Should Wigan offer Ashton a new contract?

[cpwigan]

My dream would be to see Matty Bowen play fullback for us. However, it is not going to happen. Ashton is the best fullback prospect in the country. Stefan Marsh may come good in 4 or 5 years. Meanwhile :conf:

[- psycho -]

cpwigan posted:
My dream would be to see Matty Bowen play fullback for us.

i mentioned this in another thread. ive wanted bowen since the 2005 grand final that the wests won. he can't seem to get into the queensland outfit now, maybe he wants first team action? id be tempted. but as iv said before..... id be a centre with our qouta spot.

people say full back is a more important role but if we want tog et the best out of calders or richards, then we need a god centre who will provide for them, so in actualy fact, the centre is effecting the wingman to, which is were i think centre becomes a more important role to have a player of such quality.

[GeoffN]

cpwigan posted:
My dream would be to see Matty Bowen play fullback for us. However, it is not going to happen. Ashton is the best fullback prospect in the country. Stefan Marsh may come good in 4 or 5 years. Meanwhile :conf:

I'd love Bowen; unfortunately he's contracted to the Cowboys till the end of next season. All of the top NRL fullbacks are under contract till at least then, as far as I can tell. Maybe we will have to make do with Briscoe, for a year at least.

I'd have liked Ben Hornby, too, but he's just signed a 2-year deal with St. George. Looks like Karmichael Hunt will never leave the Broncos, from what he's saying, Minichiello is signed till 2009, and wouldn't give up his test spot anyway. Brett Hodgson is contracted till 2008; he might be a possible after then, with a little of Pat Richards' influence to persuade him over here.

[cpwigan]

Yes Bowen or Slater may eventually opt for SL with Hunt blocking them in Origin and Aus teams. Bowen could never play centre.

[highland convert]

Just watching ells play dragons. Was not impressed with Jason Ryles but ells Luke Burt well worth a look to see when he is available

[the-Bowtun-Warrior]

1 word - NO

[Fraggle]

Panchitta Marra posted:

FROM A TO B posted:
Controversial as ever and awaiting Turfs response!

With Withers having to retire, we have no immediate replacement for Ashton. There are of course the Briscoe rumours, but if no Briscoe, we are going to struggle to get a half decent fullback on the sort of money that we would have been paying Ashton. With the salary cap, we can't go out and buy world class players to cover every position and with Ashton still maturing, we could have a very good FB without having to pay a small fortune.
I know Ashton has his knockers, but apart from the temper tantrums, he's not had a bad season so far.

What about Chris Melling, has he signed long term for quins, I for one would like to see him back.
Anybody any suggestions on Chris Melling?

I seem to recall reading that he's not long ago signed an extension to his original contract, given he's been a great success for London. Well done to them for taking the initiative and making sure they retain players, unlike our current methods which seem to involve leaving players to hang as long as possible just in case someone with a higher-profile name comes available...

Edit: the contract extension was announced on 30th May, he's been given another 2 year deal even though he's only a few months into his first contract.

http://www.quins.co.uk/newspage.ink?nid ... orytype=RL

[Panchitta Marra]

- psycho - posted:

cpwigan posted:
My dream would be to see Matty Bowen play fullback for us.

i mentioned this in another thread. ive wanted bowen since the 2005 grand final that the wests won. he can't seem to get into the queensland outfit now, maybe he wants first team action? id be tempted. but as iv said before..... id be a centre with our qouta spot.

people say full back is a more important role but if we want tog et the best out of calders or richards, then we need a god centre who will provide for them, so in actualy fact, the centre is effecting the wingman to, which is were i think centre becomes a more important role to have a player of such quality.

I agree with that. Wigan are lagging well behind without players of any real pace. The strong fast centre would break the tackle line and enable the rest to back up.