No idea whats going on with this partnership thing but I've never been convinced Joel would do well in union. To be blunt, I'm not sure he's smart enough to be able to adapt. He'll be solid at best but with such big money involved I can only see him being labelled as a disappointment.

apparently a 1 year extension with a guarantee that he will be at wigan for atleast 3 more seasons, with him also becoming the highest paid rl player in the country.

cant help but think this partnership could see the likes of sam or other players being loaned out by saracens in our off season perhaps to get a taste of it..... if they arent on international duty that is.... and vice versa.....otherwise i don't really see any point in a partnership with a union club.

Whats the point of signing any extension, its WORTHLESS anyway

Sams signed an extention till 2016 to become the highest paid player in rugby league apparently.

I think a potential partnership as is being suggested is an excellent idea. It basically means that we have one of our biggest threats in bed with us, and it may mean we can ring fence our top juniors and may mean we can protect them from further raids.

In relation to Joel, best of luck to him, I think he may struggle in certain aspects of the game but, if used correctly as a crash ball inside centre I think he will go pretty well.

Great that will make what difference exactly?

What exactly are Wigan getting from this " Partnership " Mr Chairman.

And I've explained it to you.

Any damages would be paid in respect of Wigan's actual losses (not some imaginary figures dreamt up by upset RL fans who think there is an abstract "value" they can't point to). The losses would be (relatively) small because even if Wigan have to pay 50% more than they are paying Joel to get a replacement for him, that additional cost isn't going to be much over 4 years (if you assume an extra £40k given that Joel is supposed to be on £80k, that equates to £160k over 4 years, hence my saying that Wigan would do well to get more than £200k).

As for the SC, the point is that it keeps RL players' wages down. If RL players are cheap to hire, the damages for them breaching their contracts will be low.

And just because RU pays its players more than RL, you can't use the "value" argument to claim bigger damages from Sarries - damages would be payable to Wigan for it's losses. If there is upside for Sarries in that they are getting a bargain (because they'd have to pay an enormous transfer fee to an RU club for a player of his quality) then that is irrelevant to the question of damages.

IL could have called his/their bluff. If he had have done so Joel could have immediately signed a contract with Sarries, with Sarries putting in an offer to settle for say £250k (on the basis that if the offer is not accepted Sarries would be entitled to their costs from the date of the making of the offer - see my earlier post on this). What would Wigan have done then? They'd have had to take up the offer, I suspect, unless IL wanted to fund a defiant and expensive gesture.

Anyobdy Joels age would have done the same, he's now a millionaire

Still nothing on our website, yet it's everywhere else...

Quote ="Salopian Warrior"A partnership ...............??? www.saracens.com/news/view.php?Id=6615'" My 1st impression is that this is a Bloody disgrace!!!!!!!! IFL should provide a full explanation on the benefits to Wigan RL

Quote ="Salopian Warrior"A partnership ...............??? www.saracens.com/news/view.php?Id=6615'" My 1st impression is that this is a Bloody disgrace!!!!!!!! IFL should provide a full explanation on the benefits to Wigan RL

I wouldn't go that far!

Are we now officially a Sarries feeder club?

I imagine the partnership deal will involve us taking some of their forwards who aren't big enough to make it union and they will take our best backs (and fast forwards like Joel who can play in their back division).

If that's the plan, it doesn't sound a good deal to me, but then IL has said publicly that he isn't worried about RU and thinks Wigan are in a better position than RU clubs, so we must all be missing something....

Why? Of course he is, he'll get huge sponsorship deals and 5x the wage he was on. Blame the Salary cap people, impossible for him to turn this move down, he'd be stupid not to.

this IL your all having a pop at?
is this the same guy who was the Messiah not long ago?

give him some trust...then have a go if he gets it wrong.

good luck Joel...you gave us lots of memories....i predict an england shirt in the near future

Well I'm not convinced he'll be bringing in seven figures until he actually makes a name for himself in the game and I personally don't think he will.

As for the partnership, I think we need to look beyond potential player exchanges here. I'm sure there are other areas in which the two clubs can collabarate in.

Do we still hold his RL registration ?

id certainly hope so

Have we got a definitive figure on the fee we've received for Joel?

Not having a pop, just asking a question, at the moment I can not see any benefit.

The signing on fee wont be far off seven figures.

Wigan's lack of communication is once again embarrassing.

interviews with IL,Wane and Sam soon on sky sports news.

Now on the official site. But nothing new that we haven't already heard. www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.a ... &type=news It's very slow.

Now on the official site. But nothing new that we haven't already heard. www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.a ... &type=news It's very slow.

Given Sam's vocal commitment to Wigan, along with his improved contract, I can see it being an awkward Christmas in the Tomkins household this year!