Gareth Thomas

[emperorkel]

There are two things regarding all of this which concern me. First and most importantly Thomas, irrespective of how good a RU player he was and his age, is not good enough to play for Wigan and would not figure in the top four players at the club in any position you care to consider.
Secondly I have spoken to a former barrister friend of mine and he says that if the club are offering for sale season tickets in the knowledge that some "home" matches are to be played away from the DW and that they fail to disclose this information to the people they are making the offer to it would be considered to be a breach of the Sale of Goods Act and they would be liable to prosecution. Obviously he throws in certain caveats like playing at Orrell or Leigh since these could be considered to be near enough constitute little or no disruption and of course if plans had to be made because of thunavailability of the DW for any reason.

I always try to be optimistic but I have to say that the current rumours do give me any good feelings about next season at the club none of the rumoured signings could be considered to be an improvement on what we have and we were not good enough this season to get to the grand final.

[DaveO]

There are two things regarding all of this which concern me. First and most importantly Thomas, irrespective of how good a RU player he was and his age, is not good enough to play for Wigan and would not figure in the top four players at the club in any position you care to consider.

And that should have been the end of the matter from Wigan's point of view. It is not Wigan's job to promote the game in Wales and I think any so called benefit of having Thomas on the books, film or no film, is being exaggerated.

Secondly I have spoken to a former barrister friend of mine and he says that if the club are offering for sale season tickets in the knowledge that some "home" matches are to be played away from the DW and that they fail to disclose this information to the people they are making the offer to it would be considered to be a breach of the Sale of Goods Act and they would be liable to prosecution. Obviously he throws in certain caveats like playing at Orrell or Leigh since these could be considered to be near enough constitute little or no disruption and of course if plans had to be made because of thunavailability of the DW for any reason.

I think any such plans need to be disclosed up front regardless of the legal ramifications. It's is only good customer relations to let you know what you are buying and why any change to fixtures would be made.

We all begrudgingly accept schedules being changed due to Sky but I think it is unfair to abuse peoples loyalty to the club by taking fixtures away from the DW when there is no need. I would say many season ticket holders will still buy their tickets because they like to see the people they sit near each game, like their seats and enjoy going to games with their family and friends. That loyalty should simply not be abused by the club.

My season ticket pack has arrived but it won't be acted upon until I find out just what is happening.

I always try to be optimistic but I have to say that the current rumours do give me any good feelings about next season at the club none of the rumoured signings could be considered to be an improvement on what we have and we were not good enough this season to get to the grand final.

I am sure if the worst comes to the worst and we lose Joel sign Thomas etc the fact we have won the GF and CC in successive years will have people looking to justify IL presiding over these things.

[emperorkel]

DaveO
I completely agree that any new signings should only be recruited on the basis of improving the squad but this surely cannot be the case with the rumoured recruits from Crusaders so until they are officially announced it really is a case of no news is good news.
As to season tickets, as I said my friend is a former barrister, I won’t go into why he is a former barrister let’s just say it is not from choice. His view is that the offer of a season ticket includes admission to a number of home games and that this is central to the offer. There are other benefits but these benefits are not the fundamental part of the purchase. The club do not agree to play all games on Friday nights and therefore a change to this for whatever reason is not a break in the contract nor, in his opinion, would a change to Orrell or Leigh since these could be considered to be part of the greater Wigan conurbation, however moving a home game to any part of Wales when the club had knowledge of this at the time the season tickets were offered would be a serious breach.
Now this is a guy who never gives a yes or no answer and never uses one word when twenty will do and he doubts if any supporter would want to take legal action against the club. As you say it all comes down to loyalty

[DaveO]

DaveO
I completely agree that any new signings should only be recruited on the basis of improving the squad but this surely cannot be the case with the rumoured recruits from Crusaders so until they are officially announced it really is a case of no news is good news.

That is how I see it as well. I keep moving the Harris as Wigan coach threads that appear in the main forum to here as well not just because it is still a rumour so this is where they belong but partly because I hope it's not true!

As to season tickets, as I said my friend is a former barrister, I won’t go into why he is a former barrister let’s just say it is not from choice. His view is that the offer of a season ticket includes admission to a number of home games and that this is central to the offer. There are other benefits but these benefits are not the fundamental part of the purchase.

I am sure he is right but my point was regardless of that it is just very poor to abuse the fans loyalty by taking games away from the DW.

The club do not agree to play all games on Friday nights and therefore a change to this for whatever reason is not a break in the contract nor, in his opinion, would a change to Orrell or Leigh since these could be considered to be part of the greater Wigan conurbation, however moving a home game to any part of Wales when the club had knowledge of this at the time the season tickets were offered would be a serious breach.

I am sure he is correct there as well. As far as I can see the pricing is based on the usual circumstances and I have seen no small print that says "we can take a game to Wales if we want".

You might want to ask him how he sees the fact Wigan had to move a play off game outside the Wigan conurbation previously affects things. Now I know those games are not covered by the season ticket but the club may try and use it as an excuse that any game can be moved.

Now this is a guy who never gives a yes or no answer and never uses one word when twenty will do and he doubts if any supporter would want to take legal action against the club. As you say it all comes down to loyalty

I am sure the club would be astonished if a fan did and lets face it who has the money to take the club to court these days even if they wanted to? Maybe the small claims court would work!

[OAMJSONA]

NO ambition if we sign a 38 year old who is too old to play our game and very much so un proven anyway

[Sutty]

NO ambition if we sign a 38 year old who is too old to play our game and very much so un proven anyway

But there's so much more to it than that though.
I agree, if we were paying for a 38 year old ex RU player, and proposing that he plays in most matches, then I'd agree with what you are saying. But, I am convinced that he is being signed because he wont cost the club anything, with the RFL allegedly paying his wages. He's still got a massive profile in RU, so if he can use that to help promote our game and club, then I'm happy with that.
I'm willing to wait until we know whether he's actually been signed and wait and see how much he ends up playing before I pass judgement. I still think it's more of a long term publicity / promotion strategy though.

[DaveO]

NO ambition if we sign a 38 year old who is too old to play our game and very much so un proven anyway

But there's so much more to it than that though.
I agree, if we were paying for a 38 year old ex RU player, and proposing that he plays in most matches, then I'd agree with what you are saying. But, I am convinced that he is being signed because he wont cost the club anything, with the RFL allegedly paying his wages. He's still got a massive profile in RU, so if he can use that to help promote our game and club, then I'm happy with that.
I'm willing to wait until we know whether he's actually been signed and wait and see how much he ends up playing before I pass judgement. I still think it's more of a long term publicity / promotion strategy though.

The problem with all that is the rumour is he is being signed as a player. If he plays then we are prostituting ourselves because there is no way a player of his vintage and of his lack of RL experience should get a game with Wigan or for that matter any other SL side because given his age he is just too old. JasonRobinson is the Sam age FFS.

[OJ]

Ah well, another rumour bites the dust.

http://www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague ... ml&BID=480


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