This is a major issue with our club IMO - we're all guilty of being too critical and writing off players (such as Karl Pryce) before we've even seen them play under Maguire.

I hope your preview goes a long way into rectifying this.

Well he's got this year to either sink or swim. He couldn't now be in a better environment in which to discover good form, do well and he may be rewarded with a new contract (on dramatically reduced terms may I add).

Perform poorly and he may as well forget about a new contract. Either way he's got this year to prove himself.

I think the players will be of the same opinion as well , its also the first time that Stuart fielden as not been under BN instructions in both training and game plan.

Our only hope of a really vintage Fielden season is that he's been taking us for mugs for the last few years and really is only here for the money. If that was the case he'll have a huge year because he'll want a big contract for 2011 either here or at another club and he'll only get that with some big preformences.

In truth though it comes down to more then money. He's just lost that aura he had and teams don't fear him like they used to. I think that came from a couple of factors with the main one being the death of his mother. It must have been a tough time and it seemed to really set him back. He may well have recovered from that but then the Mason thing happened and people just weren't scared by him anymore and teams would target him at every opportunity.

I think what maybe we'be got to realise is the old Fielden won't come back but he's still a good prop forward and is an important part of the team. He had a shocking spell during the middle of last season but in the main he was pretty good and as i've said before he's still one of the better props in superleague. He used to be in and amougst guys like Graham, Peacock and Morley in terms of class but he isn't anymore and it's very doubtful he ever will be again.

I'd settle for a really solid seasons worth of preformences in the mould of how he finished last year. If he does that i'll be happy enough.

Has to go at the end of next season imo whether he has put in a barnstorming performance of if he's been kack, on too much money for the mediocre performances he has put in, let him go and replace him with a top quality prop from down under preferably a huge islander

The problem of Fielden preforming better next year is a double edged sword for him either way he is going to get stick .
If the new regime at the club get him to perform better and to be a physically more dominant player how much will be attributed to that in a positive way rather than he is only doing it for the money way .
If he does not improve he will get stick off the fans due to performances in his time at wigan and if does improve he will just get less stick i suppose .
I have been a critic of his in the past but i hope he puts that right next season so i will give him the benefit of the doubt .
Maybe i've found the scapegoat the pemps posted about .

I think his body language is more of someone that is frustrated by the amount of stick he receives from his own "supporters". He's said it numerous times in the past year, that one thing that doesn't motivate players, is your own fans getting on your back. And in a few RL magazines and interviews he's mentioned this.

Like Bilko said, this year its not just the club that needs to change, its the fans as well. We need to get behind all the players and encourage them more, not slate them everytime they do something wrong.

I think with Fielden when he was at Bradford he fought a lot more, and when he was fired up he put in his better performances. Since he's been at Wigan he's matured, but I think he's lost a bit of that fight. He always plays better when he's up for a bit of a battle with another prop. Hopefully with Wane coaching him, it'll help to get him motivated for the battle, without needing him to get in a fight to get the adrenalin going!

Fair enough, we'll have to agree to disagree. I think if you were to ask Leeds fans which props of ours would get into their team, I'd suspect they would only take Feka. Even then maybe not as they already have one luxury player in Lauitiiti.

I really don't believe that Fielden has been as poor as so many on here have said.

He's missed six games in three and a half seasons at Wigan, that's pretty durable for any player let alone a prop. I wonder how many other props have put in those games?

It will be interesting to see if the new regime can put that bit of "fight" back in him.

As a few have said we (the speccies) need to get behind each and every player and not look at a every small fault. It's as if some take great delight in a players failure.

I really don't understand all this "clean slate" stuff. Did people used to go to games thinking x,y, or z is sh*t so I'm going to get on his back all game?

Personally each game is a clean slate, I just go to the games to get behind the team and enjoy a game of rugby.

I'll still criticise players on here when I feel it's deserved but I'm not going to have this warped mindset that every one of our players has the ability to become a superstar just because we've got a new coach

Rogues you act like no player has been poor for us, and it's all of us supposed naysayers that are hindering players from performing.

As for him missing only six games that doesn't have any relation to how he's performed on the field, had he perhaps missed large parts of the season through injury then that may have been an excuse for him but that's not been the case. He in fact should have been running on full power with plenty of rhythm built up due to the fact that he's not been stuttering with injury's.

Fielden has quite simply not been to the standard that his wage portrays, however that's not to say I won't give him the benefit of the doubt under a new regime in which to find himself and regain some sort of his past glories.

It seems so it even got to the point of booing players names as they were called out before kick off sometimes , and as substitutions were made .
criticising a player for poor performances over a period of time maybe justified sometimes (im has guilty of it as anybody even, rogues on MH. ) but not to give a player a chance before the season gets going makes no sense to me ,Especially with all the positive things we are hearing around the club at the moment .

It is a massive year for Stuart Fielden this year with his contract up at the end of the year, it will most likely be his final one too. I don't think Stuart Fielden has been [ias bad[/i as perhaps he has been made out to be, but he has deteriorated from the player who arrived all guns blazing at the end of 2006 & 2007 - who used to throw a hissy fit every time he was taken off - to a player who knocks on in silly positions, gets smashed around the park & does not start games anymore. So subsequently, as a professional athlete (who sets high standards for himself) he will come under some flak from supporters. However, some of the stick he has received has been uncalled for from some supporters who practically boo him before he has recieved a pass or cheer when he has come off. Something that has happened to Karl Pryce and Richie Mathers which is absolutely ridiculous from 'supporters'. Some of the abuse (And I mean that) that has been aimed at our own players has been insane.

Stuart Fielden will be on a big salary and money will have played an important part of his decision to leave Bradford mid-way through the season - we should accept that. But I don't think that was his sole motivation. I think the challenge to do something new, be took out of your comfort zone and try to experience a new challenge was another factor in his move to Wigan. Something I think Stuart might have lost and hopefully with a new coaching regime he might find that desire again & challenge - something different. I think numerous factors have contributed to his not poor form, but not to the level he has been in previous years that saw him become a regular for England - for example I think he has lost weight since his arrival here. He doesn't look as big as he was when he first arrived & MaGuire has stressed that certain players need to bulk up as we are the lightest team in Super League. Is it any wonder we have struggled in the forwards due to the poor conditioning?

With the right fitness regime and a new challenging coaching setup I think we can look forward to seeing the 'old Stuart Fielden' that we all remember from his devastating days at Bradford. I agree with other posters that some players should be cut some slack & given a clean slate under a new management and fitness regime.

i agree with this to a certain extent. he got fired up against leeds and took the whole pack on and won. he made peacock look ordinary. we need to bottle that up and feed it to him b4 every game. if wane cant get this out of him no one will.

What? When was that?

1) I have been critical of players. I have not said that Fielden has been superb. What I have said is that he has not been as poor as many have said.
There is a big difference.

2) That is the big problem, people are judging Fielden on his wages, not his performance.

3) Who would you rather have had in your team for the last three years, Stuart Fielden or Jason Cayless, of course durability is a major factor.

Fielden is our best prop in defence.

See, this is a large part of the problem, with some players it's more the fans perceptions and viewing somebody through the lens of emotion and feeling rather than the actual performances they have put out. I'm just glad that coaches and players view hours of video tape rather than trying to analyse performances from memory.

A perfect example is the perception that Fielden 'gets smashed around the park' (sorry to quote cadoo there as he was making some valid and fair points), 'gets dominated in the tackle', and 'offers almost nothing going forward'. Now if this is the case regularly, then explain how in the blue hell he makes the metres and tackle busts that he does? Do we have some sort of matches that nobody ever sees that are somehow magically boosting his stats?

And before anybody has a go at the overall (over the course of a season) validity of statistics (which is absolute nonsense to do in the modern age when they are collected and analysed by professionals who are paid to produce impartial data), are they just selectively wrong (like some may feel for Fielden) and right in other cases (Like the same people may feel for Graham, Peacock or any other player who currently has fan respect)

I've even heard some people say that such and such a club has a 'world class' pack when mostly they have 1 great player in it, like Graham (and by their own fans admission last season he was having to do far too much on his own) or Peacock (who's not getting any younger at all, and the rest of their pack are not close to his standard), or Morley (who again isn't getting younger, and Carvell isn't close to his standard either).

Lets see how the pack performs as a unit next season, hopefully fitter, bulkier and stronger, then look where we're at. And for god's sake lets try and get behind all the players and try and bit a bit more impartial when we're looking at their performances (and keeping in mind that quality of defence is at least as important as barnstorming runs or crowd pleasing hits)

Without a fairer mindset, i'm positive that a section of our fans would now be bagging former players like Andy Platt and Neil Cowie, or saying how players such as Nathan Hindmarsh or Dallas Johnson were vastly overrated and offered nothing going forwards.

tbf tho thats only cos feka cant tackle

Fielden has a big year ahead of him, but Im confident with 12 months to go on his contract, not to mention a new coaching set up. We will see a big improvement in Stuart and if the euphoria around the place rubs off on all the other pack members then hopefully we will have a good year.

Fielden has been a great a player in his career, has he been disappointing in the cherry & white. I would have to say yes has anyone else bar Richards, Lockers, Barrett & S. Tomkins been impressive over the past 3 years???? I would have to say Fielden has just dropped down to the level the club has been playing at.

Not everyone has the ability to become superstars but every player in the squad has the ability to improve whether that be into a superstar like Sam can potentialy become or into a solid & hard grafting type player

I truly don't think that any player at Wigan is playing to their full potential i really don't.

At the end of the day we've brought in a new coach to improve the players and move the team on from what it's achieved in the past so i can't see any harm in the fans sharing IL vision that the players will get better.

In the days of the cap we have to judge players on value for money, Fielden does not provide value for money.

Getting value for money is crucial. I personally think Fielden is playing the role of the third supporting Prop yet he is paid World Class money, and there in is the problem.

Id agree with that.

Fielden is paid to be be our lead prop just like Mozza, Peacock and Graham are all paid handsomely by there respective clubs to be there leading man. The difference between those three and Fielden is at present there justifying there own high salaries.

Of course I'd rather have Fielden, but the point there is that Saints haven't missed Cayless as much as expected because of the work of there other props. Fielden on the other hand are best paid prop has been injury free all that time yet are pack hasn't performed better than the Saints pack. Could you honestly see Fielden pick up the slack like Graham has at Saints were Coley to get Injured?

You summed it up better than I ever could jon.

I just seem to mutter on.