I for one am sad to see him go.

He’s finally hitting form on the back of an international free off season.

Was unplayable in his first stint with us, since back from Aus (or NZ) been hit and miss, never hitting form due to injury.
A very valuable team member, vastly improved in defence and a marshal on the field, I thought was the natural successor to SOL, not sure who that’ll be going forward.

His performance since coming back did not justify a contract extension on the same terms, but if he can get more £/€ elsewhere but kiss goodbye to the chance of silverware and his legacy at Wigan then that’s his decision to make.

Call me pessimistic, but I can’t see the ZH situation ending well, hopefully we get a few seasons out of him before he brainfarts or he grows up, fingers crossed.

Need a new coach first.

Sam who ? I hope Catalan get relegated. This, and other imminent announcements, will derail our season.

Thanks, I hope we dont ! but I do wonder what would happen to this deal should Catalans go down.

Some time ago I had a chat with John Monie and I asked him who the best fullback is that he's coached at wigan. His reply was "When Hampo is fit, Hampo plays".

I believe he was a scrum half in his youth. Maybe he was the first 3/4 fullback.

Maybe he was. I wish I still had this old 1980s NRL video. At the end of it was a run through of golden boot candidates, including Hampson. (around the time when we had a bulldog esq away kit) He was superb, and often did link in the line. When all's said and done, he's arguably a better all-round than Sam.

Why are you even asking given what you say above has absolutely nothing to do with the points I was making in reply to JTB? His first point about the club being run as business and his second was about Tomkins form. Those are the points I was replying to . What the French are peperared to pay and why they may be was not what was being discussed.

Rads is from a different era. I can remember posting on here about Rads great defence and how important I thought it was and being told that was now secondary in the modern day of the 1 who is really a 6 to justify Tomkins being moved to FB. While the glib answer is it would be good if the full back possessed both skills that wasn't or isn't the modern thinking in that the requirement for a Rads style full back is not there anymore. So I don't see how the criticism is fair if the role of the FB has changed.

Disagree. Criticism or comparison defensively is still very fair. The attacking game of a FB has changed, been developed for the better. But the defensive element is still the same. Arguably the defensive requirements of the FB is more important than any other position in the team, to disregard how Sam is defensively compared to Rads or any other FB is ignoring the defensive requirements of a FB.

Escare is not good enough to play 7.

Or Fullback as a starting option.

Agreed, I don't see him as a 7 either, but I think bench 7 will be his role If we do get Hardaker

Escare as utility cover for me. Or sadly we see him leave. If we're striving to be the best we possibly can be, I don't think Escare makes the cut. Hardaker is a top top FB, it's his position with Escare as cover, similar to how he covers now.

As utility, I see his worth, can cover 1, 2/5, 6/7 and probably interchange 9. Players will always pick up injuries/suspensions throughout the course of a season.

Life after ST will be interesting and there’ll be lots of discussion before next season. We could be in for a complete overhaul if Gildart, Sutton & Bateman follow him out of the door.

Hardaker is a better FB than Escare and should not be moved to centre to accommodate Escare.

1 - Hardaker
6- Williams
7 - new marquee
9 - Leuluai (supported by Ganson)
13 - Lockers

It seems really harsh because I really like Escare but he is only a squad player with good pace. I hope he stays but I can’t see it. Likewise with Powell. He’s not good enough to be our 7 and isn’t good enough to be our starting 9. Both decent squad players but when compared to others in their positions, they’re not as good.

I agree that looks better, but do you think it's realistic for us to sign both Hardaker and a marquee?

I'd be very pleasantly surprised if we did get a marquee 7 but I can't see it for two reasons. First I would guess it's going to be at least as expensive as paying Tomkins what the club said it would in 2019 but welched on and it doesn't want to pay that kind of money. Secondly there is Wane's misplaced faith/loyalty in/to Powell who has the 7 shirt who was given a new improved deal at the start of this season.

1. Hardaker 6.Williams 7. Woods or Sharrocks 9. Powell 14. Escare

We wont get a new Marquee will just see one of the players changed to Marquee - Bateman

1 Hardaker
6 Williams
7 Shorrocks
9 Powell/Ganson

Perhaps? How's Shorrocks progressing?

From what I've seen Salford fans aren't happy with him. I don't know how much game time he's had, but I saw someone say, "I can't believe we've got the only lad from Wigan never to have touched a rugby ball".

That said, it was on Twitter, so I shouldn't trust it too much.

I think the club have accurately assessed what his value is, as one of the three or four best Wigan players of the past decade, and have offered him that. Even Sam said it was a higher offer than he was expecting.

What I don't understand though, is Sam's insistence on going now, rather than in a few years time, when he could still afford the lifestyle while still having chance of more medals, perhaps even another MoS.
I don't think the club should have done any more than they have, to try and keep him.

So when do we get the counteractive positive news story and when can we officially call him ratboy? Not that I would BTW.

I suppose the question really is whether they don't to pay that kind of money, or don't want to pay that kind of money for S.Tomkins. I can definitely understand wanting to pay him less, given his age and the amount of time he has spent out injured/off form. They may be willing to pay more for a younger/better player with a better injury record.

I can see our back line next season being

1. Escare
2. Burgess
3. Gildart
4. Hardaker
5. Marshall
6. Williams
7. Powell

9. Ganson (TL bench back up)

I honestly don’t believe SW will switch Powell from 7 to hooker. Nor do I see Sarginson seriously contending for a centre spot.

For me personally I’d have Hardaker at FB and as already been mentioned a marquee #7 but also a new centre in place of Sarginson. Escare to continue as utility from the bench or 18th man.

Signing announced by Catalan

Here’s a quote from ‘homesick’ Tomkins when he left NZ ......

“ I never expected I would miss England and the comforts of home but it took an off-season trip back to Wigan for me to realise this is where I wanted to be “

I’ve lost all respect for this fellow