wiganwarriors.com/news/2018-06-1 ... s-warriors

wiganwarriors.com/news/2018-06-1 ... s-warriors

The run of bad news is broken thankfully. I like the lad. He can be very good on his day and runs great lines. I’ve always felt he’s not the most aggressive but hopefully Wane can add a little of that before his departure.

I think that’s a superb signing and definitely an upgrade on Joel Tomkins. I do like a back row of;

11 Farrell/Bateman
12 Greenwood
13 Bateman/SOL

I do however suspect Bateman will be off at seasons end now.

Good signing at a much needed time. Definite upgrade on Joel.

Phil Wilkinson confirmed today Bateman was NRL bound at the end of the season

great news and a great signing

Excellent and much needed news.

Always really rated him and he has that natural ability to run a good line and break a tackle.

Definite upgrade on Joel and he also brings the athleticism and size I feel our backrow lacks.

With it looking increasingly likely Bateman is going we have an opportunity to add some real size to the backrow. I will be sad to see Bateman go but the thought of 2 big secondrow forwards really excites me.

Unless he’s drastically regressed over in oz (plenty of others have) then he is a big upgrade on Joel Tomkins. He should be coming into his peak years and hopefully we get his best years, he’s got a good eye for the tryline too.

Absolutely - we have signed two players who are probably upgrades on their replacements- Hardaker for Tomkins and Greenwood for Sutton.

It would be terrific if we could get someone similar to Murdoch-Masilla so we can start punching some holes on the fringes.

Having the "no-leg-drive, drop to the ground, pretend you are not a forward" Wane getting to coach him is the only downside of the deal! Another player who will need rehabilitating by the new coach

Really good signing and I hope Waney gets nowhere near coaching him, hopefully, pig-head will be gone by tomorrow.

I’m with you on the front rowers but in fairness to Wane his record with our backrowers is excellent. Lads like Farrell, Bateman and more latterly Willie Isa have thrived under him.

Backrowers seem to be allowed to try and make ground after contact.

Are you sure Wane won't play him at prop? My previous post was a bit tongue in cheek but this is not beyond the realms of possibility.

He may well do you know. Even minus Joel Tomkins we’ve still got four experienced back row options.

Greenwood better be able to find a quick way of getting his big frame to the floor if he does!

Greenwood looked alright last year, albeit a bit laterally slow in defence. Certainly good enough with the ball though. No idea why he hasn't got a game this year.

According to Sarge the new coach came in and wanted local lads playing so froze them both out. Greenwood stayed to try and initially fight for his place.

Great signing for Wigan, replacing someone who's past it with a young player with plenty of experience under his belt. Expecting to see him in a Wigan shirt for years to come.

Surprised with the amount of game time he'd picked up in AUS as well.

Anyone know where Jack Wells is up to regarding his injury? He is another who can play at 2nd row and probably eventually move up to prop.
We do seem to have a few props coming through the system, Kibula, Byrne, Partington, Field and Barnes.

Was hoping he was a replacement for Joel/Sutton but he’s a replacement for Bateman.

Good player though.

Look forward to how we will replace Joel/Sutton.

Pleased with this, was Hoffman the last big back rower we had? Apart from Sutton playing there a few times.

If you mean a big solid no nonsense specialised backrower then yes. If I remember correctly in 2010 Madge had HH & Moose in the back row who were solid in defence but so so in attack, but having a more solid set of forwards meant we dominated the comp. So when Coley retired, Feka &Fielden moved on (injured - 2012), Madge & Wane moved the Moose up to the front row and we added press up king Lima from the storm (2011) things started to get a bit more difficult. I remember Warrington totally dominating us in 2012 even with the return of Hock. I think what most people are eluding to on the threads is we want a like for like replacement and promoting a back rower to prop may seem a good idea at the time but there is too much reliance on a gamble. It's OK having cover for a game or two but playing people in the right position is essential. Wigan have enjoyed the most success in SL with a bigger more solid pack of forwards- 2002-04 (Pongia, Smith, Farrell , Hock, Sculthorpe & Tezza) and 2010-12 (Fielden, Feka, Coley, Prescott, HH etc). Having players constantly switching positions has IMO totally messed us up. Let's build up a big pack and perhaps Williams & co may start to play proper rugby again.

Hoffman was good and had some size, I thought Suttons best form had been in the period we used him as a back row. He has been good as a prop this year. To be fair to Joel pre RU he was a top back row and had plenty of size as well as pace.

Last year the lack of size in the back row was really evident against the likes of Hull and Cas. Up until the last month we have played pretty well, but we do look too small in the back row. Greenwood if he plays like he did last year for the Gold Coast is a good signing. He is big and athletic.

Would I take Greenwood over Bateman? as a second row yes but for his versatility and all round game I would like to keep Bateman. If we could and have a big second row signing happy days.

Props should be the ones making the hard yards. Running straight and hard and realising when it’s right to get a quick PTB or when to keep going. After each drive a prop should be blowing out his .

The hitting lines and fancy stuff goes down to the back row.

3/4 barnstorming props is what we need IMHO. Relentless in their approach and ground made. Wane has coached that out of our props; we’re far too soft and don’t even look like we’re trying to make yards. Halfbacks can’t play off the back of that.

Really? If you had a choice of Bateman or Greenwood for a second row spot you’d take Greenwood? You must have seen something I haven’t mate, Bateman every time for me regardless of his versatility. I’m hoping for big things from Greenwood though.

Please with the signing. But it does emphasis the difference in standard between the NRL and SL massively. Greenwood will be a first team player in one of, if not the biggest SL club, while over in Australia in was a bench warmer for a feeder club.

We could probably sign a feeder club 7 and he'd be a stand out in SL.