, I'll be less impressed as Sarge is another with a good game in him who hasn't been able to do it on a consistent basis and, in truth, an 'on' Gells is the better of the two.

if you seriously think that wigan don't need the money, then let it be on your head if and when it comes out that we are skint for next year and beyond despite losing 2/3 big earners at the end of 2018.

this isn't a personal dig at gelling, this is a concern about the club. have you seen the state of our finances? have you heard the news coming out of the club about how close to the cap we are and how little money we have to spare and how much we need to drive ideas for new business and income?

yeah i'm not bothered at all. not a bit.

fans who seem to think its all about what is on the pitch are the problem, not me who has a genuine concern.

This is just plain silliness.

We already know we have a chairman who pumps hundreds of thousands into the club whenever there's a shortfall, sometimes on an annual basis (yes ... that would be the 'complete numpty' you referred to a few posts ago).

Compared to that, how much do you think we'd get for Gelling? If anything at all?

The fact he's gone to Widnes must tell you something ... namely that no one with any cash was interested.

As for the three big earners we've lost, we've already replaced two of them, with maybe another to come. On top of that, you accuse others of not having seen the club's finances, but then neither have you.

Sorry, this is nothing but blatant misinformation and scaremongering. You say you've got the club's best interests at heart, but it feels to me as if the opposite is true.

firstly i'm pretty sure it isn't IL who sits down with the players to negotiate their contracts. secondly again, i'm not having a personal dig at Gelling, I have already commented that I rated him, but he is simply yet another example of a player getting out of contract and then shortly after having a change of heart (or realising the grass wasn't greener). wigan have been bitten in this manner too many times and only recently and finally seem to have realised returning players aren't worth it and that agents will try anything to get you out of or a new contract.

so we've replaced ST with ZH, probably half the wage ST was on.

Greenwood for J Tomkins, same again.

where is the spare cash? if its not going on bateman, where is it and who is it going to be spent on? have you any information on that to appease me yet? if not, what right do you have to blast my post?

and actually yes I've looked at their finances, being in the finance industry myself I am strongly concerned. Companies House shows £7M in 2016, and off the top of my head with a bit of quick thinking i can sum up about £5.5M tops, yet we are being told we are not making profit and going on grand ventures to try and bring in more money? How?! and why?

I have nothing but the best interests for the club, i'm merely someone bold enough to come on here to fight tooth and nail with all of you internet geeks about it. I'm not scaremongering, i'm trying to find answer which by the way none of you can provide. you all come back with your high and mighty responses with little actual evidence or substance in them so to have the gall to mock my posts when yours are no better or worse is quite laughable.

you then have the indecency to suggest that I should drop the "crusade" i'm on, but will no doubt be the first to complain about lack of fans, lack of visits to the forum and the downturn of fans at the game.

have a word with yourself before coming back at we thinking your quick wit will look good.

I hope you are ok with this Mrs. Cruncher.

IL's business acumen is proven. You're just a nickname on a forum whose insights are worth squat.

The fact you've chosen to draw your battle lines over the colossal transfer we we didn't get for Anthony Gelling tells me all I need to know.

Go and find another hobby horse that's less likely to chuck you off.

as are yours, it would appear.

I thought your response would be nothing but more name / character calling, rather than any actual detail.

the fact you are totally unaware that I've been commenting on this subject for more than 12 months via numerous threads tells me you have nothing significant to offer.

the fact that you have failed to understand, despite my quite clear comments, that this is not just about Gelling, also tells me you are quite happy to choose your fight when you think you can be clever with it when really all you are doing is nit-picking the finer detail to try and feed your ego and put someone down.

I really don't care that you think I have no reason to think what I think. what I do care about is the club, and I don't like it when it is continually proven to be on the back end of dumb deals and bad decisions.

I suppose you don't care that Sam Tomkins is going on a free next year either. I suppose that as long as you are all right and the team is 2nd in the league and the pitch looks nice and green, all must be well eh?

now kindly let a concerned man continue to be concerned if he wants, if you don't agree fine, but there's no need to lambast it in such a manner that suggests you think i'm worthy of incarceration.