Christian Wade … what’s the verdict

[JT RL]

Just curious .. how is he doing

[Futtocks]

Insufficient data for a fair assessement at this point.

[ELBOWSEYE]

3 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

Insufficient data for a fair assessement at this point.

Couple of good tries, but shocking at receiving kicks, will concede more than he scores. 

[Futtocks]

8 minutes ago, ELBOWSEYE said:

Couple of good tries, but shocking at receiving kicks, will concede more than he scores. 

Both of his games were in an underperforming side, so he was under a lot more pressure than was probably expected. Still, even with his expected defensive weaknesses, he was certainly trying hard, so his attitude is decent. If Wigan get their mojo back (and Bevan French), that's a lot of attacking pace to unleash.

[Exiled Wiganer]

A liability. No way that WIgan can afford to play him in the first team again this year. He may well have cost us the game against FC. 

[ELBOWSEYE]

3 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

Both of his games were in an underperforming side, so he was under a lot more pressure than was probably expected. Still, even with his expected defensive weaknesses, he was certainly trying hard, so his attitude is decent. If Wigan get their mojo back (and Bevan French), that's a lot of attacking pace to unleash.

I don't think Wigan are short of pace.

Wade is a free hit(salary cap wise) so you can gamble, but the success you have with junior talent outweighs any publicity he gives you. Infact he would generate more by failing than succeeding.

[arcticchris]

Exciting with the ball but a complete liability at the other end.

Shows how poor Union is tactically they teams didn’t manage to successfully target him defensively.

[Whippet13]

Ten years ago, after a lengthy period of defensive training, he would have made a very good RL winger.

[Damien]

Poor enough so far.

[WN83]

An athlete with very limited basic skills. Incredible that a professional sportsman can be that poor at catching a ball. 

Seemed a strange signing at the time and even more baffling when Peet admitted we can't get him under the cap in 2026. He was never going to be ready to play in games at the business end of 2025, so what was the point?! 

[Damien]

51 minutes ago, WN83 said:

An athlete with very limited basic skills. Incredible that a professional sportsman can be that poor at catching a ball. 

Seemed a strange signing at the time and even more baffling when Peet admitted we can't get him under the cap in 2026. He was never going to be ready to play in games at the business end of 2025, so what was the point?! 

Cover at no salary cap cost. If it worked then great, if not then no loss. I'm fine with the club taking a punt on these things as long as the said player is then chosen on merit.

[The Duke]

I think he’s probably too old to make the transition to league, and possibly a little on the small side. He does have electric pace though

Out of interest would Regan Grace count on a salary cap ? 

[Futtocks]

4 hours ago, WN83 said:

An athlete with very limited basic skills. Incredible that a professional sportsman can be that poor at catching a ball. 

Seemed a strange signing at the time and even more baffling when Peet admitted we can't get him under the cap in 2026. He was never going to be ready to play in games at the business end of 2025, so what was the point?! 

They needed to get Abbas Miski operated on. This means they can get him back, fit and rested for the pointy end of the season.

In the meantime, some headlines were made and Wade got a chance to test himself at a higher level of Rugby. I enjoyed seeing him run in attack, and he's very clearly trying as hard as he can but there are a lot of gaping holes in his game.

If Wigan get some form back towards the end of the season, he could wreak a bit of havoc if his support running's any good.

[WN83]

9 hours ago, Damien said:

Cover at no salary cap cost. If it worked then great, if not then no loss. I'm fine with the club taking a punt on these things as long as the said player is then chosen on merit.

He hasn't looked good enough to offer that cover though and if it was always a signing for just this season, I'm a bit stumped as to why we'd bother (other than maybe the limited press coverage the move got). We've got able cover in Eckersley and Douglas already, who both look far in advance of Wades level as a rugby league player. 

I'm absolutely fine with taking a punt on Union players but not for 4/5 months only and not on a guy who is 34 years old. A younger Union winger, who we can give some patience to and develop over a longer period would make complete sense but I just don't think this did or does. 

Edited August 10, 2025 by WN83

[Coggo]

What’s interesting is that rugby league exposed his poor catching ability despite being a rugby union international. Our game is not an easy game to play.

[WN83]

7 hours ago, Coggo said:

What’s interesting is that rugby league exposed his poor catching ability despite being a rugby union international. Our game is not an easy game to play.

I find it interesting on both sides that some skills are lacking. It's always amazed me how bad Union players are under a high ball or even just simple passing but on the flip side, we're so far behind when it comes to goal kicking and drop goals. Obviously there's a reason for that with how important it is in Union but it does feel like we undervalue it.

[Damien]

10 hours ago, WN83 said:

He hasn't looked good enough to offer that cover though and if it was always a signing for just this season, I'm a bit stumped as to why we'd bother (other than maybe the limited press coverage the move got). We've got able cover in Eckersley and Douglas already, who both look far in advance of Wades level as a rugby league player. 

I'm absolutely fine with taking a punt on Union players but not for 4/5 months only and not on a guy who is 34 years old. A younger Union winger, who we can give some patience to and develop over a longer period would make complete sense but I just don't think this did or does. 

You are judging with hindsight. It was a punt to provide cover when the club had their two first choice wingers playing with injuries and cost nothing cap wise. Keighran was also injured when Wade was signed with Eckersley playing centre which is his best position.

[lemmy xaan]

1 hour ago, WN83 said:

I find it interesting on both sides that some skills are lacking. It's always amazed me how bad Union players are under a high ball or even just simple passing but on the flip side, we're so far behind when it comes to goal kicking and drop goals. Obviously there's a reason for that with how important it is in Union but it does feel like we undervalue it.

I've never really understood why - when given a penalty in their own half - teams don't seem to value the very long touch-finder. Clearly, there is a fear of not reaching touch if the kicker tries to be too adventurous with distance. But in union, there seems to be more emphasis (and practice) on getting great distance, even though their result is a competitive line-out. Whereas the advantage in league (the tap) is greater. Yet we don't seem to be as eager to get the long distance; just bang it a few yards upfield and that will do. When I've taken union people to league games, they can't understand this and think our kickers must be ######.

[WN83]

1 hour ago, Damien said:

You are judging with hindsight. It was a punt to provide cover when the club had their two first choice wingers playing with injuries and cost nothing cap wise. Keighran was also injured when Wade was signed with Eckersley playing centre which is his best position.

Possibly but the same concerns were aired at the time by many Wigan fans. Signing a 34 year old Rugby Union winger seemed strange because that transition is rarely easy and will always take time. He came in Mid June IIRC, so he had 4 months between that date and the date of the Grand Final, so you can knock 4-6 weeks off that for when the real end of season, high intensity games kick in. It doesn't take hindsight to think he was never going to be ready for them, so I'm not sure what the point was. He clearly wasn't ready in the Huddersfield game but in fairness, he had to play due to a lack of bodies (although Nathan Lowe or Josh Cartwright would've probably done a better job) and to then play him against Hull was unfair on him and probably Matty Peets biggest ricket of his coaching career to date. 

If the club wants to dip in to the Union market, then great but IMO it has to be somebody who could have a long term future at the club. Union squads are deep and I'm sure there are lads who'd have ideal skills for Rugby League but maybe not Union but give them a fair crack. Wigan did have Declan Murphy on trial, so to be fair I guess they have been looking at those type of options as well. 

[Futtocks]

1 hour ago, lemmy xaan said:

I've never really understood why - when given a penalty in their own half - teams don't seem to value the very long touch-finder. Clearly, there is a fear of not reaching touch if the kicker tries to be too adventurous with distance. But in union, there seems to be more emphasis (and practice) on getting great distance, even though their result is a competitive line-out. Whereas the advantage in league (the tap) is greater. Yet we don't seem to be as eager to get the long distance; just bang it a few yards upfield and that will do. When I've taken union people to league games, they can't understand this and think our kickers must be ######.

In Rugby Union, if a kick to touch gets caught by the opposition, it is likely to be kicked straight back to your side almost immediately.

I think this must be the "contest for possession" that the code's fans are always wanging on about.

[OriginalMrC]

Rugby union wingers tackle much less and receive fewer high balls. In the games I've seen of Wade his side of the field was deliberately targeted and he was exposed. Hes a very good player but was always going to be hard for him to adjust. He doesn't have youth on his side so not sure he'll be able to.

[EagleEyePie]

2 hours ago, WN83 said:

Possibly but the same concerns were aired at the time by many Wigan fans. Signing a 34 year old Rugby Union winger seemed strange because that transition is rarely easy and will always take time. He came in Mid June IIRC, so he had 4 months between that date and the date of the Grand Final, so you can knock 4-6 weeks off that for when the real end of season, high intensity games kick in. It doesn't take hindsight to think he was never going to be ready for them, so I'm not sure what the point was. He clearly wasn't ready in the Huddersfield game but in fairness, he had to play due to a lack of bodies (although Nathan Lowe or Josh Cartwright would've probably done a better job) and to then play him against Hull was unfair on him and probably Matty Peets biggest ricket of his coaching career to date. 

If the club wants to dip in to the Union market, then great but IMO it has to be somebody who could have a long term future at the club. Union squads are deep and I'm sure there are lads who'd have ideal skills for Rugby League but maybe not Union but give them a fair crack. Wigan did have Declan Murphy on trial, so to be fair I guess they have been looking at those type of options as well. 

This pretty much echoes my own thoughts. I was sceptical as soon as the signing was announced because there is so much to learn to get to grips with playing rugby league at a decent level.

I know the argument was he costs nothing on the salary cap and we need some cover for Miski during his absence so what's the risk, but I'm not sure I fully understand the logic in the second bit. If we need cover for Miski then we need good cover. It was incredibly unlikely that Wade would be good enough with such a short time to get up to speed.

I read and heard plenty of people making the argument that he doesn't have to be good enough for the big games, he just has to fill in for the games before but it's such an arrogant way of thinking and is disrespectful to some of the teams we faced. Playing him against Hull came back to bite us and we got what we deserved.

We had options even without Wade and I'm just not sure the sideshow was really necessary if we genuinely wanted to find cover for Miski.

[WN83]

2 minutes ago, EagleEyePie said:

This pretty much echoes my own thoughts. I was sceptical as soon as the signing was announced because there is so much to learn to get to grips with playing rugby league at a decent level.

I know the argument was he costs nothing on the salary cap and we need some cover for Miski during his absence so what's the risk, but I'm not sure I fully understand the logic in the second bit. If we need cover for Miski then we need good cover. It was incredibly unlikely that Wade would be good enough with such a short time to get up to speed.

I read and heard plenty of people making the argument that he doesn't have to be good enough for the big games, he just has to fill in for the games before but it's such an arrogant way of thinking and is disrespectful to some of the teams we faced. Playing him against Hull came back to bite us and we got what we deserved.

We had options even without Wade and I'm just not sure the sideshow was really necessary if we genuinely wanted to find cover for Miski.

I've felt a bit for the lad himself in it all. He must've felt like a right mug during and after that Hull game and it all felt unnecessary, with Douglas running the water on. It was clear as day against Huddersfield there were some pretty major flaws in his game and I did feel we disrespected Hull a bit in selecting him.

My overall thoughts on the signing when it was announced was to give the benefit of the doubt, so as mentioned above, maybe my view has a bit of hindsight in it but there is no hindsight after that Huddersfield game. I was in the car with my old man, going to the Hull game and we were both absolutely stunned he'd been named against Hull and said it was an accident waiting to happen and it absolutely happened. I can't lie, I thought there was a little bit of arrogance from Matty Peet in that selection, as though he wanted Wade to prove he wasn't wrong in bringing him in. 

If we get to the winter and they find a Union player they fancy, who has more time on his side (say under 30 but probably ideally under 25), can have a full pre season to bed in and is under no pressure to play until absolutely ready, having shown they can manage it in reserves or out on loan, then it's an avenue worth going down but I wouldn't be rushing out to bring in a 34 year old, with 4 months of the season left to go again. 

[JDR]

14 hours ago, Coggo said:

What’s interesting is that rugby league exposed his poor catching ability despite being a rugby union international. Our game is not an easy game to play.

Notably only 1 cap at full level. A few at age group, 'A', and 7s.

[StandOffHalf]

On 11/08/2025 at 00:05, Coggo said:

What’s interesting is that rugby league exposed his poor catching ability despite being a rugby union international. Our game is not an easy game to play.

TBF, chasers in RU have to be behind the kicker.