too ian lenaghan

[shaunedwardsfanclub]

Smith and Green are simply keeping the seat warm for Williams and Hampshire. I expect both of these young guys to get more exposure at SL level this year witha view to them stepping up permanently in the next 12/24 months. They are a lethal combination and I can see no value in converting Hampshire into a fullback. My view has always been, and I see no reason to change my mind, that you want your best players handling the rugby ball more than anybody else,hence the reason that Hampshire should play 6.

With regard to Smith and Green, they are not the most natural rugby players that I have ever seen but they have got the job done when it mattered.

[Owd Codger]

I'm not jumping on the bandwagon of calling Mr Lenagan, but I think some of your argument is wrong.

Shaun Wane was the under 18's then under 21's coach long before Mr Lenagan's tenure began.

We won several Grand Finals with both young academy sides during & after Waney's time as an academy coach.

I think you are wrong to say academy teams dropped in standard. I've watched the majority of our team today, & others who have left for one reason or another, come thru the system. In fact I'm still friends & still in contact with many of them & their families.

I'm friends with Lockers & his family, just with watching him play from a young age at Pats.

We also had the same team when Madge took over, apart from Deacs, & Waney was promoted to Assistant Coach.

We were the 'nearly there' team getting to several Grand/Semi Finals but always falling at the last hurdle.

Madge & Waney gave the players confidence in themselves & their ability besides the game plan to win these games.

Mr Lenagan took over & although he has been 'thrifty' with the cash we have been very fortunate to be in & win finals, for that I am grateful

Sorry Josie, but at the time that Whelan owned the club, the general standard of the Academy in general with the odd exceptions was beginning to drop. Since IL has took over, the standard has gone better with more quality young players being signed and more getting into the first team squad with less poorer outside signings.

This is simply not true.

Wane was the Academy coach under ML/DW for several years before IL took over.

Players like Sam T could not get a game not because of DW but because Brian Noble was too stupid to play him.

The academy production line has never dried up. It has actually been a pretty consistent feature of the club since ML ran it in the mid to late 80's.

Where do you think players like Hansen and Lockers came from?

Add a few years and we get Faz and Charnley.

There has been a steady progression of young players graduating to the first team since 1985.

Not all make it but your assertion

"but at the time that Whelan owned the club, the general standard of the Academy in general with the odd exceptions was beginning to drop"

is demonstrable nonsense.

Yes there, has but only a decreasing number were getting into the first team squad when Whelan owned it, a situation which has increased under the ownership of IL.

Most of the first team squad in the time of Whelan was poor standard signings from outside like Ainscough, Chester, Johns, Moran, Orr, Sculthorpe, Seuseui, Vaealiki, Wilkes etc and made up with the odd better young players from the Academy like Hock, Hansen, O'Loghlin plus the odd decent overseas players like Dallas, Fletcher and Richards.

We even nearly got relegated during that period and I suspect that was the main reason why IL as a born and bred Wiganer decided enough was enough and bought the club.

The result has been better squads of signings with more home grown players, the winning of trophies and increased attendances at the DW.

And some still moan!

[nellywelly]

I wonder how long we will keep micky mac before IL sells him
thats what I worry about . IL will not put his hand in his pocket to keep any one worth there salt. To keep selling your best players is not the way to improve your side. His one big buy looks like a load of rubbish to me, we would have been better not buying Bowen a player who thinks he can come hear in his last season and milk us for all he can before he retires. This man reminds me of some other players who have come over here and done the same thing

[Wigan_forever1985]

I think that depends on Mickey Mac and whether or not he harbours ambitions to play in the NRL. He was a stand out in the WCC and the Aussies love a "hard man" I think he would get in NRL with relative ease if he wanted

[Southern Softy]

I would be much more worried about an Aussie club coming in with an offer for Scott Taylor. Can't be long after his display in the WCC.

[Kittwazzer]

I wonder how long we will keep micky mac before IL sells him
thats what I worry about . IL will not put his hand in his pocket to keep any one worth there salt.

it starts with a player wanting to play NRL, not the other way round. IL can't sell a player to an NRL club if he doesn't want to go. I would be concerned if he was prepared to sell our best players to our main rivals but that is not the case.

[Owd Codger]

I wonder how long we will keep micky mac before IL sells him
thats what I worry about . IL will not put his hand in his pocket to keep any one worth there salt.

it starts with a player wanting to play NRL, not the other way round. IL can't sell a player to an NRL club if he doesn't want to go. I would be concerned if he was prepared to sell our best players to our main rivals but that is not the case.

Correct, it is the decision of the players themselves these days and the best any Chairman can do is get a transfer fee for them before they become a free agent.

IL is no different to other good Chairmen like Caddick and McMannus when it comes to running a steady ship and not ending in a situation like Bradford who are sinking like the Titanic!

[Panchitta Marra]

Could be seen as a shrewd, excellent move by the NRL in getting the WCC switched back to Australia with the best SL team and its young talent on show and I dare say available and open to options that the NRL could provide to them.
Plenty to pick from in the wigan squad.

[No straw damn us]

Could be seen as a shrewd, excellent move by the NRL in getting the WCC switched back to Australia with the best SL team and its young talent on show and I dare say available and open to options that the NRL could provide to them.
Plenty to pick from in the wigan squad.

The Aussies already know about the young players over here even before they play in the first team.

[Panchitta Marra]

Could be seen as a shrewd, excellent move by the NRL in getting the WCC switched back to Australia with the best SL team and its young talent on show and I dare say available and open to options that the NRL could provide to them.
Plenty to pick from in the wigan squad.

The Aussies already know about the young players over here even before they play in the first team.

I agree with what your saying straw but when those players are over there in the shop window its easier to see first hand how they perform in a more intense NRL environment and also have the opportunity to talk to the player(s) direct.