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I just hope Faz does well even in a sport I loathe. I hope we do not lose his son though to the rah rah code. That would hurt especially as he is a chip of the old block.

damien morrissey posted:

Cruncher posted:

robjoenz posted:
I don't think it has... you often hear Robinson referred to as the 'ex-Wigan player' or 'the player that learn his trade in league.'

Even the phrase 'learned his trade in league' would annoy me. The lad was close to being an RL veteran when we let him go, yet Unionites treat him as though his sports career only began when he arrived at Sale, and, as Dave says, the player himself seems to encourage it.

Something about the way Robinson converted is always going to leave a nasty taste in my mouth. Whether it was for the challenge, or for money (which an informant of mine reliably insists it was), we'll never know, but I feel he's just been a tad too eager to buy into the Union vision of the world.

Faz is definitely different, and on a personal level, I wish him all the best.

Cruncher i think you might be interested in Billys version of events surrounding his departure from the club, it is his version of events so you will have to make your own mind up but some of his points of reference seem to fit. For me the loss of Billy started the decline in our fortune as a club but thts a personal opinion

It certainly coincided with the end of our period of dominance, but there were all sorts of other factors involved in that as well - not least our new controllers being, at the time, more interested in building up the Latics.

I don't know what Robinson's version of events involves. It might have been because RU was offering more money than salary capped Wigan could afford; it might have been because he genuinely thought there was a challenge in a game where almost none of the other players were anywhere near as quick or elusive as he was.

But at the end of the day, irrational though it may seem, I found his defection far more painful than any of the others. In all probability this is because he became something of an ambassador for a game that I loathe; but also it's because he was entirely a product of RL, yet went on to help a previously average England RU side win the world cup, while British RL remains a joke on the international scene. There were also comments attributed to him later, to the effect that he found RU more complex, faster, more physically demanding etc, when every man and his dogs knows it isn't true. Possibly he never said any of it; similar happened with Shaun Edwards, but Edwards later repudiated these comments.

I think you're right, actually. Above all, Robinson's loss to RU symbolised to me the downturn in Wigan RL's fortunes. At one time, great players came to us, they didn't leave us. At one time nobody could match our spending power, let alone beat it hands down. At one time there was no greater honour for a rugby player - of any codes (Inga, Botica - all agreed) than turning out in the famous Cherry and White.

In the light of this, I'm probably being unduly hard on JR. Perhaps in my mind, his defection has come to embody all the things that seemed to go wrong for us from the moment we were taken over by Whelan and moved to the JJB.

you should have a read of his autobiography, as i said its his version of events. After reading what he had to say i cant say i blame him. It showed what a state the club was in and explains where the financial mismanagement led us and the slide to our current situation.

As i said its worth a look at.

I've always found the RL v RU debate bizarre. They might share a common ancestor but over the years have evolved into quite different sports, offering different 'attractions' to each fan base. So what if a player switches from one code to another?

Currently it's mainly from RL to RU but that certainly hasn't always been the case. As with most things the flow of players is driven by financial reward. Rugby is a contact sport where players can have a relatively short career, so who are we to blame them for seeking the best paid job? At least now players are free to choose where they play and more importantly can switch back.

If Jason Robinson had joined Chelsea FC on £120k a week would we see the same comments questioning the mans loyalty/integrity?

Having watched and fanactically supported Andy Farrell in a Wigan jersey for many years cant wait to watch Andy Farrell (the individual) play in an England one.

Ditto oh Bad one.

I quite like this article by Dave Woods:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 313389.stm