Ian Lenagan Q&A part one: Bringing the buzz back to Wigan and the club’s financial outlook

Discuss all things Wigan Warriors. Comments and opinions on all aspects of the club's performance are welcome.
Post Reply
josie andrews
Posts: 35573
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2007 10:17 pm
Location: Wigan
Contact:

Ian Lenagan Q&A part one: Bringing the buzz back to Wigan and the club’s financial outlook

Post by josie andrews »

Last week, TotalRL’s Aaron Bower sat down with Wigan owner Ian Lenagan for an in-depth Q&A session. This is part one of that interview, which focusses on the Warriors’ financial health, the need to bring the excitement factor back to the DW Stadium and more. Part two later this week will look at wider issues in the game with Lenagan.

AB: Ian, how do you look back on 2019?

IL: It was a difficult year in many respects because we started so badly. But you have to have those years in order to prove the strength of what you’ve got. I don’t think the Shaun Edwards situation helped mid-season, but I think Adrian Lam has been rewarded for what he’s done since. Look at what position we and other clubs have been in regarding coaching situations. I think we’ve proven our loyalty to Adrian and vice-versa.

AB: Was it more difficult because you were replacing a hugely-successful coach in Shaun Wane?

IL: Changing the head coach is never easy, but changing a successful coach is even more difficult. We wanted to play a more open style of rugby because Wigan fans expect that, but give Shaun his due – he was here for seven years and he was appointed for one reason: to win things. After a certain period of getting used to winning, you want a little more. You want excitement on top of it. I’ve only ever appointed a head coach who has no prior experience of doing it. Brian McDermott at London, Michael Maguire and Shaun here.. and now Adrian. Not a lot of people realise actually and it’s very important. We’re protecting something that’s over 100 years old here at Wigan, something very sacred, and we want our coaches to be able to express themselves.

AB: Adrian weathered the early storm, do you believe you’ve got the right man long-term?

IL: We think so, without any doubt at all. He knows Wigan because he’s been here before. He’s a good character, he speaks well and while he had the occasional mistake in season one, almost everyone would make mistakes in their first season. He represents Wigan very well. I hate to say it, but we didn’t deserve to be in the Grand Final and we clawed our way back to within one game of it through sheer effort and endeavour. The Grand Final was a good game, and if it had been Wigan versus St Helens, it might have been disappointing because it wouldn’t have had the same public appeal than Salford getting there.

AB: In hindsight, would you have done anything differently with Shaun Edwards?

IL: No. I maintain it was worth the risk to try and get Shaun both in terms of the profile he has, and the fact he’s a born winner. It was a difficult period for us, but we’ve come out of it well in my opinion. Would I have done it differently? Well, I’d have still appointed him, and I’d have handled it the same way. Shaun had a right to decide not to come, and he used that right.

AB: Can you tell us your goals for 2020?

IL: The expectations are two-fold. There’s on-field of course, but we made a big loss off it last year too, and we don’t want to repeat that. That’s not the style that Wigan stands for, but there were good reasons why it happened.

AB: Those losses are well-documented. Why did they happen?

IL: One reason is that you can’t change players in less than two to three years. For example, last year we had made certain assumptions on the playing budget and we ended up wrong to the tune of £250,000. There were players we couldn’t get out who we wanted to get out, players that were still under contract but didn’t fit with where we were going. This year we’re doing it better, and you’ve seen over the last two months that half a dozen players have left because they don’t fit the squad. Our squad is looking a lot more like what we want it to look like now.

AB: What’s the financial outlook at Wigan now?

IL: The financial year ended at the end of November, so we actually know where we are. What was around £1.3million will come down to around £500,000 this time, and then the following year, it will be break-even at least. To come back from a £1.3million loss to break even in two years is very hard work, but we’re on target. Our season tickets and playing budget are where we expect it to be, and we’re nearly there with sponsorship. Providing all those things work, and the tickets come in as we expect them to, we’ll be more than okay.

AB: It’s no secret the Australia trip contributed to the losses – could it ever happen again?

IL: Who knows. Only one thing went wrong with that trip, and that was the ANZ Stadium game. The Wollongong game, when Wigan played Hull, met its targets and was absolutely fine. We wrongly expected – our more our Australian friends did – that a big crowd would be there. They told us 20-30,000 would be there but of course, it was much less, somewhere in the region of 8,000. That’s the only thing that caused the loss, and while it was significant in terms of revenue, if you look at the goodwill it created, it was worth doing. Super League is now well-thought-of by the NRL because they recognise the quality of the game here, and I think we and Hull were quite instrumental in making that happen with the trip. They saw what an exciting game Super League can be: it’s a lot less boring than the NRL.

AB: And on the field, what changes need to be made?

IL: We’ve tried to do three things: stay with the younger players, bring in some attractive ones – and I think Hastings, French and Burgess are examples of that – and we wanted to have bigger forwards and a bigger team. It comes back to the game against Sydney in 2014, when we were as good as them, but not as big. We sat in the lounge in Dubai on the way back and admitted the lesson we learned was size matters. There’s been a three or four-year project to get players like Joe Greenwood, Joe Bullock and now George Burgess. You could see it with Tonga.. you’ve got be able to compete in that field. While the likes of John Bateman always play above their weight, it’s much easier when you don’t actually need to. We’ve got an exciting-looking team in my opinion. I hope our supporters agree with me.

AB: You’ve mentioned the word ‘exciting’ already. Is it long overdue Wigan fans have a team they can be excited about – and has the excitement surrounding watching Wigan faded in recent years?

IL: Definitely. Just winning is not enough here. You have to be entertaining, and none of that is meant with any disrespect to Shaun Wane, because Shaun did everything we wanted him to do as the coach. But you could begin to see towards the end that we needed to play differently. Castleford played exciting rugby two years ago, and people wanted to watch them. We need the attendances to come back up again, and players like Bevan and Jackson will make a big difference. Look at Great Britain. They played dull rugby but whenever Jackson played, you were watching with excitement to see what he did. The same applies for the hooker; Daryl Clark is an exciting, edge-of-the-seat player but Josh Hodgson plays differently. It works in the NRL, but we want exciting rugby in Super League, and particularly in Wigan. It’s what we demand.

https://www.totalrl.com/ian-lenagan-qa- ... l-outlook/
Anyone can support a team when it is winning, that takes no courage.
But to stand behind a team, to defend a team when it is down and really needs you,
that takes a lot of courage. #18thMan
ddtftf
Posts: 2064
Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 2:07 pm

Re: Ian Lenagan Q&A part one: Bringing the buzz back to Wigan and the club’s financial outlook

Post by ddtftf »

A good interview , i am making it my new year resolution to be kinder to IL as a Christmas present :) :) :) :) :) :)
fozzieskem
Posts: 6494
Joined: Sat May 14, 2016 10:54 am

Re: Ian Lenagan Q&A part one: Bringing the buzz back to Wigan and the club’s financial outlook

Post by fozzieskem »

He’s taken it on the chin about the Australian folly credit to him for that and maybe he needs a New Years resolution of not handing out lush contracts maybe?
ancientnloyal
Posts: 14365
Joined: Tue Apr 11, 2006 10:33 pm
Location: Howe Bridge
Contact:

Re: Ian Lenagan Q&A part one: Bringing the buzz back to Wigan and the club’s financial outlook

Post by ancientnloyal »

He has nailed it with regards to playing attractive rugby. With Wane we won but we’re bored, or I was... I Want to be on the edge of my seat and watch skilful play.

He mentioned Cas... Saints have done it for years and even Warrington have classy games: we don’t...
https://www.ancientandloyal.com/

James Slevin
Ces Mountford
And the “kind of rugby player you’d want to be in your dreams” James Leytham
Should be in the Wigan Warriors Hall
Of Fame
CheshireWarrior
Posts: 1126
Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2019 7:58 pm

Re: Ian Lenagan Q&A part one: Bringing the buzz back to Wigan and the club’s financial outlook

Post by CheshireWarrior »

Certainly reads like quite an open and candid interview.

Didn't realise IL was behind Brian McDermott's appointment at Quins, lets hope the historic trend continues and the silverware comes rolling in for 2020! :D
DaveO
Posts: 15880
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2002 5:32 pm

Re: Ian Lenagan Q&A part one: Bringing the buzz back to Wigan and the club’s financial outlook

Post by DaveO »

fozzieskem wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 5:44 pm He’s taken it on the chin about the Australian folly credit to him for that and maybe he needs a New Years resolution of not handing out lush contracts maybe?
I doubt the trip would have gone ahead without that projected crowd figure so I think it needed a bit more research than seems apparent went into it. Taking it as gospel because he was told 20k to 30k would attend the ANZ game is not a good thing. That would have required about 20k Aussie fans to turn up in addition to the travelling fans form the UK and pay to watch two teams most of the Aussies have little interest in. It was, for the Aussies, a game for RL geeks and most fans aren't.

Given that is sort of crowd we get for a Magic weekend day when there are actually fans of six teams playing there anyway I don't think you needed a crystal ball to think that was not going to happen.
josie andrews
Posts: 35573
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2007 10:17 pm
Location: Wigan
Contact:

Re: Ian Lenagan Q&A part one: Bringing the buzz back to Wigan and the club’s financial outlook

Post by josie andrews »

This is the second half of our two-part Q&A with Wigan owner Ian Lenagan. Part one touched on the Warriors’ finances, the prospect of taking games Down Under and more. Now, Lenagan offers his thoughts on the overall state of the game – and Super League’s prospects under Robert Elstone.

AB: What’s your take on Super League as things stand?

IL: We have a five-year plan which starts from here. It’s very clear. We thought we’d started it last year because we thought that the departure of the Super 8s would take immediate effect, but it’s taken a year for it to start to have an effect. We were pleased with the play-off attendances at Wigan last year, and we played Salford twice, which wouldn’t normally be a great pull. We’ve always said that the thing that has held us back as a competition is the Super 8s, for all the reasons we’ve said before. It’s now clear it had a bad effect on our game, and we’ve arrested the slump.

AB: And at Wigan? What about the drop-off in crowds?

IL: Well, we did marginally better than we did in 2018. But we’re looking for long-term growth now, back to the sort of level they were a few years ago, which was around the 16,000 mark. We’ve dropped to 11,500 or somewhere in that bracket. It’s still very good, but it’s not where we need it to be for us to be as buoyant financially, because that’s where it’s had the biggest hit. We’re starting with a game against Warrington, which will be great for us, then we’ve got Toronto coming, which includes Sonny Bill Williams. That should be great for the whole competition. Our comms guy, Matt Hennessey, is very capable at building a strong profile and that will hopefully help the crowds come back.

AB: 2019 was Robert Elstone’s first full year in charge: is the competition where you thought it would be?

IL: I think it’s not as far advanced as we’d like it to be. It’s at least 50 or 60 per cent better than it was..

AB: In what sense?

IL: Almost every sense. The 12 clubs have never been so together. The camaraderie and the judgement-making process is healthy. The two-referee debate is an example of this: that even though there’s a clear split there, everybody gets together and backs the majority decision. That’s a big advantage. Whether it’s marquee players, shot clock, whatever.. we have the ability to implement change very quickly. It’s even dripping into the Championship, which is a very good thing.

AB: Does Super League have good relations with the lower-leagues?

IL: It’s much better now. There’s a good mutual understanding between the leagues, particularly now one troublesome individual in particular is out of the picture. That good feeling will continue, particularly if we do what we want, which involves setting up a Professional Game Board. That entails Super League, Championship and League 1 being able to say to the RFL together what they want to do. It’s got a bit lost at the moment, because the PGB they’re talking about isn’t what it’s supposed to be, because it has entities like the community game in it. This would be a board who has representatives from all the professional leagues and can air issues on the professional game.

AB: What issues could a board like this tackle with the RFL?

IL: Well it’s a copy of the structure in football; there they have the Premier League, the EFL and the FA all sat on it. It’s chaired by the EFL chairman or Premier League chairman, and you have the chief executive of all the bodies coming to the meetings. That’s a powerful thing. If you get the chief executives of the RFL, Super League and an elected chief of the Championship, the game would go forward dramatically. But it is doing anyway because Super League is driving it forward.

AB: With that in mind, how do you view the return of reserve grade rugby?

IL: We’ve been pushing for it for a long time. There’s no better way to develop young players quickly than have them playing against other men in a reserve league.

AB: We can’t avoid the TV deal renegotiations. What is the game actually doing to be ready for post-2021?

IL: Look, it’s a huge, huge part of our future, this deal. Robert and a lot of other chairmen are keen that we get things actioned quickly to be ready for this. We’ve done a lot of work on it already, and it’s vital that by the middle of next year, we’re ready with a tender and a package we can offer. People don’t realise how much work is being done on broadcast deals. We want the whole of rugby league to be supported but we have to get enough money from the TV negotiations, and we’ve got to make things attractive. We’re talking about doing things differently, and when we get to the end of the process in February, we’ll know what our offering is.

AB: We’ve seen Amazon recently stream the Premier League.. could Super League split its rights up across multiple broadcasters?

IL: If we’re logical about it, it should be one package for one broadcaster. I don’t think we have the right to claim anything, but we would have the right to negotiate far better together as a game. It’s a different world to football.

AB: What do you say to Robert’s critics, who say that he doesn’t done anything for the sport?

IL: I think they’re totally wrong. You don’t see what’s happening in the public eye. We see it behind the scenes, and he’s done a great job. He’s taken the competition forward as I say, and he’s been in negotiations with his hands tied behind his back due to all the mess we had going on before.

AB: How have Toronto been welcomed to Super League?

IL: It wasn’t possible to welcome them until their first meeting, but Bob Hunter has gone down very well. He’s a capable man with a great pedigree, and David Argyle deserves credit for getting him in through the door. That’s a sensible move. The Sonny Bill Williams deal is obviously positive for everyone.

AB: Do you think they could really attract extra home fans for Wolfpack games?

IL: I think so. I’ve never been a great believer that a signing puts bums on seats, but it will make things more attractive. It makes a rather dull Thursday evening game against Toronto suddenly much more exciting.

AB: They’ve made no secret of cap and marquee increases, where do you stand?

IL: I don’t think the cap is necessarily the factor in this. It was interesting to hear some other views on the cap which are difficult to comprehend, like reducing it to £1million, and I think that would be a step backwards, but we could easily find the way to have a third marquee player, assuming we get our finances sorted the way we want. We’re being more ruthless with players who are coming through at Wigan, and what we still do is provide a large percentage of all the players across Super League. The players who don’t quite make it here play for other teams. That speaks very well for the players we develop.


https://www.totalrl.com/ian-lenagan-qa- ... s-toronto/
Anyone can support a team when it is winning, that takes no courage.
But to stand behind a team, to defend a team when it is down and really needs you,
that takes a lot of courage. #18thMan
Post Reply