he,s doin fine, bringing some expereince to the team when we need it,and sam is obviously guna benefit from his wealth of experience, so all in all now n longterm i think he,s guna be a vital part of things to come for us.

Why? Surely if he's doing a good job now, what would stop him in the future?

I agree. I dont think he's looked like a weak link or anything when hes played for us so far and hes been a great stabilising influence on the team with his organisation. As long as we use him for what he is best at, his kicking and organising, and leave the likes of Tomkins to do the running/pace role at halfback then theres no reason why he couldnt do atleast another year.

He is coming on and adding a steadying influence to the side. His kicking game and passing game is good and he strikes a nice balance with Sam Tomkins when he's on.

Overall a very good piece of business for Wigan even if it's only for the one year.

As I stand Wigan should just keep an eye out for anybody they feel could be an improvment. I know Danny Brough is off contract and in all honesty if we could tempt him here i'd be happy enough to thank Deacon for his year and move him into the coaching set up fulltime.

If theres nobody they feel could improve us available though i'm sure he can tick along for another year.

If he keeps it up I guess there is reason to keep him in there, but I would just like to see the original contract stuck to.

Missing far too many tackles, but adding to the team from an experience and organisational perspective.

I would agree to that. Age isn't on his side and injuries could also start to play a part. I would consider having him for next season in case of injuries and just used as a back up, but that is it. I would like to see us invest in what we have at the club in Stu Howarth and Joe Mellor or look to bring in someone else and just leave Deacon to move up to the coaching staff.

As others have said he's doing well for us this year. His kicking is very good and he's organising things quite well in attack. He's only 31 (I think) so he's got a few more years left in him if he wants it. I think Maguire will be looking to improve on him though given the importance of the position.

He's made quite a few errors too considering he hasn't been on the pitch as much as some of the other players.

His error rate and missed tackles are poor when considering his actual time on the field, but he does add value with his organisational skill and kicking.

[urlhttp://www.superleague.co.uk/statistics_player.php?season=2010&stat=tackle_busts&hs1=2010&hp1=7&hs2=2010&hp2=2075[/url

There is a very good write up from Ian Millward in todays League Weekly comparing Deacon and Briers when he coached them for Lancashire.

Basically he said that he only thought that Deacon was an ok player because he played behind a monster pack at Bradford and Millward thought that Briers would be his first choice scrum half.

After the first training session there was only going to be one man to lead the team from scrum half - Paul Deacon.
He said Deacon had superb communication and organisational skills and was very demanding of his players.

Would that be the same Ian Millward that thought signing Jordan James and Oliver Wilkes for Wigan would be a good idea?

I think Deacs has been doing fine for us so far this year. I suppose he'll just wait to see how he feels at the end of the season and see if he feels like he's got another year in his legs. It will be interesting to see what happens once McIlorum is fit again. I'm pretty sure he won't miss as many tackles as Deacon apparently has

Hes fitted in nicely like he's been here his whole career, dont know if its any coincidence but Leuluai's long kicking game has improved dramatically this year, maybe Pauls been giving him some tips

I've noticed that too. A definite marked improvement in Leuluai's kicking.

Sam's kicking game has noticably improved too. Draw your own conclusions!

To be fair to Sam, his kicking game last season was excellent, he regularly split the winger and full-back.

We've had periods where we've been rapid in attack with the likes of Leuluai and Tomkins flying at the defence but when things need calming & organizing, Deacon has slotted in perfectly. His passing is precision perfect and very quick giving the backs plenty of space to attack with depth and speed. I also like some of his old school passing styles and run-a-rounds. Also, his kicking is a good attacking weapon.

He's slotted in very well. I'm very happy with him.

He's only missed 6 tackles in 4 games according to the official stats which isn't great but it's by no means horrendous.

He is pretty obviously our weakest defender but then thats only to be expected really and when you consider the leading player in the missed tackle table(Ryan Esders) has missed 18 it makes Deacon look like a machine.

I've noticed that. He's actually thinking about his kicking now and picking out gaps.

Also Sam Tomkins has come on a bundle in that department and now looks like a real halfback general and not just a runner. He's not been at his explosive best yet but he's really making us tick and directing us around the field.

Probably the shrewdest aquisition of the off season.

Indeed, but still noticably improved this season nonetheless. I don't recall a single game last season where he controlled the game utilising an almost 'traditional' half-back's kicking and short passing game in the way he did against HKR. I think that's an extra string to his bow this year.

He's developing exactly how we'd hoped imo.

The worlds best halfbacks can do everything and not just act as a runner/support player and thats what Sam Tomkins is aiming to be(one of the worlds best).

I know he's not the most popular person around Wigan but Sean Long is a perfect example of a lad that started as a runner and just kept on improving his organisational skills as the years rolled by. Sam Tomkins reminds me alot of Long on the field(thankfully he's not as big a tit off it).

Deacon is a calming influence to the halfbacks and the team.

His experience alone is invaluable to us.

No worries so far, I think he must have been training Tomkins and Leuluai on their kicking because they're both kicking way better. On the field he's been alright, good enough that he won't lose us any games but not really good enough to win us games either. I don't think I'd want him to play another year but I'm glad we'll have him on the coaching staff.

It's a real luxury to have the option of keeping him on as a player next year 'if we want to'.

We should always be looking to improve the squad and if theres a better option available out there that Maguire is happy to sign then we really should go for it. If not Deacon stays on and we don't lose anything.

I've said it many times but my choice would be Brough.

Id go along with that.

If you watch Deacon he is constantly barking order to the players around him, against Catalans he had clearly been given instructions from the bench and then went on the field and delivered the message - he was pointing players into positions and organising the offense almost like an NFL quarterback.

He may no longer be a baby faced assasin but he is a player with a wealth of expierience and a brain.