He's turned into a reasonable SL standard player, so no I don't regret the club letting him go. I think Robinson is a far better player and I'd like to see him at the side of Sam.

I couldn't tell you. To be honest I was watching Wigan from a distance during that time mainly on Sky and just remembered an outstanding performance from Brown and most of the team that day. However I don't think the pressure heaped on him helped or that it was a good time to be a promising youngster at the Wigan club.

Some very interesting comments/ views.

This is a question that regularly pops up: "Aren't you sorry you let such and such a person go?" The answer in some cases is 'yes', and in some cases it's 'no'.

But the reality is that, when you see someone like Kevin Brown fulfilling his potential elsewhere, you finally begin to realise how badly the club was being run a few years ago.

For a while during that period, I tried to defend Wigan's record of releasing youngsters. I still think that quite a few of them were nothing special, and would not be in the Wigan first team now even if they'd stayed, but there was a definite policy at that time of paying the kids so little that they got cheesed off and left. And, in retrospect, that could never have been a good thing. When Maurice was brought back to Wigan by Whelan I hailed it as the second coming, but in reality I don't think Maurice really wanted the job. He was not the dynamic chairman that he'd been in the mid-80s, and after the salary cap was imposed, neither he nor Whelan seemed to have a Plan B. A friend of mine in the press told me how he'd regularly try to contact the club around then, and there'd be no-one to receive his calls or return them. Whelan was putting all his energies into Latics, and the RL club, which it had been presumed would look after itself, was like a ship without a rudder.

It got so bad, especially compared to how the club is being run now, that when people say things like "aren't you sorry you let this lad go?", I feel no shame or sense of responsibility about it, even if I might have pretended that I didn't care at the time. It was such a different Wigan club then that it feels like we now support someone else entirely.

Sadly i dont have a source right at the top anymore i have to get my info from further down the picking order now.

He could become the best player in super league but I will never regret Wigan letting him go.

The day he left was a celebration and on par with Denis Moran

Its the same with Denis Moran - yes he didnt set the world alight at wigan and it was right that he left for the good of the club and the player- but he was asked to do a job which was not his natural game and not what he was good at. I think this is stated in Rads book. Like taking Sam and asking him to do things that arent his natural game i.e. asking him not to run at defenders, then he wouldnt look as good as he is.

Although difference with Denis Moran is that he wasn't a Wigan standard player and probably should not have been bought in the first place. And I think he would probably agree that coming to Wigan and leaving Quins did us or him any favours.

Out of all the players who we let go there is only Briscoe i would have tried to re-sign. That was until this season as we have the best 1-5 out of all the super league clubs IMO.

What about Gilmour?
No takers on Long

I would have gone for Long 10 years ago but not now. We have better players than Gilmour now and have been blessed with back rowers such as Hock, Joel, etc. Lee could play centre but his lack of ability to pass prove he is a second rower.

I just found it a bit bizarre you were suggesting Brown would have been better coming through when Noble was here given Noble's record with blooding the younger players into the first team. If Brown had not been in Noble's favoured first 17 he would IMO have been a bit part player and you know as well as I do that would have been the most likely outcome.

Change the coaches name from Noble to Maguire in your previous post and I would agree with you.

Dave

I don't think that is an unreasonable comment. Lee Mossop hinted at signs of frustration with Brian Noble last season through his comments in the match programme.

Darrell Goulding also apparently wanted to leave.

Dave,
So you don't think that Noble has had a big influence on the Tomkins bros, Mossop, McIlorum, Hansen etc.

Course not, Noble only played them whenever he had to don't you know?

Noble would have rather played Phil Vievers at fullback than Josh Vievers last year.

I can't speak for all the above players, but Lee Mossop in last weeks programme seemed to hint at having some frustration with Noble last season at not being given a shot:

" I was playing Under 21's every week, Nobby wasn't giving me a shot, and so going there - where no-one knew me - really gave me a kick up the backside. Nathan Brown, their coach, is a good coach and quite similar to Madge ".

Now when did Mossop eventually get given a game... Ahh, when Noble's hands were forced due to injuries and he recalled him back from Huddersfield. I found it staggering that Mossop was getting a game at a club that was in a higher position than us.

I don't know why you bother. Can't see the wood for the trees springs to mind.

To true Woody, I suppose we was lucky enough to hear what Noble had to say about the youngsters at the World Cup in 2008 and the plans that he had for them, saying he would give them chances but obviously not going to be playing every week as that's why we ruined Kev Brown when at Wigan but we had no choice then sadly as we had lost too many experienced players.

Apart from Hansen, who was already established in the side well before Noble arrived, I'd say he held back their development by at least a year or two, and it would have been longer barring injuries/suspensions of senior players.

One thing that pleases me about Madge is his willingness to drop (or rest) senior players and give the fringe players a chance, something that never ever happened under Noble, who would always pick his favourite 17 irrespective of form, unless forced by injuries.

Who did noble hold back? He played Sam in a number of games even before Smith went home. I've proven many a time that he also started more games than Smith even when he was here with Smith on the bench.

He certainly held both Joel and Hansen back.

Joel started last season in pole position for a starting spot IMO. In the previous season he'd finally gotten his chance via injury and ended up our star forward. Top of the try pile out of the forwards at Wigan and runner up in the young player of the year award. He'd been that impressive many on here said he should have kept his 13 spot at the start of last season. Fair enough replacing Lockers, the captain at the time, was a big ask but he at least should have replaced Bailey. Not for Noble tho......

Harrison Hansen is a similar story. Went into last season off the back of a good run in the previous season. Top tackler and in form but again he couldn't shift Bailey.

Granted Hock was here then so both couldn't move into the starting spots but one at least should have been given the starting role they deserve.

It's one of the first things Madge did and I'd argue both Joel and Hansen weren't as good last season as they were the previous?

Don't even start me on the farce he made with Ainscough as well. If a player is form say scorring four tries then he shouldn't be dropped the next week.

Noble doesn't trust kids simple as.

Ask Harrison Hansen if he thinks Noble held him back.

Or ask Harrisons dad.

If you are in the Willows pre match tomorrow, come and see me and I'll let you ask him.

What has the coaching staff done this year though with Ainscough? Sent him out on loan? That can't give the player too much confidence when he know's even though that players are injured he still can't get a game for Wigan. I'm not saying Madge is doing wrong but Ainscough clearly had defensive issues, if Noble had of sent Ainscough out on loan the anti Noble crew would have gone up big time. You can try and defend him all you like but he's making the same mistakes in defence that he's been making since playing the u18's and then the u21's. Even Cas fans are reporting on his defensive issues, he might be in a poor team but that doesn't stop him from making the "same" errors that he was making for Wigan.

Ok what about Joel then?

So Harrison Hansen respects Noble and doesn't think he held him back that's fair enough. At the end of the day tho Noble didn't back him into a starting spot tho did he? He still picked Bailey over him which is something Madge had done?

I honestly don't think Noble pushed them a far as he could have.

Do you think he did?