Finchy

[butt monkey]

I recall a post at the beginning of the season. Bourbon Rat said he was worth the wait. I see him adding a ring to his collection this year. ]

I thought he was already married?

[missyme65]

I have tried to hold back from sayin told you so but no cant hold it back any more....

*think hes the single one of the aussies

[TonyH]

Said it before and I'll say it again i didn't give the lad a chance to settle in but now he is one of my favourite players, absolutely class Finchy lad.

[AdamMac]

I watched him in the NRL so I knew his early form was not a true reflection of his class. Quality player, would love him to have an attack the line SO next to him as he'd be even better!

[BriH]

It's not that long ago when people were saying he should be sent home!!

[TrueBlueWarrior]

This is another prime example of giving a player a chance to show what he is capable of doing week in week out. Finch is class, you do not play for Melbourne Storm in a GF winning team if you are not a good player. Think certain posters need to learn lessons from this example, as well as criticising other players such as Pat, Lima etc. before seeing what they are really capable of. Don't get me wrong it is really hard not to have an opinion when a player is not doing the job in the team you support and love and if they continue not to do the job then by all means criticise, but in most cases they come good especially in recent times. This is another reason why I am bemused with all the stick Lauaki is getting as a future signing, don't get me wrong I know we can only judge off what we see from his current team performances and form etc and I know it does not look 'Wigan' standard but until he puts on the Wigan shirt and consistently performs poorly I will reserve judgement and the same goes for other future signings. I don't care what they have previously done or not done (although obviously reputation, form etc make accepting a player easier) it is what they do in a WIGAN shirt that I am concerned about.

[Wigan_forever1985]

This is another prime example of giving a player a chance to show what he is capable of doing week in week out. Finch is class, you do not play for Melbourne Storm in a GF winning team if you are not a good player. Think certain posters need to learn lessons from this example, as well as criticising other players such as Pat, Lima etc. before seeing what they are really capable of. Don't get me wrong it is really hard not to have an opinion when a player is not doing the job in the team you support and love and if they continue not to do the job then by all means criticise, but in most cases they come good especially in recent times. This is another reason why I am bemused with all the stick Lauaki is getting as a future signing, don't get me wrong I know we can only judge off what we see from his current team performances and form etc and I know it does not look 'Wigan' standard but until he puts on the Wigan shirt and consistently performs poorly I will reserve judgement and the same goes for other future signings. I don't care what they have previously done or not done (although obviously reputation, form etc make accepting a player easier) it is what they do in a WIGAN shirt that I am concerned about.

Sorry and i know im going against the grain here but i don't understand why people consistently say things like this.

Finch was pretty damn dire for the first half of the season yes he's a class act and yes he has found his feet but that doesn't make his poor form at the start of the season any less poor?!?!.

I don't think many (i certainly didn't) ever questioned the lads talent, but he wasn't putting that onto the pitch and while i agree some criticism was harsh for the main part "at the time" it was well deserved.

People cant live off their reputation alone, and if they aren't performing they should cop the stick that it entails.

The notion that bad response from fans has any impact whatsoever on them is dispelled by the fact that 9/10 these players get back to form and are praised for it and rightly so.

Richards and Renouff were TERRIBLE in their first seasons but turned into wigan greats, that doesn't make them any less terrible in their debut season.

Im very pleased that Finchy has found his feet with the team and is going well and i hope that the form he is in continues because he has really steadied the ship in the backs and he leads the team around the park.

If we are to lift the trophy he will be a key component to that

[TrueBlueWarrior]

This is another prime example of giving a player a chance to show what he is capable of doing week in week out. Finch is class, you do not play for Melbourne Storm in a GF winning team if you are not a good player. Think certain posters need to learn lessons from this example, as well as criticising other players such as Pat, Lima etc. before seeing what they are really capable of. Don't get me wrong it is really hard not to have an opinion when a player is not doing the job in the team you support and love and if they continue not to do the job then by all means criticise, but in most cases they come good especially in recent times. This is another reason why I am bemused with all the stick Lauaki is getting as a future signing, don't get me wrong I know we can only judge off what we see from his current team performances and form etc and I know it does not look 'Wigan' standard but until he puts on the Wigan shirt and consistently performs poorly I will reserve judgement and the same goes for other future signings. I don't care what they have previously done or not done (although obviously reputation, form etc make accepting a player easier) it is what they do in a WIGAN shirt that I am concerned about.

Sorry and i know im going against the grain here but i don't understand why people consistently say things like this.

Finch was pretty damn dire for the first half of the season yes he's a class act and yes he has found his feet but that doesn't make his poor form at the start of the season any less poor?!?!.

I don't think many (i certainly didn't) ever questioned the lads talent, but he wasn't putting that onto the pitch and while i agree some criticism was harsh for the main part "at the time" it was well deserved.

People cant live off their reputation alone, and if they aren't performing they should cop the stick that it entails.

The notion that bad response from fans has any impact whatsoever on them is dispelled by the fact that 9/10 these players get back to form and are praised for it and rightly so.

Richards and Renouff were TERRIBLE in their first seasons but turned into wigan greats, that doesn't make them any less terrible in their debut season.

Im very pleased that Finchy has found his feet with the team and is going well and i hope that the form he is in continues because he has really steadied the ship in the backs and he leads the team around the park.

If we are to lift the trophy he will be a key component to that

Not once did I say that Finch was not poor or other examples were not poor in their early Wigan career, I was just stating that certain posters look very silly slating Finch and others but then when the form picks up they are the best thing since sliced bread! I also said that although people do look at reputations and form and rightly so because that is all you can really go off, at the end of the day it is what they do in a Wigan shirt that ultimately counts and also what they do over a sustained period not a 1/3 of a season. Also, I never said that a bad response from fans has any impact negatively on players and Wigan fans are renowned for being more than supportive to players when they least deserve it.

WF19 I am in total agreement that when we lift the trophy Finch will have been a key component in that success haha!

[josie andrews]

I think you will find that most of the people who berated his early performance have since apologised for their early complaints, even though at the time he wasn't playing to his potential, which he confirmed himself & they had every right to complain, they are now praising his skills.

[DaveO]

I think you will find that most of the people who berated his early performance have since apologised for their early complaints, even though at the time he wasn't playing to his potential, which he confirmed himself & they had every right to complain, they are now praising his skills.

I think there is a difference between how some people react to players and in my case Finch and Lauaki sum up my position exactly.

I was not one to berate Finch when things were not going well early on. There were two reasons for this. First of all as others have said he was a class act at Melbourne and it was too early to write that out of consideration. Second and most importantly it seemed to me he was thinking way ahead of his team mates in what he was trying to do. I think only Hoffman was on the same wave length so I reckon the quality was there very early on. It was just the things he tried were not coming off.

Now with Lauaki he hasn't got either of those things to back him up. He hasn't got a great reputation and has a full season of being downright poor.

What these two players also show is something I have thought for a long time. Class players like Finch DO NOT need an entire season to settle down. It is an often used excuse for overseas players in particular that they are finding it hard to adjust and a season of poor form is acceptable for that reason. I think the likes of Finch and Lima both of whom took a while to settle in but have come good show that is not true. Even Pat improved out of sight before the end of his first season when Nobby put him back on the wing.

Class will out sooner rather than later and so that is why I was never one to bag Finch or Lima and have my doubts over Lauaki because he hasn't got over the jet lag quick enough.