I agree.

Anyone know the latest about Fielden ?

The front row has been my one big worry for us this season.

I heard on Saturday from a fairly reliable scource that Luaiki has signed for Widnes.
A lucky escape perhaps!

I don't think it's a loss myself. Much like Farrell, however talented he is, he's too small for his position.

We already have a small pack, so losing O'Carroll doesn't bother me. He's a solid prop, if he can stay healthy, but he's never going to tear up trees at his size.

Farrell is a better quality player and you do get some very good back rowers of his size; Cassidy, Dwyer, Forshaw

Well if what we could offer him was reduced because we have signed Lauaki that would not surprise me.

Please dont get my hopes up like that

I can almost write the response myself to me suggesting this isn't a smart move. Fortunately I am not alone with this one.

Can't see how we could possibly give him a new deal when he's played one game in a year and a half. Its unfortunate but thats sport, injuries can play their part. You simply can't be kept on reputation with no games to back it up I'm afraid. I wish him the best of luck at Hull and for the rest of his career and hopefully he's seen the end of his rotten luck with injuries. I for one will give him a clap when he's back at the DW next season.

As for Lauaki, I'm not particularly impressed from what I've seen of him but you never know coming to a top side may bring the best out of him if he's surrounded by quality players. If Madge was still in control next year I'd be a bit more confident to be honest but I'll reserve judgement until I have seen him in the cherry and white shirt.

Well ill be disapointed to see him leave but if we replace quality players like him with better ones then i will have no complaints.

However if he can manage to stay injury free then Hull have made a shrewd signing. He punches above his weight for his size and is a good person to have around the club, his commitment to community work over the years whilst at Wigan has not gone unoticed and neither has his performances on the field.

I wouldnt of been suprised had he made the bench against Warrington following his perfromance against Bradford.

Not to disappointed to see him go. I always felt he'd struggle to step up and be a first choice prop.

As for all the other rumored signings, I'm not going to comment until anything's official. At the moment there only rumors, with some being good and some not so good.

I think this thread says alot about the state of the game! There isn't a great deal of quality over overseas players available or willing to come to SL! There is even less talent available or willing to move in SL.

Wigans recruitment last year was very impressive, this year all the genuine NRL quality is staying put and those looking to be exported have deals done. It will be interesting to see who's going where in the next few months.

Indeed, I'll wait 'til signings are announced before I start complaining about them

I honestly think Lauaki would go really well at a club like Wigan, I've said it before. At Hull he has been used as a battering ram coming off the bench but he has so much more to offer. He has great footwork, he's very good with ball in hand and he's aggressive. Used on the edges I think he'd be a very dangerous player, similar to Manu, however he hasnt really had the chance at Hull because our back row is probably the strongest area of our squad. Personally I'd be disappointed to see him leave Hull because I think under the right coach he could be a brilliant player, we shall see.

I think that would almost certainly be the case if IL hadn't taken over.

www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.a ... 416&type=1 H'mm so we did offer him a deal but he turned us down presumably because of a longer and more financial rewarding deal at Hull FC. If he wanted to stay the option was there, particularly when Wigan had stuck with him through thick and thin, searching the globe for a surgeon to get him right.

www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.a ... 416&type=1 H'mm so we did offer him a deal but he turned us down presumably because of a longer and more financial rewarding deal at Hull FC. If he wanted to stay the option was there, particularly when Wigan had stuck with him through thick and thin, searching the globe for a surgeon to get him right.

Not much loyalty returned there, then.

but what did wigan offer?

I would guess that Wigan only offered him a 1 year deal and perhaps not much of a wage considering how injury prone he has been and how likely it was that he'd end up getting regular first team rugby.
Hull probably decided it was worth the risk to give him a longer contract and a bit more money and just hope that he is free from injury. I don't think offering him a long term deal or a pay rise would have made much sense from a Wigan point of view. Just a guess though.

So our props for next year as it stands are

1. Stuart Fielden
2. Lee Mossop
3. Paul Prescott
4. Jeff Lima
5. Dom Crosby

Second Rowers

1. Harrison Hansen
2. Gareth Hock
3. Liam Farrell
4. Chris Tuson
5. Jack Hughes

I'd say a second rower and a prop are definately needed for next year. A prop to cover the issues surrounding Fieldens fitness, we should have taken O'Hara from Crusaders when he was available, he would have been like for like with coley, brings bags of experience.

I hope we've got an announcement lined up somewhere because our rumoured recruitment doesn't suggest trophies to me!

Fantastic attitude but sadly physically limited in both stature and injury history.

Hope he goes on to have a solid injury free career, God only knows he deserves it, sadly at Hull I feel he may slip away into obscurity, but in truth that was likely to happen at Wigan given the limited first team opportunities he has and looked likely to get in the future.

In relation to Lauaki, he has so much more potential than O'Carroll ever did/has. I feel he will be used as a backrow forward and bring real punch into the side. We are not blessed with the biggest backrow forwards next yeat and he certainly bulks it up significantly.

Hock in my opinion will directly replace Coley. In the time he has been back he has looked far more effective in the middle than outwide.

We also look to have brought in some real size in the apparent signings of Dudson and Flower. Wane will have had some say in these signings and retentions, and I trust him more than most to cast a critical eye over the forwards that are available and come up with the right calls.

Within 4 games i would not be surprised to see Lauaki become a fans favourite, he has all the attributes of a crowd pleaser, IF we can use him aright and get the best out of him mentally and physically.

Look where Jeff Lima came from relative obscurity in France after a very average career, and in the right environment has become the cornerstone of 2 champion teams.

True and i find it difficult to blame the player because we don't know for certain what he was offered by Wigan - like you say it could of been a 1 year deal - either way every player needs some security and a 3 year deal at Hull provides that.

Wonder if Hull have a new coach lined up yet?

I would guess Hock will play more frontrow covering the second row as required.

Lauaki will play the secondrow, covering the frontrow as required, both Dudson and Flower can cover both front and backrow, although long term i feel both will be frontrowers.

Thomas gives us emergency cover in the pack and also at centre, allowing Joel to also cover the backrow.

Basically we have a plethora of options across the park if the rumoured signings come to fruition.

Our recruitment strategy at the moment does seem a little risky but our hand has been somewhat forced by the quality of what is on the market, and players retiring/taking up contracts elsewhere.

We have had in my opinion thus far to target potential over quality, the important thing is that we tap into that potential very quickly and our ability to do that could decide our fate next year and beyond.

I think you've hit the nail on the head Jon. If we can get these new signings to fulfill their potential, alongside some of the great youngsters we have who are also showing such potential, like Mellor and King. Then we've got a great future ahead. As already stated numerous times already, we'd ideally like a top quality centre, but the fact is none are available or viable.

Lauaki, Dudson, Flower and Thomas?

It should be Leigh fan talking about where they fit in next season not a Wigan fan!



There is no compulsion to sign anyone nor was there a reason to be unable to match Hull's deal for O'Carroll until we seemingly started signing dross and paying them wages we could have used for O'Carroll. Fielden and O'Carroll next year would have meant no need for any of the above front rowers in 2012.



Wigan have always had a knack with players who looked good elsewhere of turning them into very good players but there has to be something there in the first place and to expect it to work out with so many average and one totally past it player is worse odds than Euromillions. If we really have signed those four the recruitment is woeful and will do nothing to help season ticket sales maintain their current level never mind increase.