www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... an-7269361

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... an-7269361

phew!!

Hm, won't open for me... whatsit say?

I aint going to NZ, Oz or Union. happy at Wigan and working hard to get back in the team.

So based on the same articles Sam wrote last year, around the same time, we can expect him to sign for someone by October.

All we need now is the dreaded "Vote of confidence"..

For everyone using this as an excuse to be cynical and saying "Sam said this last year", the fact is, he didn't. Sam basically said he was concentrating on Wigan and wouldn't be drawn on the speculation. It was known, rather than speculated, by this time last year that he was going, it just didn't get confirmed until late on in the season. Josh's statement is a lot more definitive than anything Sam said last year. www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... me-4304413 www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... ot-3156779

For everyone using this as an excuse to be cynical and saying "Sam said this last year", the fact is, he didn't. Sam basically said he was concentrating on Wigan and wouldn't be drawn on the speculation. It was known, rather than speculated, by this time last year that he was going, it just didn't get confirmed until late on in the season. Josh's statement is a lot more definitive than anything Sam said last year. www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... me-4304413 www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... ot-3156779

Quote ="WARRIORCRAIG"For everyone using this as an excuse to be cynical and saying "Sam said this last year", the fact is, he didn't. Sam basically said he was concentrating on Wigan and wouldn't be drawn on the speculation. It was known, rather than speculated, by this time last year that he was going, it just didn't get confirmed until late on in the season. Josh's statement is a lot more definitive than anything Sam said last year. www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... me-4304413 www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... ot-3156779'" I was going to post the same thing. All Sam said was I haven't signed for anyone which was probably true at the time.

Quote ="WARRIORCRAIG"For everyone using this as an excuse to be cynical and saying "Sam said this last year", the fact is, he didn't. Sam basically said he was concentrating on Wigan and wouldn't be drawn on the speculation. It was known, rather than speculated, by this time last year that he was going, it just didn't get confirmed until late on in the season. Josh's statement is a lot more definitive than anything Sam said last year. www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... me-4304413 www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... ot-3156779'" I was going to post the same thing. All Sam said was I haven't signed for anyone which was probably true at the time.

Thank god not because we couldn't cope with out him but because it actually shows we have some players committed to Wigan and the cause and goes against all the ITK rumour spreaders on this board.

I have it on very good authority ( A Steward on South Stand turnstile Friday

) that Salford have offered £250k for Charnley

I'm sure he can't bloody wait to play in the middle 8 play offs next year to keep Salford in Super League. He can always watch the finals on Sky sports! Seriously though, that article looks pretty conclusive to me. He isn't saying "I'm a Wigan player right now, and I haven't signed a contract for anyone else" or anything like that which still doesn't make him a liar if he leaves at the end of the season, he's literally telling us he's going nowhere, which I for one am very relieved about! Hopefully Taylor will come out with something similar now!

It does make you wonder how Wane is going to fit all 3 wingers into the team

I'd be absolutely delighted if we were given proof that Josh intends to stay.

But it becomes difficult to be reassured by a simple statement, when a) we've heard similar statements before, which proved to be misleading, and b) the original statements that started all this kerfuffle about Josh and Taylor allegedly came from the players' own agents, supposedly saying they intended to use the World Club Challenge to get their lads better deals elsewhere.

Now, I don't know if said agents ever actually made such comments in public (it wouldn't seem very discrete to me, even by the ham-fisted standards of sports agents). But these reports weren't denied at the time, if I recall.

I don't necessarily blame the players - it's been said before, and it's undeniable, that RL is a short career and you need to make the best of it. But likewise I don't see how Wigan fans can fail to be suspicious when they hear these kinds of stories. It's human nature.

Although Manfredi has acquitted himself reasonably, he hasn't pulled up any trees IMO. He lacks the killer pace and X-Factor of Burgess or the size and strength of Charnley at the moment. He is quite clearly 3rd choice but should expect a few games giving both Burgess and Charnley the the odd games rest.

Charnley was offered 200k a year by Salford plus sponsorships etc and apparently his agent went to Wigan and outlined that Josh wants to stay at Wigan but could we match the money (or somewhere close) on offer at Salford. Whether Wigan have done this I don't know. Think we should be doing what we can to keep him IMO

No way should we be held to ransom by any player or agent.
Wigan have a squad of top class players, and if they all demanded top dollar then we would break the salary cap before we were at No 10 on the team sheet.
Ian Lenagan will do the right thing.

What the heck is this being held to ransom rubbish?

Just imagine someone offering you twice your salary plus perks, what would you do? Most people would say thanks very much and jump ship immediately.

The players are professional sportsmen and deserve every penny they get.

IMO, Josh by being prepared to accept less from Wigan than he's been offered elsewhere, is showing how loyal to Wigan he is and should be applauded.

I've no problem with us paying top dollar for a player as good as Charnley. He is one of the top 5 wingers in the Super League and there is sod all chance of us being able to sign a replacement as good as him at any price as all the other candidates are all either playing for top SL teams or NRL teams.

As for us having a squad of top class players, not really true IMO. We have nine players who I would describe as top class in Super League terms, and that's likely to drop to seven soon with Bowen retiring, Taylor likely to leave, plus O'Loughlin not getting any younger. We should be doing everything we can do keep Charnley, Burgess, McIlorum, Flower, Bateman and Farrell at the club, plus Hampshire who I wouldn't describe as top class yet but it's fairly obvious he's going to be. As for the other players, they should be paid fairly of course, but when it comes down to it we can replace them with similar quality if a team comes in with a high bid

5 tries in his first game back. Manfredi has done a solid job deputising but Josh is a different class.

I'm going nowhere except over the try line.

He reminds me of Charnley when he just broke through a couple more seasons and he will be on Charnleys level. But what a comeback and of them sensational or just good finishes?

Vintage Charnley, great return for him.

He was quality. Makes opposite wingers look really poor at times.