No club ever gets recruitment 100% spot on but we do seem to have had some dodgy signings in recent times.
I've no issue with the club signing French. He's a star player, good teams need star players and he's a better fullback than Hardaker. I know a lot of people didn't like the idea of Hardaker playing centre but last season French at 1 and Zak at 3 worked well. We had outstanding cover at fullback and a very strong defensive presence on that right edge. He wasn't the greatest attacking threat but Gildart was limited when playing that right side - most teams attack better down their left edge than their right. French was good recruitment for me.
The signing of Greenwood in Wane's last season also seemed like good recruitment - if a little fortunate because we knew Bateman was leaving and Greenwood became available immediately. Greenwood's size on the edges gave us something different, added a new threat and made us incredibly dangerous in that Grand Final winning year. Then injuries cost him and he lost form. Last season he played better and was a threat, but I don't think he played well enough to earn a new contract. He did show that we benefit a lot from having a different sort of threat on our edges - someone with size who is capable of an offload and can't be brought down easily.
Bringing back Bateman? Fair enough, most would have wanted him back. He was good in the NRL. Played incredibly well for us. It was inevitable.
Signing Field? I can understand the signing in terms of few players being available at the time and no guarantee we'd be able to convince Hastings and French to stay. The only issue is once we did confirm Hastings and French we were left with an unbalanced squad. It's a risk I think we had to take though just in case.
Bibby? I'm still on the fence with him. We let Sarginson go who wasn't an ideal centre but was a phenomenally hard worker. Bibby for me also doesn't seem to be an ideal centre - I don't think I've seen him pass the ball when playing in that position. He makes a strong carry but for me not enough of them. When you consider we lost Sarginson and Davies in recent years - Bibby's work rate doesn't compare. He's done well on the wing and I've no concerns when he plays there. He's also very strong in the tackle. For me Bibby is destined for the back row.
Hastings was a good signing, Hardaker proved to be a good signing. I think our recruitment looks pretty good....until you get to the front row.
The good
2011 - Jeff Lima - Exactly what we needed at the time. Fit in well with our pack. Absolute workhorse
The decent
2012 - Ben Flower - Never outstanding but became a key player and one of the smartest defenders
2014 - Tony Clubb - In his early years a decent signing.
2020 - Brad Singleton - Helped us get to a Grand Final. Decent player. Not the sort of prop we desperately need but also the sort of prop all clubs do need within the team.
The one's that did okay but then went on to better things at other clubs
2012- Gil Dudson - An okay player for us. Became a reasonably good player at Salford but nothing special
2013 - Scott Taylor - Very hit and miss - now a very good prop for Hull
2015 - Lee Mossop - Nowhere near as good as he was before he left - but became better than all our current props while at Salford. Not quite as good now though.
The short term signings to fill a gap?
2011 - Ben Cross - Pretty much nothing to report. It happened, then he got injured.
2014 - Jordan James - Was a stop gap and actually did okay for about 15 games. Never Wigan quality but couldn't fault the effort at the time and felt harsh putting either of these two in the bad list.
The bad
2012 - Epalahame Lauaki - Wasn't even a prop - just a second row who had 1 good game
2014 - Andy Powell - Remember him? - awful, awful signing
2014 - Eddy Pettybourne - Poor overall. Not good enough for the level he was expected to play at
2014 - Sam Hopkins (
)
2015 - Taulima Tautai - Had an outstanding season for Wakefield before he signed - never used in the same way for us and got progressively worse (except for 4 weeks before he signed a contract extension)
2015 - Larne Patrick - A nothing signing - offered very little - disappeared into obscurity after that
2016 - Frank Paul Nu'uasala - Just no
2017 - Romain Navarrete - Started in a Grand Final but poor overall
2018 - Gabriel Hamlin - Was hit and miss - maybe had potential but was an idiot and also exactly the same as most of our other props. Small and hard working
2019 - Joe Bullock - Showed some potential - had moments but now ultimately looks like another poor signing. Hardly gets any minutes on the field and hasn't looked the part
2020 - George Burgess - One of the most expensive mistakes the club has ever made
2020 - Mitch Clark - One of Super League’s most destructive forwards who has built the reputation as one the league’s fiercest middles. Just kidding. Awful.
Should also lump Tony Clubb in the bad category for his most recent contract extension. Never at any point looked good enough in the last two years. What were the club thinking?