From what started the season we will have lost Madge (with a good but inferior replacement) Hoffman, Coley, Probably Deacon, O'Carrol also with seemingly inferior and less replacements.

Next year we will lose Fielden, probably Finch and Luluai just as the salary cap is raised down under making it even more difficult to attract top quality quota players.

Much as I have faith in the youth system what I thought would be a period of dominance might be a false dawn.

Dont get me wrong we are currently in a great position but I would like to know more about how we intend to replace these players and build our future so that we dont have to wait 12 years for a GF win and 9 years for CC success.

Maybe ive just had a bad day at work!!!

Put your trust in Ian Lenegan, he hasn't done much wrong so far.

He's not exactly going to make potential signings known, but they won't be $h!t!

Regards the NRL salary cap, every SL club will be in the same boat, so coming out on top over the next 4 or 5 seasons may well depend on a clubs youth system and ours is up there with the best.

We're all doomed!!!!

In all seriousness, just because we haven't been told that there's anything happening, it doesn't mean that nothing is happening. All we have heard so far is rumour and conjecture to this point with regard to new signings. It wouldn't surprise me if Leneghan had an ace or two up his sleeve given the amount of cap room and number of quota spots we'll have available

But don't forget about Gareth Thomas. We'll be fine!!

This is very true. Better the players coming through the system the more it should benefit the teams who produce the most youth talent and turn it into quality in SL. Wigan, Saints and Leeds will benefit more through this than anyother sides in SL. The three clubs over the last decade has produced some great players and still are. I do think that we will see fewer players from the NRL coming for a pension in the SL. It wont completely stop but it will defenitley drop in numbers.

This will take effect inside the next 2 years and sides that need to replace ageing players will see them drop down the table quickly. Unless they can do what the 3 sides i mention can do.

In all seriousness, yes, i am worried.

The fact of loosing all that personel from the club DOES worry me.
Faith in IL but i am worried

We have a few things to sort out that's for sure and I am concerned about how our squad will look like next year, but more so the year after.

This year with the playing personnel that is leaving in Hoffman, Coley, O'carroll, Davies and soon to possibly Deacon with the rumoured Thomas, Flower, Dudson and Lauaki I can't believe anyone can possibly say we've improved the squad for next season - as it stands.

The year after if Joel Tomkins stays as a temporary centre we will need to find a replacement for George Carmont. We're on borrowed time when it comes to finding a replacement for him.

Brett Finch and Thomas Leuluai have both intimated openly in the press about possibly returning to the NRL. To lose both of those key players would be a massive loss. We'll have to have found a replacement for Paul Deacon next year (no idea as of yet where that will come from) then we will have to find another halfback to compliment that replacement. Then to lose Leuluai we'll need to find a new hooker! McIlorum has questions marks over his game and Logan Tomkins is nowhere near Leuluai's standard. No-one internally is. Do they have the potential to be?

Ian Lenagan has a tough couple of years ahead of him getting the squad right. If we could tie down Leuluai and Finch to long deals that would be superb. Overseas players who compliment the talented homegrown lads we have.

We need to be shrewd in the market. Hull FC signing Jamie Ellis. Warrington Wolves signing Chris Hill and Stefan Ratchford. Widnes Vikings signing Ben Davies. Other clubs are realising the importance of British players as the quota comes down and the salary cap in the NRL increases. We have one of the best (if not the best) junior system in the league. I hope we can find a centre/halfback/hooker from somewhere!

How can anybody talk about inferior replacements when we dont know who they are?



Players have come and gone forever at our club and every club. We have had and lost some of the best players to ever play rugby league and managed to move on. Its a difficult job but it happens for every club. Weve got the best collection of young players in the league imo so most clubs will be a lot worse off than us.

Well, O'Carroll & Davies have barely played, so as such they're not much of a loss. Hoffman, class though he is, I'm not too concerned about as we have plenty of options in the back row (though maybe one less if Hock doesn't sort himself out).

It's centre that concerns me - if JT is still at centre the year after next he can hardly be called a temporary centre, and he's there because we weren't in a position to replace Gleeson part way through the season. So far, I'm not convinced by Joel in that position, and as you rightly say, Carmont leaves in a year. However, if you, me & pretty much every other Wigan fan can see this, I'm sure IL & SW can as well, and I'd expect one of our big signings to be in this position.

Leuluai is tied into a long term contract, but unfortunately we all know that if a player wants to leave, he'll probably be allowed to - and he'd be a massive gap to fill in attack & defence. Finch has 2 years left (?) so again we don't necessarily have to worry. Either way, I've still got a lot more faith in the current regime to have back-up plans & continuity in mind than I have for a long time.

I have made this point on anther thread. Wane isn't going to be start with as good as squad as Madge had yet will be expected to do as well.



A lot can happen in a season so I am just concerned about the 2012 squad and coacing staff. Wane deserves a chance and has the Wigan ethos Madge took to a new level. I just hope he gets to choose his players and assistant and doesn't have them foisted in him whatever the supposed marketing or PR benefits.

What about the rivals, Warrington are set to lose Matt King and the squad is ageing.

I am not sure if Saints are going to be massively stronger next season.

Wigan are still at an advantage in terms of personnel the only danger is if Wane struggles to step up to the plate then Warrington will have the edge on having a top coach.

But Warrington's squad will be quite different in 2013 so if Wigan do go through a rocky season they just need to hang in there and can have a chance to move back in front in 2013.

Wigan have had a pretty good record in recent seasons in bringing the youngsters through to the first team squad:

2011 - Josh Charnley
2010 - Liam Farrell, Lee Mossop
2009 - Sam Tomkins
2008 - Joel Tomkins


Going into next season, we need to look at the new breed...those who are to elevate themselves into the first team. Favourites would be the lads who have been out on loan, Joe Mellor, Dom Crosby..etc. It wouldn't surprise me to see Mellor slot in where Deacon left.

Then next season we will send out others out on loan....Jack Murphy, Ryan King, Liam Carberry to get them to step up in preperation for the 2013 season in the first team squad.

And so it continues...! (Along with a decent import signing here and there).

But O'carroll and Ben Davies are two young talented British props with good potential - more Ben Davies than O'carroll. Young British props are a rare commodity.

I was very disappointed when I heard Ben Davies was leaving.



Both Leuluai and Finch are out of contract next season and both have intimated they may go back to the NRL. A big concern for me, but we have time on our hands to try and do something about it. I would love both to stay for another couple of years. Two fantastic players.



Agreed.

He needs game time next season, but he must be spelled because he hasn't matured physically and is very inexperienced.

The question of course is, if Paul Deacon retires, who do we spell him with?

Lets look at what we do have instead of what we dont.

The Tomkins Brothers, Sean O'Loughlin, Josh Charnley, Lee Mossop, Gaz Hock, Paul Prescott, Harrison Hansen, Liam Farrell, Joe Mellor, Dom Crosby, Jack Hughes, Chris Tuson, Darrell Goulding all of whom are going to be the backbone of our squads for years to come.

Consistently adding players like Richards, Leuluai, Hoffman, Finch, Lima and Carmont into the mix with the above and we will be just fine.

People were worried about losing Riddell, we replaced him with finch, worried about losing feka, we replaced him with lima etc etc.

Then we have people like Shaun Wane, Mark Bitcon, Kris Radlinski, Hampo, as the background staff. With Legends like Edwards and Farrell wanting to return in the future.

Then most importantly... we have Ian Lenegan.

We will be fine.

Good post. I'm with you.

Other clubs are in a far worse situation than us.
Saints are losing Graham, Eastmond & Pryce.
Leeds are all getting older by the day and they've re-signed Webb and taken on Moore for next year. They are in trouble.
Catalans are a threat but travelling is their undoing.
Hudds flatter to deceive. They have good players but their squad isn't good enough.
The main threat is Warrington who sign who they want and give everyone the impression they are breaking the salary cap on an Industrial Scale.
The biggest threat to other clubs though is the upcoming court test case with HMRC over image rights etc. If that is lost most clubs will be in a mess we can't even begin to contemplate. IL says our exposure to the threat is minimal.
If that case is lost we could well be one of the few clubs that survive intact.
Wigan have a great squad, the best U age set up in the game and an owner who has sorted out the clubs finances to the extent that we are making a profit year on year. It's others who need to worry about their future not us!
Wigan RL is in a great position to be in at the moment.

The current administration certainly seems to be on top of their game.

I understand people's concerns about the long silences we get from the club when it comes to recruitment, but that seems to be the way IL does it. He clearly doesn't like to make announcements until they're done and dusted.

I don't think he's got everything right at Wigan, by any means. But for me his professional reorganisation of the club was something we were crying out for while Mo and Whelan were running things. There were times, especially when we were fighting relegation, when I seriously wondered if Wigan RL had maybe come to the end of its natural life. Compared to that, everything feels very sturdy and secure at present.

Has there been any update on this since January?

arf arf

I think the proof is in the pudding and we certainly seem to have a club on a sound footing. Where it differs from the past is that it lives within it's means and doesn't have an owner who will fork out the odd £500K for a transfer. I am not saying IL should either but I do remember when his name was first mooted as new owner the fact he was a "rich bloke" was put forward as us being able to do just that as we did under DW. We don't and the club seems to be self financing which is good because he could get run over by a bus tomorrow.

What intrigues me is not how Wigan are financed these days but Wire. They have a star studded team yet the ground capacity is smaller than our average gate. Salary cap speculation aside it makes me wonder if they rely on their wealthy owner to make up the difference just as Wigan used to rely on DW.