Re: Other Teams' Rumours And Signings For 2021 : Mon Jun 08, 2020 12:44 pm  

Not bothered about Flower going, been on the decline for a good few years and I still can't forgive him for THAT incident. What a waste of money that evening was, thanks Ben. He could have redeemed himself a bit but injury record and poor form have both been poor.

Can't help feel sorry for Stevie Ward though. He is clearly a very talented player but his career at the top level seems effectively over at the age of 26. It's a bloody shame because he could have been one of the best in the comp if not the best. Reminds me a bit of Gary Wheeler. He stood out as a young half back but got derailed almost instantly with multiple injuries.

Re: Other Teams' Rumours And Signings For 2021 : Mon Jun 08, 2020 1:27 pm  

Pie_Eyter wrote:

Not bothered about Flower going, been on the decline for a good few years and I still can't forgive him for THAT incident. What a waste of money that evening was, thanks Ben. He could have redeemed himself a bit but injury record and poor form have both been poor.

Whilst I'm still peed off we didn't get to see us give Saints a good hiding, I'm probably more annoyed that we should have won with 12 men had Matty Bowen spotted the 3 man overlap rather go alone.

Re: Other Teams' Rumours And Signings For 2021 : Mon Jun 08, 2020 3:15 pm  

Pie_Eyter wrote:

Not bothered about Flower going, been on the decline for a good few years and I still can't forgive him for THAT incident. What a waste of money that evening was, thanks Ben. He could have redeemed himself a bit but injury record and poor form have both been poor.

Can't help feel sorry for Stevie Ward though. He is clearly a very talented player but his career at the top level seems effectively over at the age of 26. It's a bloody shame because he could have been one of the best in the comp if not the best. Reminds me a bit of Gary Wheeler. He stood out as a young half back but got derailed almost instantly with multiple injuries.

It’s been 6 years. Let it go

Re: Other Teams' Rumours And Signings For 2021 : Mon Jun 08, 2020 3:19 pm  

JonnyBroad wrote:

Totally agree about Clubb but Flower has already signed for Toronto and i wish him the absolute best. Been a good player for us consistently when fit. His best years are behind him thats for sure. Good signing for Toronto though i think.

Completely agree.

With signing SBW, Flower and being linked with Richie Myler, Ryan Hall and Stevie Ward, though not a ‘world beating’ side and they won’t make a huge dent on SL/CC competitions; it’s certainly a good base for future challenges. The caveat to that is obviously staying in SL. If they dropped down to the Championship I think most would abandon ship.

Re: Other Teams' Rumours And Signings For 2021 : Tue Jun 09, 2020 6:10 am  

If it is true that Flower is leaving the club, I wish him all he best of luck as he has been a great servant to the club, despite what took place in the Grand Final against Saints.
'
We all make mistakes in life!

Re: Other Teams' Rumours And Signings For 2021 : Tue Jun 09, 2020 12:25 pm  

Ruddy Duck wrote:

If it is true that Flower is leaving the club, I wish him all he best of luck as he has been a great servant to the club, despite what took place in the Grand Final against Saints.
'
We all make mistakes in life!

Spot on Ruddy

Re: Other Teams' Rumours And Signings For 2021 : Tue Jun 09, 2020 1:27 pm  

Ben's offence was a ridiculous overreaction to some extreme provocation, but still hugely overblown ... by rival fans who hate Wigan, and by the national press, who relish anything negative about RL. Even though some Wigan fans claim he cost us that Final, the blame could just as easily be laid at Lockers' door for wasting a late penalty by kicking for goal when Saints were rocking on their line.

That said, I do think the incident affected Ben in terms of confidence. He's never been the raging bull that he was before then, and seems to have picked up a lot of injuries in the intervening years.

32 is quite early for a prop to be declining, but it feels to me as if Ben is on the way out. In that regard, I don't blame him for looking at pastures new and distant from the pressure cooker that is Wigan. Grateful for his service and hope it works out well for him.

Re: Other Teams' Rumours And Signings For 2021 : Wed Jun 10, 2020 2:36 pm  

Cruncher wrote:

Ben's offence was a ridiculous overreaction to some extreme provocation, but still hugely overblown ... by rival fans who hate Wigan, and by the national press, who relish anything negative about RL. Even though some Wigan fans claim he cost us that Final, the blame could just as easily be laid at Lockers' door for wasting a late penalty by kicking for goal when Saints were rocking on their line.

That said, I do think the incident affected Ben in terms of confidence. He's never been the raging bull that he was before then, and seems to have picked up a lot of injuries in the intervening years.

32 is quite early for a prop to be declining, but it feels to me as if Ben is on the way out. In that regard, I don't blame him for looking at pastures new and distant from the pressure cooker that is Wigan. Grateful for his service and hope it works out well for him.

"extreme provocation"

Re: Other Teams' Rumours And Signings For 2021 : Wed Jun 10, 2020 3:18 pm  

Cruncher wrote:

Ben's offence was a ridiculous overreaction to some extreme provocation, but still hugely overblown ... by rival fans who hate Wigan, and by the national press, who relish anything negative about RL. Even though some Wigan fans claim he cost us that Final, the blame could just as easily be laid at Lockers' door for wasting a late penalty by kicking for goal when Saints were rocking on their line.

That said, I do think the incident affected Ben in terms of confidence. He's never been the raging bull that he was before then, and seems to have picked up a lot of injuries in the intervening years.

32 is quite early for a prop to be declining, but it feels to me as if Ben is on the way out. In that regard, I don't blame him for looking at pastures new and distant from the pressure cooker that is Wigan. Grateful for his service and hope it works out well for him.

Without getting into a debate about it, ‘extreme provocation’ is a bit far fetched. He got elbowed to the head causing minimal, if any, damage. Hardly justifiable for what happened next.

Anyway the rest of your post I agree with completely.

Re: Other Teams' Rumours And Signings For 2021 : Wed Jun 10, 2020 6:04 pm  

Can anyone give an example of a worse piece of foul play than Flower's attack on Lance? Sure, the game was more consistently violent than it is now, but as an incident in isolation, I can't think of many worse.

He'd probably go to prison if it wasn't done in a game of RL.