It's a bit of a murky world this press release etc.
Wigan probably agreed with Souths not to release the story until some arranged time. The press got hold of it and the clubs were left picking up the pieces.
Wigan may well have a replacement in line but again could have agreed with the player and his club not to release details of his departure until much later in the season.
It can and sometimes does happen like that.

It maybe we've signed a half back replacement for Tommy but are not giving out details until later in the season. You just never know do you?

Exactly and if contracts are not worth the paper they are written on how come we are supposed to have a watertight one with Sam T?



Madge has been unethical. Would he like us to induce one of his contracted players out to break his contract early?



These are all the reasons why IL has screwed up completely here by not enforcing the contract. As others have said Lima hardly looks upset at being here. Given he only had another year to go even if Lima spat the dummy out he would have been an ideal player to make an example of. Unlike Joel who had years left to run on his deal Lima with only 12 months left could have sat on the sidelines for a season if that meant players, agents and coaches go the message Wigan isn't a soft touch when it comes to contracts, which under IL it clearly is.

With Wigan, no you don't. In this case with Souths, you do.

Other clubs have absolutely no problem with announcing new signings and clearly don't give a stuff what Wigan think so the fact we have not announced anyone leads to the conclusion we have not signed anyone. Including re-signing Finch.

There is absolutely no reason to bury good news. None. Certainly not the sensibilities of other clubs.

The excuse we may have agreed with player and club to say nowt is very tired and pretty ridiculous when every club who takes a a player from us announces it in the press as soon as they can. IL gains nothing by keeping quiet and just annoys the fans. But I suspect the reason for silence is as I said because we have not signed anyone.

Surely your not thinking of playing Wane in the front row ?

He was good in his time.

But I would suggest he is a bit 'past it' now.



Back on track though.

I am another that feels let down by these southern hemisphere players, just walking out of their contractual obligations.

A lot of comments on here seem to be reactionary, somewhat knee-jerk in light of Lima's departure. Personally regardless of numerous comments on here I still have faith in IL, and why wouldn't I have faith considering all the well calculated positive implementations he's developed since he took over. Granted not everything has been plain sailing, however that's business, thats life.

I am happy with our squad and development of Wigan lads led by a Wigan coach, not just any Wigan coach but an excellent Wigan coach who as excelled at all levels of his development. Currently we are progressing nicely in both competitions-we are doing well.

Lima on paper seems like a big loss, but lets not react to the transfer until we know the bigger picture, IL could have something planned that will ease the pain of losing one of our quality props.

Even if no one is signed-which could actually be a good thing, we have all the potential to develop some of our current players to be even better than Lima is today, sharing the cap out with tact amongst a 'Wigan' team.

IMO Hansen could step up and become a good workhorse prop. And lets face it, he won't be doing a runner anytime soon...

Apart from Hull signing Ellis and Catalan signing Zeb Taia what other signings have been announced?

Oh, Ian Thornley to Wigan, does that count?

Front Row is Wigans strongest position, Mossop, Prescott, Lauaki, Dudson, Spencer, Flower, Crosby, and Fielden (if he recovers) Then there is Greg Burke out on loan who is a tremendous prospect.

We do need to get the halfback position sorted and maybe centre to replace George though.

Can't work out if I want to see Lima benched or run into the ground. Probably the latter. Take him off the rotation policy send him to South's with miles more tread taken off his tires.

Or, forget about next year, focus on the 2 trophies we're fighting for and keep him doing what he's done so far this year which is clearly working well. He may be off to Souths next year, but until Wigan finish our season, he's ours and that should be the only concern in relation to how he plays.

Exactly.

Not as if he's been like some of the others and started going to the press saying he wants out, if anything I think it's a huge credit to Lima (+ agent) that this was such a suprise. I know there was a few leaks a couple of days before but on the whole it caught everyone off guard.

Makes you wonder how many other players Maguire is going to try and persuade to leave us - where does it stop? Would he like Sam and Josh for starters and maybe a few others along the way? Don't get me wrong I thought Maguire was brilliant for us in his first year but things changed dramatically for me when he got his new job part way through season 2. Players didn't get rotated in the same way and the team sometimes looked like Noble had picked it, it was also clear that he spent a goodly part of the remainder of his time with us recruiting new players for himself rather than concentrating on us - maybe that is a bit OTT on my part but I'm sure most of you will know what I mean - he made an art form out of being an opportunist. The funny thing about Jeff Lima to me is that he seems to have played much much better under Wane than he ever did under Maguire but if he wants to go then so be it, no point in trying to hang on to folk who don't want to play for us

Wigan have been aware of his intention for some time. On the plus side (there is always one) its our strongest position and it releases money and an over seas spot that both can be used filling a position we are not as strong in. Its about the team not individuals, that's a route we have been down before!

Lets send Tommy early too then..,

I thought Maguire was excellent in his first year here and merely good in his second. He blooded no youngsters in that second year and ran the starters into the ground. It's why he fell flat on our faces during the playoffs.

Why? He's run his contract out and been here for 6+ years.

Lima is going home early. Entirely different ball game. I don't blame him for leaving, I just don't think we have a duty of care for him anymore.

A huge credit? Good grief his agent and the player have failed to fulfil his contract. He deserves no credit at all. If he had seen his three years out and then followed Madge, no problem.

Exactly. Tommy is seeing his contract out and Lima is not. There is huge difference.

What happens to Lima between now and the end of the season depends on his attitude. If he switches off as he and his team mates did last season after winning the cup then there is little point playing him. If he keeps up his current form then we can't afford to drop him (which is why we should have kept him for the full three years) but it really does rest on how professional he is. If he is like Tommy who I am sure no one has any doubts over Wane would be mad not to pick him. If he starts to coast that will really affect us this season never mind next.

Stop being so disingenuous. You know very well the comments about lack of news from the club regarding signings is not just related to the here and now. If we have re-signed Finch now would be a great time to announce it to offset the disappointment of losing Lima but the clubs PR department have not got the brains to think of that.



Are you seriously implying Lima's loss is no big deal because that is how the above reads?

I don't see what being aware of his intention has to do with it. There is no guarantee we will be able to sign a comparable player in any position and the recent past tends to back that up. We have seen contracts expire and players leave but more often than not recently that has not led to the signing of an International class player. I also don't see how on earth this is about an individual as opposed to the team given as a team we will be weaker with him gone.

Lima should have been at the Riversiders meeting on May1st, he didnt come because his wife had just had an operation, and sent Finch in his place. It must have been something to happen suddenly or he wouldnt have agreed to come. Maybe this has some bearing on things, as all this has happened in the last week or so.

Not too surprised or disapointed by this to be fair as it was totally expected, when we signed Finch, Hoff & Lima I said to a mate of mine that I couldn't really see any of them staying longer than a year so anymore would be a bonus. I do think we need a truly world class prop with abit of menace to replace him though even with the depth we have in the pack at the moment.

Don't talk sense. You mean to say we're doing things on the quiet like this year, last year and the year before? You mean we aren't washing our laundry in public and are keeping everybody focussed on the task at hand? Not good enough. I want announcements and I want them now.

I want to know who eats the most weetabix. Who has the lowest body fat % and our squad for the 2014 raid on Super League as well as full details of our licence application. Let the fans know what is going on. IFL OUT!!!!

I can't remember the wailing and gnashing of teeth from the usual suspects when we got Lima, Finch and Hoffman before their contracts ran out. We were able to take advantage of a particular situation and therefore it's a bit hypocritical to play the victim now.

You guys must have a big wedge of salary cap to spend next year, and it cant all go on contract upgrades for existing players. I excpect to see some good signings from you soon

And quota spaces too...

Let's just wait and see what the plan is. Then if we don't like it, have a moan. But for now we only probably know the half of it.