Chris Ashton

[Nezza Faz]

Strongly talked about leaving Northampton (possible Saracens link).

Should we be interested in bringing him back, with all the financial consequencies he'll bring ?

In spite of his NZ problems, assume he's a more mature, complete winger than before ? Certainly his pace would be usefull. Then try Charnley as his centre & how much of a partnership would that be ?

[eccywarrior]

more chance of thurston, greg inglis, cam smith, and slater coming and tbh i wouldnt have him back.

[Nezza Faz]

Eccy, wonder if Warriors connection now with Saracens is a forum to have some of our players try union, but then have a clear pathway for them to return back to the club further down the track.

He's talked about as being the best winger in english union, and up there with the world's best, so surely we've got to have some interest in a player we know all about, and who went for the money at a young age ?

After all, we all know rugby's a short career, judging by the comments on the "Joel" thread ! Should we hold that against him forever and a day?

[eccywarrior]

Eccy, wonder if Warriors connection now with Saracens is a forum to have some of our players try union, but then have a clear pathway for them to return back to the club further down the track.

He's talked about as being the best winger in english union, and up there with the world's best, so surely we've got to have some interest in a player we know all about, and who went for the money at a young age ?

After all, we all know rugby's a short career, judging by the comments on the "Joel" thread ! Should we hold that against him forever and a day?

yes but only chris ashton. why? simply because he slagged the game off not that long ago. i dont blame him going union for money as like you said its a short career.

if i was a player who wanted more money id go nrl over union anyday esp with salary cap going up to 6m dollars.

[Wigan_forever1985]

No chance of seeing Chris Ashton back in league IMO. Chris Ashton was for want of a better word a "big head" he loves hearing his own name, and there's no greater exposure especially in this country for rugby as international rugby union.

[Wes]

Chris Ashton wanted to stay at Wigan, he was told that there was no future for him, he got shat on from a great height so no wander he had a pop OH and to try union out for a team who got relegated took balls, thoroughly deserving of the success he has had IMO!

We couldnt afford him now so chances are hell stay in union or sign for wire, they have cap space.

[slimshady]

Chris Ashton wanted to stay at Wigan, he was told that there was no future for him, he got shat on from a great height so no wander he had a pop OH and to try union out for a team who got relegated took balls, thoroughly deserving of the success he has had IMO!

We couldnt afford him now so chances are hell stay in union or sign for wire, they have cap space.

Ashton took the money that was on offer from Northampton. There wasn't much chance of Wigan matching it and even if it was possible it would have been a very poor move to pay so much for a player who wasn't worth it.

He got too big for his boots anyway and the same has happened in rugby union. He has no desire to return to rugby league and Wigan should have absolutely no interest in signing Ashton. He would command a wage far greater than his actual worth and wouldn't add anything to the team that we couldn't get from Charnley.

Ashton has gone, he's burned his bridges and should be forgotten about.

Also, Ashton has never said he wanted to remain at Wigan. He had the option to stay, he chose not to. He wanted to leave for himself, not because he wasn't wanted.

So you think he shouldve signed for Wigan for less than 15k a year after being told by the club the reason he wasnt being given a better deal was because the club werent sure he was going to make it. The truth is the club tried to take the piss out of a young player and he stood his ground and played them at their own game!

[exile in Tiger country]

He was treated apallingly badly by Noble, and by association, Wigan as a club. For Noble to discuss possible deals on national TV when Ashton wasn't there was disgusting.
He was a player with lot to offer and was shafted by Wigan. Good luck too him.
He'd have to lose a bit of flab to play League again anyway, he looks a bit of a chubber.

[slimshady]

So you think he shouldve signed for Wigan for less than 15k a year after being told by the club the reason he wasnt being given a better deal was because the club werent sure he was going to make it. The truth is the club tried to take the piss out of a young player and he stood his ground and played them at their own game!

It was six of one, half a dozen of the other. Like many young players at the time Ashton was still basically on the same contract that he was when he came through the academy which definitely isn't right. That was exactly how there ended up being such a gulf between players wages.
It doesn't really matter what Wigan would have paid him. He'd have gone for whoever offered him the most money and that was almost certainly going to be union. Had he been paid a fair wage at Wigan chances are he'd have still moved to union anyway and taken the money just like Joel Tomkins has and Sam probably will do. Not that you can blame any player for doing that.

It was poor of Maurice Lindsay to fail to improve the contracts of young players when they deserved it but he was right not to be held to ransom by a union club and try to match what was on offer, because then he would have ended up paying Ashton more than he was worth. He hadn't established himself as first choice fullback at the time although that may have been partly down to Noble's selection policy.

Either way, it didn't harm the club. We currently have a much better fullback in Sam Tomkins and another good fullback in the academy. I'd rather have Tomkins at fullback any day and Ashton never looked good playing on the wing in league, and seriously struggled at centre.
Even playing union he still struggles with that one major flaw that his game has always had; his defence is poor, particularly his tackling.

All in all it didn't hurt Wigan too much and I definitely wouldn't want him back at the club. We already have better players.

Not a clue where you are getting your info from but it is absolute TRIPE, Ashton wanted to sign for wigan FACT! Noble tried to shaft him and force his hand by revealing information about contract negotiations on TV. Wigan always try to sign the younger players on the cheap, they did the same with Thornley who also wanted to stay, he was prepared to sign for a lot less money than the RU were offering but he wanted a three year deal and they said no so he left. Also if I remember rightly Ashton was voted player of the season by the fans and it did harm the club because we struggled at FB for a long time after!

[ancientnloyal]

No, his accent has changed.