Wire sign Crosby and Savelio

[Lowdesert]

They would be stronger if the sign Taufau from Manly!

[Dave T]

I thought Cox was a decent lad and surprised he's on his way, Bailey, for me, was only in to create some depth and back-up. IMO Westwood and Sims are nearing the end. What is the news on Harrison? Is he still contracted?

yeah i was sorry to see Cox didnt make it with us, i was impressed with what i saw of him. I think Westwood will be a bit part, but he was still ome of the best players at Wembley and it was no surprise our tempo dropped when he went off injured. Using him off the bench should preserve him a bit.

Harrison is due back from Wakey and has a testimonial year. How much his injury will affect him we will see as I rate him a lot.

I am not convinfed by George King or Philbin and we have used them plus Sam Wilde and Bailey on our bench at the back end of the year whereas a bench including Harrison, Savelio, Crosby, Westwood etc looks far stronger.

[Leeds Wire]

They would be stronger if the sign Taufau from Manly!

That's another one I've heard and it would be amazing, but it would also go against the grain as we have gradually reduced our overseas contingent over the lest few years.

George Williams is the only other rumour I'm aware of but that one is a bit far-fetched.

[MrPosh]

Are they better than those leaving? Evans, Bailey, Dodds and Cox for Cooper, Blythe, Savelio and Crosby.

Id say the replacements are stronger.

 

I'm surprised Wire have picked up Blythe. He was a long way short of being good enough for Bradford last season - but maybe he'll do better in a better team (also appreciate that he's home grown, likely to be cheap and can cover a couple of positions - so it's not a terrible signing).

[DoubleD]

yeah i was sorry to see Cox didnt make it with us, i was impressed with what i saw of him. I think Westwood will be a bit part, but he was still ome of the best players at Wembley and it was no surprise our tempo dropped when he went off injured. Using him off the bench should preserve him a bit.

Harrison is due back from Wakey and has a testimonial year. How much his injury will affect him we will see as I rate him a lot.

I am not convinfed by George King or Philbin and we have used them plus Sam Wilde and Bailey on our bench at the back end of the year whereas a bench including Harrison, Savelio, Crosby, Westwood etc looks far stronger.

Think King will turn out to be a quality prop but don't think Philbin will cut it in my opinion.

[Saint Toppy]

Got told a fairly interesting rumour about Wire and Saints signings earlier tonight.

Apparently Wire are trying to sign Hardaker but they need to release a big earner to free up space on their cap.

Saints are interested in taking Ratchford as part of the Savelio deal (probably explains why no fees for Savelio have been mentioned), which would free up the cap space Wire need for Hardaker.

No possible deal is going to happen though until Ratchford returns from England duty.

All still rumour of course but it sounds like it has legs. Wire need a top class full back and Saints could do with an experienced ball runner at 6 to compliment Smith.

[DoubleD]

I'm not sure who'd be better off in that deal Toppy!

[Southerner]

If saints are letting go of the likes of Savelio and getting players like Ratchford then they're in trouble in my opinion. At the moment don't fancy them for top 6. Walsh gone too.

[Lowdesert]

yeah i was sorry to see Cox didnt make it with us, i was impressed with what i saw of him. I think Westwood will be a bit part, but he was still ome of the best players at Wembley and it was no surprise our tempo dropped when he went off injured. Using him off the bench should preserve him a bit.

Harrison is due back from Wakey and has a testimonial year. How much his injury will affect him we will see as I rate him a lot.

I am not convinfed by George King or Philbin and we have used them plus Sam Wilde and Bailey on our bench at the back end of the year whereas a bench including Harrison, Savelio, Crosby, Westwood etc looks far stronger.

Yep. Ben will always give his all and as an impact player will do the business. Maybe Sims was injured for some of the season but didn't have the impact I hoped he would. Maybe he'll do a similar role.

If he has an injury free season I can honestly see Myler coming back after this year.

[TWD]

Got told a fairly interesting rumour about Wire and Saints signings earlier tonight.

Apparently Wire are trying to sign Hardaker but they need to release a big earner to free up space on their cap.

Saints are interested in taking Ratchford as part of the Savelio deal (probably explains why no fees for Savelio have been mentioned), which would free up the cap space Wire need for Hardaker.

No possible deal is going to happen though until Ratchford returns from England duty.

All still rumour of course but it sounds like it has legs. Wire need a top class full back and Saints could do with an experienced ball runner at 6 to compliment Smith.

Arthur Askey has more legs than this.

[EagleEyePie]

I had not appreciated that Savelio was a Warrington man. He has huge talent. Surely Smith can manage him and unlock that. His career will go one of 2 ways from here - let's hope it's heading to the stars...

I think with Crosby the issue is where does he stand in the prop pecking order. Once Clubb got the green light to play again, we were looking at a rotation of FPN, Flower, Tautai and Clubb. Crosby deserves to be playing every week.

His performance in his last game for us was a worthy way to exit. Good luck to him.

 

Wane likes to pack his squad with plenty of props (sorry, 'middles'). It's certainly paid off this year given the strength in depth, particularly in the pack, is what kept the team so competitive with all the injuries. The negative aspect of that is that with so many players vying for a limited number of positions their value to Wigan is likely to be lower than their value to another team with less depth, where a starting spot or a place on the bench each week is more likely. It's probably easier for clubs to pinch some of our fringe forwards because they are good players but other clubs can offer more money.