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Kiwiseddon wrote:

jobo wrote:

medlocke wrote: and yet numerous members on here and RLfans constantly called for the release of Amos Roberts when he was injured, yet again we double standards, if the player is nearly 33 and keeps having set backs while trying to get back to match fitness then surely he should be able to work out that he is now past it and his body is trying to tell him that, i seem to recall Seu Seu being talked into leaving when he was past it so we could bring Stu in, yet Stu seems to want to linger on and take up essential cap space, is it good for the club to be paying a big chunk of the cap to a player that hasn't played in 2 years, not good business is it

Must admit I don't read every post on this forum but who exactly are the numerous posters that called for Amos to be released because of his injury???

As for Fielden, he injured himself playing for Wigan so he deserves looking after and if anyone thinks he's swinging the lead, they need their heads examining. What would you do with a copper who gets badly injured in the line of duty, or a soldier, sack them????

Whilst I was not injured in the line of duty, I am a Copper on long term sick what with my recent diagnosis and am happy to report that my employer has been superb in dealing with me.
To be fired now from my job would have catastrophic effects on my finances and outlook and whilst I appreciate that sport is different, there's still an employer / employee relationship between Wigan RL and Fielden and if he were to be sacked purely for being off sick, I reckon there'd be some legal implications to it and rightly so.

He was contracted on the amount he's being paid safe in the knowledge that injury is part and parcel of the employment he chose. As others have commented, may be he's pushing a bit hard to get back to fitness, which is having an ultimately negative effect but he's not happily sat on the sidelines. He's desperate to get back into the team.

BriH wrote:I too have known what it's like to be long-term sick ('90's) - off work for 15 months. Without having the wonderful support of my employer, BNFL, I wouldn't be here to write this. I would have been another Terry Newton.
I know it's a different situation with Stewart, but, as long as he is under contract, Wigan have a Duty of Care, which should be obvious.
Injuries are an accepted risk with every player.
I personally feel very sorry, that as hard as he has tried to get fit, it hasn't worked out for him.
That is the view of the Coach.

Kittwazzer wrote:I still say he is playing the system. How many times now has he tried to 'come back too soon', only to end up extending his sick leave?

He's now been out as long as Freddy who DID have a serious problem and who DID want to get back into the game.

Sorry, but SF has played us like a Stradivarius!

BriH wrote:

Kittwazzer wrote:I still say he is playing the system. How many times now has he tried to 'come back too soon', only to end up extending his sick leave?

He's now been out as long as Freddy who DID have a serious problem and who DID want to get back into the game.

Sorry, but SF has played us like a Stradivarius!

You're words, not mine.
Seems like you want it both ways.

doc wrote:Worth his weight in gold for helping to keep us up.

Kittwazzer wrote:

doc wrote:Worth his weight in gold for helping to keep us up.

That was Dobson!

cherry.pie wrote:

Kittwazzer wrote:

doc wrote:Worth his weight in gold for helping to keep us up.

That was Dobson!

Are you suggesting Dobson did it all by himself or are there other players who might just deserve a little bit of a mention?

It's alright signing a good halfback but no halfback can play well behind a beaten pack for any real length of time. It's hard enough to do that in one game let alone several in succession.

Our record in Super League that year before Fielden was played 17, won 3, lost 14.
Our record with Fielden in the side was played 11, won 9, lost 2.

I know some might point out that we actually won in the game before Stuart Fielden joined but that was against Catalans who were bottom of the league, was an unconvincing win by a 6 point margin over a team who were pretty fortunate to beat us in that opening game of the season.

One victory isn't an anomaly, we'd beaten Huddersfield twice in the season already, but 4 victories in a row and a run of form where we beat teams mostly placed above us suggests something had changed.

At the risk of getting all Phil Clarke when Fielden arrived he averaged 130 metres per game in his 11 games, 30% more than any other prop in the side, that's more than any forward in this season, and quite possibly more than any prop forward in that season too.

You can't win games without a good pack of forwards and when Fielden joined he provided balance to the props we did have in Scott Logan and Feka and made a massive personal contribution to the team.

We've already seen this year the difference that having strong forwards makes. We dominate in the pack and Matty Smith and Sam Powell fit seamlessly into our team as if they've been playing alongside those players all their careers.
If we don't dominate in the forwards, a possibility against Wire on Saturday, watch Brett Finch look like he's never met the rest of the team in his life.

Staying up obviously wasn't down to one player, and getting players back to full fitness towards the end of the season certainly helped, but when it comes to the single player who made the biggest difference to that season well for me it's Stuart Fielden.