Father Ted

Wigan confirm the signing of Oliver Partington on a five year deal. Kruise Leeming going to Catalans on a one year loan. They expect Leeming will get a permanent contract at the end of his loan deal. No one knows what position Partington will play but suspect it will be loose forward. Kaide Ellis moving to prop filling the gap due to Oliver Wilson being out for the season with an ACL injury.

Us Wigan fans think Partington may play 13 with Kaide Ellis going to prop. Different kind of prop to Wilson but Ellis is a big man never the less. Looks like Leeming wasn't going to g to be offered a deal for next season and beyond with Forber being the bench hooker as O'Neil will have the 9 shirt again. With Wilson being out for the season Wigan need a prop. Be it Partington or Ellis this seems to be the answer for 2026.

Curious rumour around Wigan. Apparently Kruise Leeming is off to Perpignan with Oli Partington leaving Catalans and returning to the Warriors. Most fans can't see the logic of this as Partington left as not being good enough and has not gone down well at all. The most serious part suggests Partington will go to 13 with Kaide Ellis moving from loose to play prop. O'Neil still 9 with Forber off the bench. Wigan obviously looking for a prop after having lost Oliver Wilson for the season with an ACL injury, this looks like their answer.

Wigan have issued their squad numbers for this coming season and as rumoured Eckersley gets the No2 shirt. Full List : 1 Jai Field, 2 Zach Eckersley, 3 Adam Keighran, 4 Jake Wardle, 5 Liam Marshall, 6 Bevan French, 7 Harry Smith, 8 Ethan Havard, 9 Brad O'Neil, 10 Luke Thompson, 11 Junior Nsemba, 12 Liam Farrell, 13 Kaide Ellis, 14 Sam Walters, 15 Patrick Mago, 16 Abbas Miski, 17 Kruise Leeming, 18 Warriors Fans, 19 Jack Farrimond, 20 Sam Eseh, 21 Oliver Wilson, 22 Tom Forber, 23 Kian McDermott, 24 Harvey Makin, 25 Taylor Kerr, 26 Nathan Lowe, 27 Lucas Mason, 28 Noah Hodgkinson, 29 Tiaki Chan, 30 George Hurst, 31 Jonny Vaughan, 32 Dayon Sambou, 33 George O'Loughlin, 34 Finley Yeomans, 35 Finn McMillan. Miski at 16 is probably down to him recently having surgery and not being fully fit for the season's start. Eckersley will be difficult to shift from the 2 shirt, until he moves to centre I'd imagine. Wilson has an ACL injury and may well miss the whole season. The backs do have a lot of pace and I'd be surprised if team tactics didn't try to develop and exploit this advantage. After not winning anything in 2025 I'd expect a better season from Wigan with a trophy to show for their efforts.

That there is demand from supporters towards the International game is evidenced from the take up of tickets for the Aussie series at Everton and Leeds. Whilst Wembley wasn't as large a crowd as wanted the overall tickets sold proved the demand for International Rugby y League from paying customers. So what kind of leadership ignores what its supporter base is clearly prepared to pay for and support in very large numbers? The answer surely is a leadership that is not good enough to run the sport. We do have people in the game at club level who could take Rugby League to levels rarely seen before. They are out numbered though by other club owners who are only interested in their own club and nothing more. It is this number of owners that prevent RugbyLeague in the UK from progressing. I, for one, am reluctant for overseas involvement in running the game but when we look at the success of the NRL at all levels that is probably where the quality leadership must come from. Just as decades ago Aussie coaches improved the game here immensely then probably it is NRL administrators who can take the game forward. In their comments International Rugby League would be firmly in their plans. The future for Rugby League can be very bright but not under the current RFL/SL leadership we currently have. The obvious follow up for Gary Carter's excellent article to for the NRL influence to lead our sport here in the UK.

I like their idea of going to 19 players with 6 on the bench with just four to be used at the choice of the coach. We should go to announcing a squad of 19 two days before the game and adopt the same rule as the NRL are proposing. Maybe also two of those bench players should be U21s. Naming a squad with all players eligible to play seems far more sensible than our current system of 21 then dropping four for the game. Never seen any sense in that. As for the kick off, their thoughts on changing have been tried before and failed. The Aussies will know this so why are going down this route again? As for set re-starts. Don't like them and never have. Go back to penalties.

Nothing yet from the Wigan club on squad numbers. There's a rumour around that Miski won't be 2, Eckersley will have the shirt. We'll find out one day!

I Never rated the concept. Thought the weekend should have been used to improve the Intl Squad. We went to the Ashes Test and were very impressed with the stadium and their set up. Also we only live across the river so it's so easy to get to.

They may well have brought ticket sales forward but I've bought tickets for the five of us and this will be the first Magic any of us have attended. We all did go to the Hicky Dicky for the Ashes Test.

Harvey Makin going from Wigan to Oldham on a season long loan. Maybe to replace George Hirst who's now at Wigan following a season long loan at Oldham!

Saints new coach will make a massive difference IMO. Seeing as what he did at Salford over the years with far less capable squads than Saints, he could be a tremendous asset to the club.

Perhaps it will come down to the new contract offered by SKY and the amount they put on the table. The NRL suggested an amount of £2.1m so if SKY reduce their offer from the current figure then it will be interesting to see how the clubs will react to that especially if the NRL and their partners come up with a larger offer that the SL clubs can't turn down.

So who would replace him? Sam Burgess yes when he's won the C Cup, LLS & GF with Wire. Until then no thanks. In a system where we are to play 28 SL games, plus C Cup, plus play offs where are the breaks in the season to play Internationals and against who? France aren't interested. Other than that it would be the Pacific Nations which is a non starter. As mentioned we haven't a system to bring through sufficient quality players at elite level and that is unlikely to change. As a Wigan fan, of our five spine positions three are filled by overseas players and two by club trained lads. So how do we change that long term? Field and French both signed four year deals in 2025 so not much will change there. Ellis at 13 might go to prop with O'Neil going to 13 with Forber being bench to Leeming. Not happened yet though if it ever will. At HKR they have three English lads in their spine. Their fb is French and 6 is Aussie. Wigan and HKR were the best two teams in SL last year IMO. It needs a full overhaul of the SL & RL set up in the UK. Our only hope for fundamental change and improvement is with the NRL who would bring their management expertise to look after the sport as a whole rather than the vested interests of various factions in todays Rugby League.

Looks like Oliver Wilson the Huddersfield prop has signed for Wigan with a fee involved. With Byrne, Hill and Dupree leaving Wigan seems that the Warriors have another incoming prop together with Sam Eseh.

Said this decades ago but have England U23 play France in Perpignan or Toulouse on Bastille Day 14th July. The French seem distracted when they play full England squad but playing our U23s on their National Day and holiday could well work. If they can't raise their game on Bastille Day then those who suggest they are not interested will be fully vindicated in saying that. I do though think it's a worth a punt. A keen England U23 squad who want to impress and a French team who surely have to make an effort on their national Holiday!