Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Wed Feb 05, 2025 11:45 pm  

TKOR wrote:

Interesting to see Saints announce the signing of Dagnall with the title "looking to repay the faith". One could easily read that as a subtle dig...

We like subtle digs at Wigan, they fire us up.

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Wed Feb 05, 2025 11:48 pm  

apollosghost wrote:

Seemed quite a lot of ifs buts and maybes in that article

There is an article in an Australian paper, I think it was the Chronicle, which superseded that article.

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Wed Feb 05, 2025 11:50 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

Rumour has it they put the offer in via text.

Owen m8, how aboot a nu 4 yr deal? u k w\ dat?

That's a lie nobody in St Helens can write.

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Thu Feb 06, 2025 5:48 am  

Zig wrote:

That's a lie nobody in St Helens can write.

You would think it would be easier and faster to txt what with their extra fingers.

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Fri Feb 07, 2025 11:01 am  

Nice touch by Rush with his letter to Willie Isa that Isa shared on social media. There's been a few nice touches both ways in recent years which for me does make RL unique as Isa says in his post.

We do a lot of things wrong with our sport but we also do a lot of things right.

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Fri Feb 07, 2025 2:01 pm  

Stu M wrote:

Nice touch by Rush with his letter to Willie Isa that Isa shared on social media. There's been a few nice touches both ways in recent years which for me does make RL unique as Isa says in his post.

We do a lot of things wrong with our sport but we also do a lot of things right.

It was a nice touch and is how things should be done.

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Fri Feb 07, 2025 2:24 pm  

Mark_P1973 wrote:

The numbers you quoted as out of contract was ridiculous for any club, let alone one as big as Saints

i know you wouldnt want to keep them all as you stated and would be happy to see some go, but i seem to think it was 4 or 5, you would def keep, a similar number to let go, and the rest i'm assuming you would have been happy to stay. In the SC world, a team cant have world beaters in every position and as with Wigan you need a Willie Isa, Abbas Miski type player, who does a good job but you know they are team players, and unlikely to be on massive money

It seems like Saints, especially in regards to the new rule for out of contract players have taken their eye off the ball

Plenty of talk around the unprofessional way we have gone about some if not all of these 'negotiations'. It's no secret the amount of work Wigan do around this in comparison and whilst they aren't reinventing the wheel it obviously has an impact, particularly on impressionable young players and their families. Hopefully some lessons learned.

There are some whispers around Sambou maybe having second thoughts but the fact they haven't been chosen in the squad for West Hull is telling. I've seen and heard some hilarious flipping of opinions on Vaughan from both sides since Monday, I think he's going to have a good eventually. May lack size currently but can easily see him being a useful, grafting back rower in the Isa mould as you mention above. His attitude and fitness are first class.

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Fri Feb 07, 2025 3:01 pm  

SFW wrote:

Plenty of talk around the unprofessional way we have gone about some if not all of these 'negotiations'. It's no secret the amount of work Wigan do around this in comparison and whilst they aren't reinventing the wheel it obviously has an impact, particularly on impressionable young players and their families. Hopefully some lessons learned.

There are some whispers around Sambou maybe having second thoughts but the fact they haven't been chosen in the squad for West Hull is telling. I've seen and heard some hilarious flipping of opinions on Vaughan from both sides since Monday, I think he's going to have a good eventually. May lack size currently but can easily see him being a useful, grafting back rower in the Isa mould as you mention above. His attitude and fitness are first class.

One of my work colleagues used to go to school with a former player (now retired) who used to play for Saints, and then signed for Wigan. At that point in time, he was expected to sign / return to Saints because he'd played for Saints and that was the approach that Saints used, and basically put no effort into it. Wigan took him to the club, showed him round, made him feel wanted etc, and he signed for us. I know that is only a specific example, and there's no doubt Wigan wont get it right or do it right with every player, but many when they sign say how Wigan approached the signature and how they are made to feel wanted. on the flip side, i've read one of our youngsters say that Leigh made him feel wanted, but then also thanked Wigan for their assistance in making it happen

re the 2 youngster that have been discussed this week one of my former work colleagues is a die hard Saint, and he was giving Wigan and the young lads loads on Facebook until i explained that neither party had done anything wrong if they do sign for Wigan. He didnt know about the rule change and thought Wigan were being underhand and speaking to contracted players. To be honest i'm not sure i like the new rule, but it has certainly given us all some talking points late in the off season

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Fri Feb 07, 2025 7:23 pm  

SFW wrote:

Plenty of talk around the unprofessional way we have gone about some if not all of these 'negotiations'. It's no secret the amount of work Wigan do around this in comparison and whilst they aren't reinventing the wheel it obviously has an impact, particularly on impressionable young players and their families. Hopefully some lessons learned.

There are some whispers around Sambou maybe having second thoughts but the fact they haven't been chosen in the squad for West Hull is telling. I've seen and heard some hilarious flipping of opinions on Vaughan from both sides since Monday, I think he's going to have a good eventually. May lack size currently but can easily see him being a useful, grafting back rower in the Isa mould as you mention above. His attitude and fitness are first class.

It's always the case when players sign elsewhere. Fans of the current club gravitate towards 'he's not all that anyway' and fans of the new club say 'he's going to be class' without knowing a great deal about him.

It feels like Vaughan has everything going for him apart from some physical attributes and you then need to have that 'I'll prove them wrong' mentality that guys like Bateman have lived on. I sense this lad might have it but we'll see. One thing I would say is that I think it'll be second row he'll need to make a career in. That sort of 'not quick enough for centre/not big enough for second row' player never make it at centre.

Re: Wigan v Sts discussion - THIS THREAD ONLY PLEASE : Fri Feb 07, 2025 11:25 pm  

Wigan celebrating signing the runts of the litter who didn’t get offered more than a year extension by saints is proper cringe.