Board index ‹ Super League ‹ Wigan Warriors - cherryandwhite.co.uk ‹ Finch leaving - official

I can't complain, it was a stroke of luck for us that the club got the three fantastic Melbourne players, all who have done a brilliant job for the club and I wish Finchy and Lima well.

huge loss, but lets not get selfish...hes done a great job, and i wish him all the best in planning his life after rugby league

Big loss, he's a major reason we're such a force this year, but he isn't irreplaceable. Best of luck for the future Finchy, it's been a pleasure, now bow out with another CC medal and a GF ring

[DaveO]

WARRIORCRAIG wrote:

I've just posted in the Rumours thread, we don't know fully what next years recruitment is so you can't say for definite we will be a worse team. People (i.e YOU) were saying the exact same things last year when we lost players.

We'd be an even better team this year if the likes of Joel and Hoffman were sill here. That is obviously true but equally there loss has not proved the teams undoing. However the fact we are where we are is hugely dependant on Finch (especially), Tommy, Lima and Carmont's contributions. Unless we replace these four with quality players we will not be as good next season. You deluding yourself if you think we won't miss Finch and the other three. With Joel and Hoffman we have covered their loss from within the squad but we do not have squad players anywhere close to the likes of Finch, Tommy and Lima and there is disagreement over whether or not the rumoured signings are any good such as Soward and Smith.

FWIW I think Thornley will do an excellent job replacing Carmont, I've not seen a lot of him but he does look an exciting player. Dudson, Spencer, Burke and Crosby will all be fighting for starting berths against Mossop, Prescott, Lauaki and Flower - still a strong front row with plenty of depth. Smith I'm unsure of but I'm willing to give him a chance. My main issue is who will be stand off, but the coaching and backroom staff will have known for some time losing Finch was a possibility and will have been searching for a suitable replacement.

You haven't seen anything of Thornley playing at SL level since he left the club so speculating he will do an "excellent" job in place of Carmont is based on hope rather than knowledge. The fact we have numerous players to compete for front row spots doesn't turn them into a Lima clone. However the worst situation is half back and here we have got (by the sounds of of it) one average squad player in Smith and we might get a.n.other.

Realistically how much will Roberts', Fielden's, Finch's, Tommy's and Carmont's wages add up to. Surely enough for a marquee signing once we've paid Smith's wages and put McIlorum, O'Loughlin and some of the youngsters have been put on improved deals.

We need to sign some good players but no one seems to think there are any available of a similar standard to those we are losing.

You would hope there was enough over for a marquee signing but they club can't spend the money if there is no one available so it wouldn't surprise me if we upgraded contracts, signed Smith plus a couple of squad players and went with what we have got.

If we had lost Tommy and Carmont and had got Smith alongside Finch and gave the centre slot to Gelling or Thornley we might have done the same next season as this in that we would have covered the losses because the backbone of quality in the side was still there. Taking out Finch and Lima as well is too much.

[DaveO]

Cherry.Pie wrote:

I think Dave expected Lenegan to send thousands of boats to Australia and drag the country into the Atlantic ocean between Britain and America so that Finch could be closer to home and remain at Wigan. It's not asking much. Shame on Ian Lenegan.

I read it but it is all after the event isn't it.

I also read this in March:

http://www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.aspx?id=6931&type=news

"I'd definitely like to extend my stay here, but I understand Wigan have got plenty of young fellas coming through - local players as well - and they might want to head in a different direction.

"I'll just play it by ear. I'm enjoying my time here and I'd certainly give Wigan the opportunity if they want to keep me."

We should have taken it in March. Every player has his price and we didn't meet Finch's or we left it too late.

[quote="DaveO"]We'd be an even better team this year if the likes of Joel and Hoffman were sill here. quote]

I did not read any futher.

We would be a better team if Andy Farrell and Billy Boston were playing as well. They ain't. move on.

Look at the style of half back that we included when we moved Sam to full back: Paul Deacon.

The game is evolving and so are the roles of half/full back. Full back is now our main point of attack, like it has been in Australia for the last 15 years.

Sam will not be moving from full back.

DaveO wrote:

I read it but it is all after the event isn't it.

I also read this in March:

http://www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.aspx?id=6931&type=news

"I'd definitely like to extend my stay here, but I understand Wigan have got plenty of young fellas coming through - local players as well - and they might want to head in a different direction.

"I'll just play it by ear. I'm enjoying my time here and I'd certainly give Wigan the opportunity if they want to keep me."

We should have taken it in March. Every player has his price and we didn't meet Finch's or we left it too late.

Dave - what if we had signed him for another 2 or 3 years back in March. He is clearly missing Oz. Next season he may have asked to leave on the basis he wanted to go home. We would be in a worse situation then.

I think you need to respect what IL has done for the club and trust the fact that he will be doing his best to get the best for the club.

What would you do if you took over the running of the club tomorrow?

wigan_knight wrote:

Mossop will be in aussie AFTER his current deal, not before.

I saw him at Haydock Park Races the other week and he said that Wigan will definately release him by the end of next year on the condition that he returns to Wigan when he comes back to Super League. I hope it's not true though as much as I want to see you lot lose your best players and come down to the rest of SL's level i'd hate all the best players to head to the NRL.

Anyone considered moving Sam to 6 and playing Russell at fullback? That could work.