pieater-alex posted:
After reading what people have to say about Richards it looks like he could be on his way.
However if Richards was to go we have 2 problems.
Who would our winger be?
Who would our goal kicker be?
Now if he has been practising his kicking in the off season, then why would we let him go. I think we would miss Richards if he went because we wouldn't have a goal kicker.
However if you read the article it only says 1 player is likely to leave and I think this will be Vaealiki because of the reasons I stated above.
We have replacements for DV however replacing Richards wont be as easy. Not as a player but as a goal kicking winger. Who can play in almost all the back positions.
We perhaps should remember that no-one at Wigan has said anything about Pat Richards leaving. Rumours last season held that he was unhappy here. Other people then stuck their oar in by saying that he's crap and should be sent home. But no-one at the club has said this.
Now, John Kear has admitted that he'd be interested in signing Richards. I'll bet he would. The same way he'd be interested in signing Jamie Lyon and Darren Lockyer if they too were available.
The only way I can see Wigan releasing Pat Richards would be if there was a very decent player exchange or cash settlement as part of the deal, and I doubt Wakey could manage that.
On the other hand, DV is a far more likely proposition. It seems pretty certain that Wigan don't want him any more, that they feel he's costing them too much money and that they need to free up some cap space in order to sign a prop.
I wouldn't at all be surprised to see DV go to Wakey, but only if Wigan had someone lined up who they could spend the cap money on straight away. (They could, of course, need to release him in order to get under the cap - which wouldn't surprise me, given their past record - but I'm hoping against hope that that isn't the case, especially with the recent poor signings we've made).