The 4 new Aussies (I'm including Field here) have less than 100 first team appearances coming into a young and unbalanced squad.
History tells us that the majority imports don't really work out that well so let's be generous and say 2 are a success.
If Miski can catch a ball he will be a success with the games current measurement. If he can take the ball in for each set as well he will be a great success. If scores more than 10 tries we will look to name a stand after him.
If Ellis can keep hold of the ball, play 40 minutes and be tough he will be deemed a success.

Our expectations and aspirations are truly laughable.
On paper and I except that its on paper there is no improvement and not a dot of stardust to assist in putting bums on seats.

Thornley was at Leyth for a reason. Nobody else wanted him. Wane got shut of him once so i can only assume that KR signed before the penny dropped that Lam was useless and he needed to sort things out on the coaching side.

I think that there other changes potentially in the pipeline.
Will Field stay? Has he gone? A very hard situation for the lad and the injury just about topped things off. We havent got a clue if he is any good. Jeeze we dont even know his best position
If he goes it wouldn't surprise me to see TL doing another year. He's been a great clubman but woefully past his sell by date.

It looks like Hardaker will go and presumably swapped for Miller. Leeds did a job last on Hardaker and any team can replicate so if he goes I wouldn't lose much sleep. Don't know what to say about Miller other than uninspiring.

I think Clark has another year on his contract? Who in their right mind will match his current terms?

I think we will see other changes with the young guys. Wouldn't surprise if Shorrocks goes - not sure if im that bothered but I think somewhere within the lad there could be a decent rugby player.

Not wanting Peet on my is totally illogical on my part and I except that. I just don't want a repeat of 2016 and 2017 were I gave away my season ticket mid season because of the appalling "rugby". With Wane in tandem I can see the siege mentality where fans are almost scorned and it's all about the lads.

Sorry for the negative and scornful comments but the club are in the shoite (excluding monetary issues) due to inadequate and woeful senior management decisions where even a blindman could see things deteriorating from a mile off.

The ‘going rate’ for the young players nowadays must be unbelievable. It all just doesn’t make sense. I can’t help be sceptical about the 73k comment tbh. It would actually make me feel better if they are pulling the wool because if not, well jeez, who has been negotiating these deals?!

Give him his due though he did resolve our goalkicking issue. Summat to put on his CV

I can’t sit here and say I’m buzzing with the signings myself mate but I just can’t see that we’re weaker. Will it be enough? Probably not. Do we want bigger/better signings? Absolutely. Are we stronger? We have to be IMO based simply on the fact that other than Hastings, the other exits won’t be felt in the slightest based on this season. In fact if most had left prior to this season, I doubt we’d have noticed the difference.

Having extra bodies shouldn’t be a yard stick for judging the quality of your squad/team but with French and Field thrown in the mix, there’s no way we can be weaker. The place needs a shake up and I hope Peat (with help from Wane) can bring that. I’m prepared to give him a shot, as I did with Lam. I’d have pulled the trigger on Lam after 6 months and I may well be sat here in July next year saying it’s time for Peat to go but he deserves people’s support from day one. Very much like the signings, he can’t be any worse than the guy he’s replacing.

Having lost another semi final and been nilled again without looking like scoring, he said he couldn't have asked for anything more from us.

He was in the land of delusion again on Wigan TV saying its a game of fine margins as Harry Smith would have scored before Leeds' try if he'd caught Bateman's pass. In reality even if he'd caught the ball he'd have been instantly clobbered.

It was right in front of us and there’s no way he’d have got over. I was sort of hoping Lam would just come out last night and front up for the mess of this season but it was the same old deluded story. I was just glad he had the sense not to come round to the fans with the players. I have far too much respect for Lammy the player to have given him any stick but he’d have got the rounds of the kitchen from many fans. It would’ve left a sour taste because I’ll personally just try and remember his playing stint, when he was superb.

Sad ending to Lam's career with Wigan but he's done to us what Cunningham would've done to Saints if McManus hadn't seen sense and pulled the trigger, statue outside the ground or not.
Safe to say we're in a far worse state than when McGuire took over, turning things around is going to take some doing.

Agree with that but there is one silver lining and that is just how abysmal superleague is at the minute. Leeds were dire last night for starters. Saints are the top dogs but as much as anything that is because they’ve been able to actually go backwards from Holbrooks spell but the rest of the teams refuse to improve. That Catalans team is nothing special and Wire are Wire. Cas have gone backwards, Hull are just drifting and HKR have shown that you can get a play off spot via a good coach and a few journeymen but I doubt they’ll be trotting out at Old Trafford anytime soon. The rest are much of a muchness and we’ve been able to beat them even playing like this and that says everything.

The games on its backside, which isn’t good but it won’t take much to turn things round IMO. One or two really savvy decisions and you’re back in business.

The issue I have with Peet is it completely misses the point of what we are trying to achieve. Strategically it makes no sense whatsoever. If we were currently a steady ship, flying high at the top of the table and winning things, an appointment from within, to essentially continue current set ups and cultures etc is a great appointment. Its exactly why Wane made sense at the time of Maguire leaving, despite him gradually eroding that IMO (but that's another story).

What the club desperately need now is change. New thinking, new ideas and approaches, not only to get us performing but to get bums back on seats and ensure that the club doesn't continue to drift into steady decline. Last night there was approx 5.5k home fans on (that's wigan latics territory and we all saw what happened to them...it simply isn't a sustainable fanbase).

If we appoint peet, there is nothing new. No real change, no real impetus, just a continuation of what we have been doing - poorly. Even with wane coming back in a consultant type role, he'll only bring grit and determination....that's not really been our issue. Peet is also likely to knock a couple of thousand off our average gates as people will see the apathy and become apathetic themselves. I honestly think the difference between peet and an exciting coaching appointment is around 4-5k on average gates (2-3k either way). How many people have already said they'll give up going next season if its peet, or are holding back on ST renewals because of it?!

So for me its a stark choice of change vs same old same old.
Yes change might cost more than essentially over promoting peet, but its shortsighted in the extreme....it not only impacts where we will be on the field, but where we will also be off it...realistically i would estimate the difference in revenue through the turnstile is north of £1 million quid across the season, comparing those two options. (Average 4k x 13 games x £20 plus per ticket)
....A big coaching appointment is a no brainer for me as it ensures we get the change we need but also effectively pays for itself.

I’m with you on the fact Peet wouldn’t have been my choice either and I’ve said before, I felt we needed a new broom sweeping through, with a new man coming in and bringing in his assistants and helping choose his players but Lenagan just won’t do that, so in that case what can we do? It’s not Peets fault and he may well have an ability to implement his own ideas and change the way we play but I get it’s the sort of appointment you usually make to keep a steady ship ticking over.

All roads lead back to cost IMO. I see Shaun Edwards came out and reiterated his point that the club had made no efforts to speak to the back room staff he asked for, a full 4 months after he’d accepted the job. We can believe who we want but the points at the forum about the costs of having a clean sweep of staff would add weight to Edwards points.

Ultimately it’s Lenagans money and he can do as he pleases. He’s propping the club up and seems to have decided to try and limit the losses by cutting costs. That is a poor strategy IMO because it’ll drive more people away but he tried throwing money at it by bringing in George Burgess, Hastings, French etc and got burned by a few factors, including injury and than a global pandemic. I do have some sympathy for the situation he finds himself in.

I would rather Peet have taken over from Wane than Lam, I dont see how you can promote from within after the last 3 seasons, in fact I cant see how any of the coaches can keep their jobs after the last 3 seasons

Apologies. it looks like I'm following you around





You really don't think our defence coach deserves a chance? That's the thing that's kept us in the top 6. Only 2 teams with better defence than us despite our injury issues.

no I dont, ive a friend who worked with Wigans academy last year (maybe year before cant remember with covid) before moving to Leigh who has said he thinks Peet will do well as he is proper strict and wont put up with any nonsense, that didnt change my mind as I feel the backroom as a whole have let us down

This is true, but Peet needs to learn his trade and make mistakes at a lesser club rather than ours.

As pointed out on another thread he’s an assistant just as Wane, Mags, Holbrook, Bellamy and a whole raft of other coaches were. It is an unarguable fact that every Head Coach is promoted from assistant coach to that or another club. You’re talking of wanting him to get experienced and be experienced but you have no clue as to what he does or how good he is at our club right now. Neither of us hold a crystal ball and can say either way what’s going to happen - but even if we somehow did a modern miracle and brought in Bellamy, there’s no guarantee it works out. Every appointment is a risk, some higher than others.

He wouldn’t have been my choice admittedly but we’ve got to get behind him and support his tenure right up until we don’t. He deserves that at least.

The reason he has been picked is the same reason the likes of Martin McLoughlin was given the role of Marketing Director. Another internal appointment thats smacks of lack of imagination and lack of talent identification and more jobs for the boys which didn't pay off. Is IL and KR scared to death they'll get some chancer from the outside so would rather give the job to someone they already see every day no matter how good they are?

If we were riding high then it wouldn't be that bad to appoint an internal candidate but we are not, we need rebuilding. I'm not having a former coach of Wigan youth has earned their stripes because anyone could coach Wigan academy and be successful because of the players in the set up.

I want a coach appointed who gets the zing back, who can bring back my want to watch Wigan, and appointing Peet would be more nepotism at the club.

It won't matter you anyway post so I don't know why you're so angry about it

I have been watching Wigan since 1961 and in all that time I have never missed watching a live game during the season. Even when we were bad in the 70’s and early 80’s I travelled all over to watch them. I was at the first game against Fulham, watched them play in France and twice in Australia. But this season is a first for me. I haven’t been to a single game. For a while I was a little concerned about being in the vulnerable age group for covid but latterly I was just uninspired by the total lack of imagination in attack. I listen to Cooper Cronk a lot and he waxes lyrical about the half back’s prime job of taking on the line and that a good half back creates three options when he gets to the line. I haven’t seen that all season from either Smith or Hastings and that, for me, is down to coaching.

Like almost everyone else I am uninspired by the signings for next season and the rumoured coaching promotion of Matty Peet. But unlike others I am prepared to give them a chance. And who knows, if our attack improves even marginally we may start to look attractive again and I will be back watching live. I really do hope so because 2022 has a ring of last chance saloon about it.

And you know Peet won’t do that how? Because he’s coached a team that, in your opinion doesn’t need coaching? Come off it man.

Equally I don’t know if he will be a success. But I’m willing to give him a chance and support his reign. Not write it off before it’s even been officially announced like some who last I heard had no desire to watch Wigan again. So with that in mind, why do you care?

Over the season, some supporters have called Lam rotten for being a Coach with no previous experience as a top Coach, but now want to replace him with someone who also has no real experience has a top experienced Coach and has been part of the same coaching team under Lam.

Talk about jumping from the frying pan into the fire!

No. They've called him rotten for being a coach.

And no doubt, many other Coaches would have been the same with the squad we now have at the club, especially during the last season when due to injuries, some long term, more than normal suspensions and a squad of only around a couple of dozen players due to the terrible financial situation of the club.

You can not make a silk purse out of a sow's ear!

Lam has had a couple of unusual circumstances (Edwards/Covid) to deal with

The same squad that in all 3 years were tipped by most to finish top 2/3 in their predictions
A squad that has got numerous internationals/man of steel winners/ multiple GF, CC and WCC winners.
A squad that despite what you say above has as much if not more depth than most clubs in SL

Injuries - seem unfortunate, some hes managed their game time terribly
Suspensions - Some really stupid ones, my take is the players were becoming increasingly frustrated and ultimately, its his culture thatvhe installs that creates the discipline (or lack of).

I admire your defence of Lam despite the overwhelming evidence
3 years of progressively worse rugby which, IMO, left us looking at times amateurish in its style of play etc.
Baffling statements in the press
Baffling team selections (I've said previously there's been multiple occasions it was know players weren't playing and he claimed it was a alst minute issue to defend/make excuses for poor results) and how hes dealt with certain players etc. Behindnthe scenes and the problems that created.
Constant failure (apart from a 5/6 game spell end of 2020) to compete and/or win big games/semi finals etc.
10 half decent/good performances in what? A hundred or more matches, simply nowhere near good enough

I could go on, but won't, because your not interested in facts. You just want to blame it all on IL and Rads and be controversial (When IL and Rads have had a Hundred times more on their plates than Lam, but you don't afford them the luxury of your empathy).
I look forward to you accusing me of bullying you, being part of some clique, having a go at you or anyone else who has different opinions when in reality its you who is the one who cries loudest and longest about other peoples opinions when they dont match your own.

There’s no excuse for the poor rugby played or the bizarre selections and post/pre match comments. He should have gone after his first season, the signs were there and I called it back then.

If he needs a lift to the airport I’ll happily oblige.