New 5 year deal.

I was told when he signed he had no interest in the NRL, turned down interest from Melbourne at the time, but you do still worry.

Seems he’s here for the best part of his career now at least which is great news.

Very good news, a class centre and seems like quite a laid back kind of character. Him and Marshy make a good team on that side.

Great news. The lad is blowing me away with how good he is. Our best since Carmont and the best in the league by a fair distance IMO.

Very good news

I would agree with that. He's a throwback - good hands, good feet, and pace.

Fantastic. Always among the best players on the field already but you feel he has a lot more still in him. Great business from Wigan. We seem to be building with a long term view.

Great news in Derby week, just need to announce French for two more years now

An excellent “proper” centre.
He’s probably our most consistent player over the last 20 games or so. Like NK I compare him to Carmont on a regular basis.
Another brilliant piece of business in getting such an extended contract.

I think personally he’s more like Gleeson but I get the comparisons with Carmont too.

He’s currently only behind Farnworth as a British centre and to secure him on a long term deal gives us stability in what has been a problem position to fill without using quota spots.

just posted similar on warriors fans

great piece of work

Coaching team tied down long terms

Field, Smith and Miski all resigned on long term deals, Thompson and Leeming on 4 year deals

just need to look at Havard, Byrne, Hill, Dupree, Nsemba, Walters, O'Neill (& or Forber) etc now and if we can get those guys on extended contracts the squad is looking set and hopefully settled for the next few years

with the natural retirements of Cooper, Farrell, Isa too, then that gives pathway into the 1st team if they are ready to take it

Absolutely fantastic news, there's no doubt about that.

Quality young team, mostly tied down on long term deals. A real crop or exciting talent on the edges of the squad.

Best young coach in the sport tied down for 7 years.

Billionaire owner.

Now a truly elite centre tied down for, what will probably be the rest of his career.

Can't remember the last time we had it so good.

Havard, Nsemba and O’Neill are tied down until the end of 2027 from pretty recent deals. Walters is tied in until the end of 2026 and Dupree is either 2026 or 2027.

It’s just Byrne and Hill I think might be up soon, so hopefully they’ll be locked in before long.

All these long contracts could cause us some problems down the line, mark my words

I think there has to be some sacrifices, obviously cap management is the key and use of the marquee spots to maximise value against the additional dispensations.

Keighran I think will only do the 2 years, Isa, Cooper, Farrell possibly returning in the not too distant it’s a real juggling act.

If I was a Huddersfield fan (god forbid), I'd be asking serious questions of Watson.

He literally didn't select a generational talent and happily let him go to the leagues biggest side. MOM in the GF for Wigan, but yet he couldn't even get in their CC Final team? One of the very few superstars they've ever produced etc. The list goes on and on.

Letting JW go, whilst under contract, has to go down in history as one of the dumbest decisions in the last 20+ years.

Watson had an issue to deal with he wanted Jake to play one side of the field, Jake wanted to play the other side.

Could argue Jake tested the coaches authority too with how he behaved.

Very difficult to cave in in front of the wider squad and back down if you are a head coach and hope maintain a level of authority over the rest of the club.

I do think he was always destined to play for Wigan but that fall out probably accelerated the process by a couple of years.

Great news that Jake has re-signed.
Again, very good business by the club. Well done!

Great to get this lad tied down on a long term deal. He's been nowt but class since he joined us, makes very few errors, and comes up with some really important plays.

Centre is often an under valued position and I don't get why. Having a classy centre with a good understanding of his winger is a licence to rack up points.

Almost for as long as I can remember, we've had two recurring bugbears about the composition of the squad - two proper centres and size in the pack. Fair to say that those two issues seem to have been resolved for the foreseeable future.

Genuinely a top 5 centre in the world IMO.

We all love our academy but flexing our muscles and securing top tier talent from other clubs who have shown great potential but can improve in the Wigan system (Dupree and Wardle), has taken the squad to the next level.

Last time we signed like that was Sarginson and Bateman in 2014.

How underrated he is across the game staggers me. I'm not sure he's a top 5 centre in the World but there is potential for him to get there. He's the best in this comp without a doubt for my money. I saw a Wigan fan on the Superleague Raw podcast say he was our best since Carmont and the guys on there were shocked. They also had him missing out on the Dream team last year at one point towards the end of the season (and very few pundits mentioned Wardle in their teams), in favour of Keighran and King and we've seen plenty of all 3. I thought King was excellent for us and I've been happy with Keighran so far but neither are close to the quality of Jake Wardle.

Konrad thinks very highly of Jake. https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/ru ... e-28897417

Konrad thinks very highly of Jake. https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/ru ... e-28897417