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Re: Wigan Warriors target New Zealand prop for 2020

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 2:40 pm
by ian.birchall
josie andrews wrote: Tue May 07, 2019 8:15 am Wigan are tracking Kiwi prop Mitch Clark.

The 26-year-old has pinged on their radar as a possible target for 2020.

Clark is out of contract with Castleford at the end of this season.

And the Warriors are thought to want him on board to strengthen their front-row options.

Clark was born in the UK while his dad, Trevor, was playing at Bradford. He represented the Junior Kiwis in 2013 and moved to England before playing in the NRL, working his way up the ranks from Doncaster to Bradford and then Hull KR, before joining the Tigers on a two-year deal.

Warriors chairman Ian Lenagan revealed last week they were working hard to secure “some new arrivals” for next season.

Australian halfback Jackson Hastings is again thought to be a target, having missed out on him last autumn.

Hastings, who has been hugely influential for Salford, has not signed anywhere and said last week he is in “no rush” to make a decision.

After ex-Manly player Hastings rejected Wigan, they signed Aussie Jarrod Sammut, who is currently sidelined by injury. Academy-product Jake Shorrocks is currently starting at halfback while Harry Smith and Josh Woods are on loan in the Championship.

But with George Williams expected to move to Canberra in 2020, joining Ryan Sutton and John Bateman at the Green Machine, there is an opening for a star signing.

Coach Adrian Lam, favourite to stay on at the Warriors next term, is a big admirer of Hastings.

The salary cap limit rises to £2.1m next year and Wigan would also have the option of recruiting two marquee players – meaning a chunk of their wages don’t count on the cap – if Williams departs.

Warriors have several players off-contract this year – including Joe Burgess, Tony Clubb, Dan Sarginson, Sean O’Loughlin and Thomas Leuluai – and have been working through renewals.

Meanwhile, Matty Peet has returned to Wigan to bolster their backroom staff

He left his role as head of youth at the end of last season to join Sale Sharks but is back at the Warriors. With Mick Cassidy in his old role, Peet will assist with the first-team.

Lam already has John Winder as an assistant while Darrell Goulding also has some first-team duties.

https://www.wigantoday.net/sport/wigan- ... -1-9751703
No I do not accept that Clark is a Kiwi prop as a result of him playing for the Junior Kiwis and Bilko and Mills said he wasa menace when we fell apart in the second half at Cas.
When I see the headline Kiwi Prop I expect to see the signing of a current international player. Fake news again following on from all the fake excitement about signing an aussi scrum half when it turned out to be a released Championship Bronco.

Re: Wigan Warriors target New Zealand prop for 2020

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 2:56 pm
by Caboosegg
Is he superleague Quality ---- yes
Is he better than what we have -- potentially
Are we short in that area --- yes.

Give the lad a shot!!

Or we could go looking for a old past it NRL prop who comes over doesnt live up to the hype and is then used to bash the clubs ambition (FNP)

Re: Wigan Warriors target New Zealand prop for 2020

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 3:35 pm
by Mickw
He's not signed yet,
he's probably a smokescreen for some championship unknown.

Re: Wigan Warriors target New Zealand prop for 2020

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 4:36 pm
by Exiled Wiganer
The issue I have is that it is impossible to get a sense as to whether this is good news or not. Is he a replacement for Hamlin, in which case that’s probably good news? If he is a marquee player, and all we are going to get having let Tautai, Hamlin, Burgess, Sarg, Clubb, Wells, !ockers and Leuluai go then the WE ARE DOOMED posters may have a point. You never know with recruitment until you get the full picture. So, if, say, we get Hastings for Williams, Clark for Hamlin and everyone else stays, that would neither be brilliant or disastrous, whereas if we can replace Tautai with, say, Amor, as well, we begin to edge into positive territory... far too far to go before we get a full enough picture to conclude much from this.

Re: Wigan Warriors target New Zealand prop for 2020

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 4:38 pm
by Exiled Wiganer
Oh, and I must say that you would never guess that we were reigning champions (for the 3rd time in IL’s reign I think) from the ridiculous levels of doom and gloom that our current state inspires in many posters.

Re: Wigan Warriors target New Zealand prop for 2020

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 5:18 pm
by medlocke
Exiled Wiganer wrote: Tue May 07, 2019 4:38 pm Oh, and I must say that you would never guess that we were reigning champions (for the 3rd time in IL’s reign I think) from the ridiculous levels of doom and gloom that our current state inspires in many posters.
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Re: Wigan Warriors target New Zealand prop for 2020

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 5:23 pm
by Exiled Wiganer
Thanks. So, even better than I thought.
The club could help themselves, though, by giving us some good news occasionally. This year has been unremittingly grim off the field.

Re: Wigan Warriors target New Zealand prop for 2020

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 5:53 pm
by ddtftf
Wow that will boost the dropping crowds, going down faster than a submarine . Please dont tell us that no good NRL players are available, as we have seen time and time again other clubs sign good players, knowing George was going we should have pushed the boat out for Austin who Warrington signed .

Re: Wigan Warriors target New Zealand prop for 2020

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 6:04 pm
by moto748
Wigan_forever1985 wrote: Tue May 07, 2019 2:23 pm
moto748 wrote: Tue May 07, 2019 1:46 pm
ancientnloyal wrote: Tue May 07, 2019 12:42 pm I stopped reading after “out of contract with Castleford this year”

Ffs
Cas are a better side than Wigan right now all across the park. Almost any of their players (with one or two exceptions), parachuted into the current Wigan side, would improve it.

You may resent that, but it's where we are.
And how are we going to change that by taking their cast offs? if you accept they have a better team then taking players they deem not good enough is hardly going to change that is it? put it this way do you think Cas fans would rather us take Clark or Watts?
Well, you imply that Cas are getting rid of him because he's not good enough. Is that the case, or is it cap space that's driving their move? Watts is a decent player, but also a bit of a penalty machine; I wouldn't say it was clear that he would be the better choice. And, as I say, ATEOTD, either would improve us.

Re: Wigan Warriors target New Zealand prop for 2020

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 6:55 pm
by EagleEyePie
Can't say I'm surprised that people are complaining about this. It's par for the course these days that everything has to be met with talk of how terrible things are at the home of the reigning Champions.

Has anyone looked at the off contract list recently? There's barely any talent to be found in there, particularly in the front row, but Mitch Clark does seem like a decent player and Cas fans seem to rate him very highly, which is promising because they have some bloody good forwards in their side.

No, he isn't a Liam Watts, Chris Hill, Luke Thompson etc, although there was a time when the likes of Watts and Hill weren't at the level they are now. Good players don't just suddenly exist so sometimes you've got to be smart and work out which ones are just starting to reach their peak and could become top signings.

Most top class forwards are under contract. The club doesn't seem to be in the position to pay out transfer fees. That leaves us in the same position as a lot of other clubs in fighting to find the best that's out there. Clark could well fit that category.

I agree with Exiled Wiganer, it's hard to get a sense of how good the recruitment will be until it's all done. What we're lacking at the moment is a top quality prop and depth in the front and back row. If the club just signs one big name forward they haven't solved the lack of depth. The club should be looking at several different players and Clark's name is hopefully just one of several targets.

Besides, for those wanting us to sign players from the NRL - just look how Frank-Paul Nu'uausala turned out. Or Roy Asotasi. Or Keith Galloway. Ashton Sims. Anthony Laffranchi. Luke Douglas. Those were not top class Super League props by any stretch of the imagination.

I'd say the best Super League props tend to be the home grown ones, with a few exceptions.