Morgan Smithies set for NRL move as Wigan Warriors forward heads down under

[medlocke]

If smithies is definitely going i would rather get rid of powell and bring in a thirteen.Not sure who atm but obviously partington is an option.Not really sure about anyone else and im 50/50 on the farrell rumour

Let's see if we can get Nicholson back from Wire.

that would be a good call or even McDonald off leeds.Is the nicholson thing a rumour?

Or, hears an idea, why not find another player with no connection to the club or just move a current player

[nathan_rugby]

If smithies is definitely going i would rather get rid of powell and bring in a thirteen.Not sure who atm but obviously partington is an option.Not really sure about anyone else and im 50/50 on the farrell rumour

Let's see if we can get Nicholson back from Wire.

that would be a good call or even McDonald off leeds.Is the nicholson thing a rumour?

Why would we replace a loose forward with a slightly above average second rower?

[Charriots Offiah]

If smithies is definitely going i would rather get rid of powell and bring in a thirteen.Not sure who atm but obviously partington is an option.Not really sure about anyone else and im 50/50 on the farrell rumour

Let's see if we can get Nicholson back from Wire.

that would be a good call or even McDonald off leeds.Is the nicholson thing a rumour?

No. He is a loose forward though, not sure that Wire has realised this, and I think he will turn out to be a top player.

[Firestarter]

Let's see if we can get Nicholson back from Wire.

that would be a good call or even McDonald off leeds.Is the nicholson thing a rumour?

Why would we replace a loose forward with a slightly above average second rower?

hes better than above average in my book.Something has got to give with cooper and possibly havard out now. Play thompson prop and bring in a backrower/loose forward

[Firestarter]

Let's see if we can get Nicholson back from Wire.

that would be a good call or even McDonald off leeds.Is the nicholson thing a rumour?

No. He is a loose forward though, not sure that Wire has realised this, and I think he will turn out to be a top player.

That would make it easier so hopefully he wants to leave

[Charriots Offiah]

that would be a good call or even McDonald off leeds.Is the nicholson thing a rumour?

No. He is a loose forward though, not sure that Wire has realised this, and I think he will turn out to be a top player.

That would make it easier so hopefully he wants to leave

He’s still very friendly with the Wigan lads but I think his ship may have sailed.

[DaveO]

Agree with the earlier post if every play only played their contract length then Wigan wouldnt have any transfer fee's which is a great way to recoup money invested in development and put it toward new players

We dont know the situation Smithies could have told Rads et al im off in 2 years - the club get him to sign for 5 on the agreement he can look after 2 and they can claim a big transfer its risky but a lot of clubs use contract length to protect loss of an asset for free - Salford and croft is a great example

Why in earth do Wigan need transfer fees and when did it start behaving like a lower division soccer side that must sell to survive?

Looks like Salford have had to sell three of their best players including Dupree to us to survive but Wigan are not in that position.

As to the idea the club and Smithies came to some agreement that he would sign a long contract so the club would get s a fee I think that is ridiculous speculation. A player has no guarantee another club will pay a fee so if he wants a release clause it would be to to go for free after so many years of his contract.

In Smithies case I am pretty sure his original contract ended at the end of this season and he agreed a new two year deal. He didn’t sign a five year contract three years ago.

[DaveO]

And the RL cap instantly nullifies any real benefit as any additional work or advertisement farrell does/brings then counts on the cap.

That’s if the player earns any money from his image rights himself so Farrell would not be able to earn money from endorsing products or whatever as clubs just don’t allow any players to do so because of that daft rule.

The sport and possibly the club would try and milk the publicity. How willing he’d be to be doing the PR for free when if he was in RU he’d get paid I have no idea but if that’s the plan I think they will have miscalculated. Within the game he would just be seen as coming for a last pay day like an older Aussie player. Outside of it, it might raise a few eyebrows. For about five minutes.

Salary cap dispensation would offset that. He won't count on the cap at all if reports were correct a few years ago. There's no risk to the club at all if our new owner is happy to bankroll this.

Salary cap dispensation would offset what? Owen Farrell being allowed to earn money off his image rights?

Way to go to piss off the rest of the team. Player with zero senior RL experience is allowed to earn a fortune off endorsements yet the rest of the team cannot do so.

The New Talent rule is the salary counts £0 on the cap in year one and 50% in year two then it finishes.

They could of course pay him a fortune in year one via image rights or just salary but why anyone would think it was a good idea when there is no guarantee he will make a go of it and worth pushing the boat out like that I have no idea.

[pedro]

That’s if the player earns any money from his image rights himself so Farrell would not be able to earn money from endorsing products or whatever as clubs just don’t allow any players to do so because of that daft rule.

The sport and possibly the club would try and milk the publicity. How willing he’d be to be doing the PR for free when if he was in RU he’d get paid I have no idea but if that’s the plan I think they will have miscalculated. Within the game he would just be seen as coming for a last pay day like an older Aussie player. Outside of it, it might raise a few eyebrows. For about five minutes.

Salary cap dispensation would offset that. He won't count on the cap at all if reports were correct a few years ago. There's no risk to the club at all if our new owner is happy to bankroll this.

Salary cap dispensation would offset what? Owen Farrell being allowed to earn money off his image rights?

Way to go to piss off the rest of the team. Player with zero senior RL experience is allowed to earn a fortune off endorsements yet the rest of the team cannot do so.

The New Talent rule is the salary counts £0 on the cap in year one and 50% in year two then it finishes.

They could of course pay him a fortune in year one via image rights or just salary but why anyone would think it was a good idea when there is no guarantee he will make a go of it and worth pushing the boat out like that I have no idea.

I thought image rights counted on the cap in the UK

[Charriots Offiah]

Salary cap dispensation would offset that. He won't count on the cap at all if reports were correct a few years ago. There's no risk to the club at all if our new owner is happy to bankroll this.

Salary cap dispensation would offset what? Owen Farrell being allowed to earn money off his image rights?

Way to go to piss off the rest of the team. Player with zero senior RL experience is allowed to earn a fortune off endorsements yet the rest of the team cannot do so.

The New Talent rule is the salary counts £0 on the cap in year one and 50% in year two then it finishes.

They could of course pay him a fortune in year one via image rights or just salary but why anyone would think it was a good idea when there is no guarantee he will make a go of it and worth pushing the boat out like that I have no idea.

I thought image rights counted on the cap in the UK

They do. If Owen does come to Wigan it won’t be for the money.