Mago : Mon May 13, 2024 1:05 pm  

Signed on for another 2 years.

Testament to where he was and where he has now taken his game.

To be honest I thought Eseh and Hill were likely to replace him
and Cooper in the pecking order next year but fair play to him for earning a new deal, just hope he doesn’t get too comfortable now he has that security again.

Re: Mago : Mon May 13, 2024 1:08 pm  

Well deserved. Something looks to have clicked in the lad and it's been great to see. You never know what not having to fight for a new contract can do to a guy but I do feel like there's been real change there with him, that isn't just coming from needing a new deal. He looks happy and really settled and is offering us a good point of difference.

Re: Mago : Mon May 13, 2024 1:55 pm  

I've seen him in Total Fitness a few times over the past few months. He's clearly putting some hard work in doing sessions in addition to those at the club so fair play to him.

Re: Mago : Mon May 13, 2024 3:04 pm  

Mago deserves credit for how well he has played, but this is also a massive pat on the back for our coaching team who keep showing how adept they are at getting players to the next level.

This has benefits for the players we have, but also for future recruitment. The next time we need to dip our toe in the transfer market we can point at players like Mago when talking to targets, and demonstrate that we can make them better players too

Re: Mago : Tue May 14, 2024 7:24 am  

Stu M wrote:

I've seen him in Total Fitness a few times over the past few months. He's clearly putting some hard work in doing sessions in addition to those at the club so fair play to him.

There's quite a few players use TF in Wigan on a regular basis and i think there is some form of sponsorship of Wigan too, which allows all players access to the gym

Scully is in there regular too, and i've had a few chats with him, but kept away from rugby and just spoken generally about training and other interests, but i'd love to have a real good chat with him about rugby (but we wouldnt get any training done )

one of the best i heard was an old fella in the changing rooms and Abbas and KPP came back from training and were about to get changed. Who do you play for son? Are you goal keeper for Liverpool? He was really polite with the guy and had a good chat with him, whilst also having a little chuckle to himself

Luke Thompson was in the pool about 3-4 weeks ago, just generally stretching / low impact stuff. God he's some athlete and physique about him

Re: Mago : Tue May 14, 2024 8:16 am  

Mark_P1973 wrote:

There's quite a few players use TF in Wigan on a regular basis and i think there is some form of sponsorship of Wigan too, which allows all players access to the gym

Scully is in there regular too, and i've had a few chats with him, but kept away from rugby and just spoken generally about training and other interests, but i'd love to have a real good chat with him about rugby (but we wouldnt get any training done )

one of the best i heard was an old fella in the changing rooms and Abbas and KPP came back from training and were about to get changed. Who do you play for son? Are you goal keeper for Liverpool? He was really polite with the guy and had a good chat with him, whilst also having a little chuckle to himself

Luke Thompson was in the pool about 3-4 weeks ago, just generally stretching / low impact stuff. God he's some athlete and physique about him

I used to train with Scully at the Lions Den years ago and got to know him well. I also donated to The Steve Prescott Foundation and got an old bike from him (he was giving it away free but it didn't feel right)

He also gave me some contacts in relation to my knee op so I do talk to him every time I see him in there, usually about Saints and rugby in general.

I had a Saints training top on weeks ago and Miski got talking to me, he told me I had just missed Welsby and we just had a small talk about rugby. Scully still looks fit enough to put a shirt on now although he's obviously skinnier now than his playing weight.

The funniest part was years ago when I was swimming with my lads who were very young then. It was literally about a month after the 2014 Grand Final and Ben Flower was in the small pool with his baby. I had my Saints shorts on and felt a bit nervous given what had happened. However he started small talk in general and seemed like a good bloke.

RL lads are a different beast to footballers, given they come from normal backgrounds they are predominantly the same as us other than they have a talent to play the game.

Re: Mago : Tue May 14, 2024 9:54 am  

Scully was in our carriage going to the GF,Wigan lads were taking pics of him with them.
Perfect gent,most of them are.

Re: Mago : Wed May 15, 2024 7:28 am  

Stu M wrote:

I used to train with Scully at the Lions Den years ago and got to know him well. I also donated to The Steve Prescott Foundation and got an old bike from him (he was giving it away free but it didn't feel right)

He also gave me some contacts in relation to my knee op so I do talk to him every time I see him in there, usually about Saints and rugby in general.

I had a Saints training top on weeks ago and Miski got talking to me, he told me I had just missed Welsby and we just had a small talk about rugby. Scully still looks fit enough to put a shirt on now although he's obviously skinnier now than his playing weight.

The funniest part was years ago when I was swimming with my lads who were very young then. It was literally about a month after the 2014 Grand Final and Ben Flower was in the small pool with his baby. I had my Saints shorts on and felt a bit nervous given what had happened. However he started small talk in general and seemed like a good bloke.

RL lads are a different beast to footballers, given they come from normal backgrounds they are predominantly the same as us other than they have a talent to play the game.

Yes, Scully in great shape and clearly worked to not let himself go post retirement from the game. Like i said, i've had chats with him, but tried to keep it away from rugby as i dont know if its something everyone would do with him, and he'd get bored with talking rugby all day.

True also re RL players being different beasts to footballers. You would never know Scully was one of the best (if not the best) player of his generation, but he always seems to have time to have a quick chat with most in the gym without messing up his session, and certainly no ego with him

Re: Mago : Fri May 17, 2024 7:40 pm  

--[ WW ]-- wrote:

Mago deserves credit for how well he has played, but this is also a massive pat on the back for our coaching team who keep showing how adept they are at getting players to the next level.

This has benefits for the players we have, but also for future recruitment. The next time we need to dip our toe in the transfer market we can point at players like Mago when talking to targets, and demonstrate that we can make them better players too

Not trying to throw shade on our coaching/fitness staff but after looking at Magos stats and performances in Oz before he came to us he was a massive let down in his first season/season and a half for us, think he maybe thought he could come here and cruise his way through but the prospect of not only being released by Wigan but potentially struggling to get another Superleague Club (he was at that level imo) has given him a kick up the booty and he’s not looked back, just hope with a longer contract he doesn’t slip back but I don’t think so, it’s been a while now playing at a good standard so would be disappointing if his levels dropped.

Re: Mago : Fri May 17, 2024 11:07 pm  

Did Mago have much of an NRL career in truth? My recollection around the time we signed him was that he was very much a fringe first 17 player for Souths and would be in and out of the team. He’d never really cracked it at any club before that either. Statistically it’s always tough to get a real grasp on how well players do in the NRL in attack because they count the metres differently.

When him and Ellis signed, I didn’t really know what to expect from them because both were fringe first teamers but both have eventually worked out well. I would give the staff plenty of credit for that. I think both are better players than the ones we signed.