To suggest Tomkins or Hock are anywere near the level of Ellis is crazy. Ellis was better than Hock even before Hock was suspended so id say hes fields ahead now, Joel still has alot to prove also. Hes been far from spectacular the second half of this year IMO.

**S**

Young Ryan King has just been given a new 3 year contract . one for the future i recon

If both were given a shot in the NRL I believe both would surpass Gareth Ellis. I think they have far more attributes to their game than Gareth Ellis does.

Right now there's no debate. Of course Gareth Ellis is better than them both.

A slightly rose-tinted perspective if you ask me. Yes Joel's had a very good season this year but it's been peppered with several brainfarts that have sometimes been costly to the team. If he's going to be considered in the same class as Ellis he needs to cut them out. Hock was the same. He could go from the sublime to the ridiculous in seconds

That's excellent news, and yes, he is!

I think you are underestimating the skill factor of Ellis. I have seen him play centre, standoff and loose all to a very very good standard.

The main difference is that he has a much much better ability to pick a pass than Hock.

He has the meanest defence of any English player and consistently runs some outstanding lines.

I think that is the key word. I do not think Hock will ever be the player Ellis is, but Joel has the potential to IF he can continue to improve and mature whilst becoming more consistent.

Great post that Jonh. As I have highlighted I think that Joel can tick all of those boxes.
Coming through the ranks I have seen Joel perform well at centre , stand off and loose forward and he is not bad with the ball in hand either. He is also a great defender.
I personally love the fact that he is a real big , rough handfull and he will only get better.
I would actually compare him to the young Adrian Morley when he played in the second row at Leeds. Big, rough, quick and can play a bit even if the aggression sometimes goes a bit overboard.
It makes me laugh when some of our supporters criticise him for his aggression when they are also crying out for a " enforcer prop". Why can we not have an " enforcer second row"?
I know he needs to cut out the odd crazy penalty but I think he is developing nicely.
If he keeps it up and turns out like Morley did he will do for me.

Ryan King is a flying machine,as anyone (particularly the Bradford players) who was at the Carnegie nines will testify.
As Geoff says, superb news.

www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 5928590534 Interesting comment on Piggy riddells future here. Acording to this no Aussie clubs are willing to sign him, so he may have to retire? Cant beleive that.

www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 5928590534 Interesting comment on Piggy riddells future here. Acording to this no Aussie clubs are willing to sign him, so he may have to retire? Cant beleive that.

Forgive my ignorance, but where does he play?

The club must have a huge amount of faith in him giving him 3 years.

Apparently his knees are shot to the point that he's unable to fully participate in training in the week. He's said himself that he's unsure about his own future and he's just focused on getting to and winning the GF with Wigan

If thats true then i genuinely feel sorry for him.

Hopfully he will have enough cash in the bank for a rainy day.

Wing

Really? I thought he played rugby league, not union?

I made this point on another forum, one thing I would like Joel to continue to do, like he did at the start of the season, was to take defenders on down the outside. He's a massive lad, with a lovely fend, but what makes him so dangerous is his deceptive amount of pace. He scored/setup some brilliant tries earlier in the season when he took defenders on. He does have the aggression and strength to just power over defenders close to the line - see Hull KR try - but like I said he has pace, acceleration and a strong fend which makes him so dangerous on the outside, which I'd like to see more of. He is more than just a battering ram.

On the topic of Ryan King, a reliable poster on the other forum has said that Logan Tomkins, Sam Powell, Matt Russell, Jack Hughes, Dom Crosby and Jonny Molloy have all signed full-time too.

I'm sure he wont mind me quoting him:



A bit of an insight for those who don't follow the reserves.

If all of those lads have signed full time then the coaching staff must have every faith in them and IL equally must every faith in his coaching staff to give such young players f/t contracts.

I hope each one of them get at least one game in the first team next year as will be good for them and good for us fans to see the calibre of the lads coming through.

As a sub item, given the size of the Wigan squad next year none of these players will be covered by the salary cap. Our compliment of full time players next year will be massive. About time too. Well done IL, MM & SW!

I don't.

I very impressed with Ryan King, and it wasn't just his speed but his ability to break tackles that made him so dangerous in the 9's. However he looks quite short, maybe academy followers can answer the question of what he's like in defense particularly when under the highball?

Ryan king is now 5ft9 / maybe 5ft10. and as for under the high ball . He is solid as a rock.

Thnx James.

You don't need much for a brolly.

You will to cover his melon