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I know I may get slaughtered from some quarters for this but it doesnt take a genius to work out that Lam`s return from injury is the single most important factor in our season.After making the decision to hope that Lam comes back A1 from such a terrible injury (especially at his age,sorry adrian) then anyone who has witnessed this mans performances over the last 3 years can have little argument in saying that his signing has been the truly 1 "World Class" signing that we have made over the last 5 or 6 years. Yes there are a few ,Craig smith,David Furner,Robbie Mccormack who have contributed greatly but no-one has come anywhere close to producing performances week in week out like the little fellow.
There have been many quotes over the last 12 months that Luke Robinson may be the "New" Andy Gregory but in my view that will never be the case.For the many qualities that The young guy has he lacks 2 very important ones to make it to the very top as a number 7 ,Pace & above all "Natural Ability".This may seem again a bit harsh to be saying this about a 19 year old lad but I know for a fact that there are more than 1 or 2 at the top of the Wigan Organisation who think along the same lines and as such that is why the decision was made to give Lam all the time he needs to get back on the field and not to tie Robinson down on a long term contract. My spies tell me that if a certain player can be tempted at the end of the year then he will be pulling on the No 7 & young Luke will be on his way.To finalise although I am a massive Farrell fan the single most important player for us is Lam and I for one am ecstatic that we didnt "Cut our losses" at the end of last season and give this True Great a chance to go out on a high with the one thing he most richly deserves a " Grand Final Winners Medal". By the way Lammy that`ll be £20 quid.

JUKESAYS posted:
My spies tell me that if a certain player can be tempted at the end of the year then he will be pulling on the No 7 & young Luke will be on his way.

I hope that player isn't supposed to be Andrew Johns. Regardless of the man's talents, he's becoming a liability in terms of injury. Already out for this season, and he missed most of last season as well and part of the year before. Not a risk I would want to take given the money he would want, when balanced against the salary cap I don't think he would be value for money. I suspect we'd have to lose a couple more players to be able to have enough money to bring him in, haven't we got few enough players already?

I agree that Lam is world class and I look forward to his return. What I was refering to when I said to 'cut our losses' is that we don't know whether he'll be as good after such an injury so late in his career and at the begining of the season we weren't sure when he'd be back, hence he is not contracted yet. He is certainly not the future as this will be his last season.

I realise this sounds harsh on Lam but it's nothing against him. It's the fact we need to abide by the salary cap (as stupid as it may be) and we had to get rid of two good players to fit him in.

Robinson hasn't reached his full potential yet (as he's so young), but I thought last season he showed that he had some and I still believe he will show us what he has got before too long this season.

As for us lining someone else up for the No. 7 shirt though, could your spies tell us who this is? I hope it isn't an older Australian because youth is what we need in the team rather than a squad full of aging experience. The only player I can think of that I'd want to wear Wigans No. 7 other than Lammy and Robinson is Paul Deacon.

Fraggle posted:
I hope that player isn't supposed to be Andrew Johns.

John's is out until after the Tri-Nations anyway. He's torn his anterior cruciate ligament and needs a full knee reconstruction.

robjoenz posted:
What I was refering to when I said to 'cut our losses' is that we don't know whether he'll be as good after such an injury so late in his career

A set back of the kind that Lammy has been through can sometimes work in favour of an older player. I know it sounds odd but although a young guy tends to heal quicker and regains fitness faster an older player (providing of course there is no lasting physical damage) has to work a lot harder to regain his fitness. Someone with Lammy's body type (ie hardly anything of him!) shouldn't have to much excess weight to lose and in trying that extra bit harder to prove his fitness could actually come back the better for the lay off. Lets bl**dy hope so anyway !!!!

Although i was in favour of cutting our losses and letting Lam go, i will be glad to see him back. right or wrong it's too late now to change what has been done. However i disagree about the importance that you put on him. Last season he wasn't half the player he was the season before and i certainly think Robbie macormack for me was a better overseas signing and a more important player for us and was unbelievable that Wigan let him go. And again in my opinion Faz is definatly our most important player.

I agree Mario that's why I say the cloud might have a silver lining ...he will come back fitter, with something to prove and the opponents will have to work out how he gels into the team all over again.

i would agree juke. i for one CANNOT wait for lam to get back.. we have missed his ability to turn a game single handed...plus i think it will be benifical to luke.. but i would also say.. that faz is vital to.. but more so in leadership..

It will be good to take some of the weight off Lukes shoulders and it worked last season where they were interchanged to change the game. I think Lammy brings a boost to the team with his gameplay where Faz is more of a presence player (obviously he has skill too). Like you said Wolftown Faz is vital in leadership and that's one of the many things we've lacked so far.