Wigan Warriors: The 18th Man - ‘I hope we offer Willie Isa an extension to help develop Nsemba and Walters’

David Bailey:

Silly season is upon us as once again as we hit May 1st. When any players coming off contract are allowed to tie up their futures elsewhere if they can't strike a deal with their current club.

Whilst it's not usually a busy time for incomings at Wigan Warriors, there are still some interesting subplots to unfold.

Now that the spine, and the coaching staff are contracted for quite some time, it's the fringes of the squad where loose ends will be tied up.

Senior players coming to the end of their time, include Mike Cooper. He's well liked and has shown great determination in returning. But with the likes of Hill and Makin about, I'm not sure he will go around again as Wigan have to upgrade some of the youngsters' deals.

Willie Isa is another old stager and there has to be a question mark around if he goes around again too. That being said, he's one of Peets trusted lieutenants and handy to have around. He may get another deal to help develop Nsemba and Walters.

Patrick Mago I believe has an option for next year and on current form, Wigan would be foolish to not renew it. He's the very definition of an impact prop over the last 12 months and becoming an integral part of the team, slotting in at 13 when needed.

Ryan Hampshire's attitude has been exemplary and I'm sure if he's happy being 18th man regularly, he will stay on. If he has desires for more regular rugby, I doubt Wigan would stand in his way.

Finally Jacob Douglas. Currently on loan, his chances in the first team have been non-existent with Hampshire and Eckersley getting nods ahead of him. The danger with young players like him is if he desires more opportunities then he may make the jump. Wigan players are highly desired across the UK Rugby league sides.

Another stretch of away games awaits the Warriors, and if we can get through the next seven weeks relatively unscathed, we have a fantastic run of home games beginning with London Broncos on June 21st. With only two defeats at home in Super League last season, it will definitely give the Warriors an advantage if they can stick by the top two places until then.

Stephen Ford:

We have I believe a small number of players who are off contract at the end of the season but we will need to manage their replacements or contract extension with some in depth analysis and thought if we are to successfully improve the quality of the first-team squad.

Obviously my views have zero knowledge of cap limitations but you cannot consider options without including this potential limitation even if my knowledge is pretty limited on current status of the cap as a whole and is virtually zero on a player by player basis.

For me personally the easiest decision on a contract extension would be Douglas who I hope we can agree to a contract extension pretty quickly. I haven’t seen many games where Douglas has played but when I have I’ve been impressed with him, particularly his pace. He should be pushing Miski for a first team place within the next 12 months.

Hampshire is a really good squad player and I assume on a relatively low salary. Ideally I would like to keep him but limited first team appearances and maybe his salary expectations will make him a target for a lot of Super League clubs. If he does leave I cannot think of another Super League player who could give us the cover in the squad that Hampshire currently gives us. If he leaves and is not replaced then for me this will weaken the squad.

He’s only been out of action for a few weeks but without Isa defensively we seem to be lacking a bit of aggressiveness and coherence that he supplies by the bucketload. Although he counts on the quota spot, if his injury isn’t a career ending one I would hope that we will offer him a year’s extension to help develop Nsemba and Walters. If he decides to retire then that would give us an opportunity to look at potential young second grade NRL backrowers with potential who would be a gamble but wouldn’t impact the salary cap too much.

I look at Cooper and Mago together as I think we could afford to lose one or the other but I would be happy if we retained one of them. Cooper may well decide to retire due to age and his recent injury record. Mago has come on leaps and bounds in the last 12 months but his defensive abilities particularly in big games is still a little questionable. Personally if we can only retain one I would look to retain Cooper as Eseh can replace Mago as he plays a similar style of play with his ability to offload.

Only a few decisions to be made but still very difficult ones for Radlinski and Peet to resolve. We have had some significant changes in the last season so hopefully we can retain maybe three or four of the players out of contract at the end of this season.

Darren Wrudd:

Not a lot to say about last week's performance other than below par in every aspect of the game. I would like to have been privy to Matt Peet’s analysis with the players, as although he is the picture of calm and controlled emotion I bet some harsh home truths were broadcast. The players seem an honest bunch though and even they will know that if a little enthusiasm is all that’s needed to put them off their game plan, then a hard look in the mirror was required.

I was surprised to see Liam Farrel named in this week's squad as I really thought he had taken a big knock which affected his whole game against Hull KR. I hope he came through the French test last night ok.

I predict (writing this on Wednesday) that a reaction from the Catalans after their poor result against Leigh, will not have been enough and we put a polished performance in on home turf again. I hope so, we need to put that behind us quickly.

Looking forward to the future of this squad, I was surprised to learn that only five players were out of contract after this season but out of them I would love to see Ryan Hampshire given an extension to stay on. He has such value to this club in his ability but also his attitude around the club. Everyone speaks so highly of him, it can only have a huge positive effect on the squad to have him involved and when called upon, he does his job in whatever position required and does it well. Another I can’t help but hope won’t hang up his boots is Willie Isa. The workload he takes on board is simply immense. Defending, his enthusiasm was sorely missed against Hull KR and will be hard to replace if he is out for a lengthy spell. But his age is only against him if he lets it and with the way he trains I would love to see him back and fit and leading the way again.

On Saturday we went along to the Wheelchair Rugby games at Robin Park and it was good to see a good few fans turn up to watch. Both our sides won on the day and there was some silky skill on show, with Adam Rigby showing how things were done with a couple of great tries, but the thing that impressed me the most was the sheer joy in the players from all sides as they clearly are having such fun. Joking with team mates and opposition alike throughout the matches, it really is a beacon to what sport is all about. Well done all.

Glynn Bradshaw:

A bad day at the office last Friday. There’s no need to press the panic button just yet, but I am a little concerned that the two “better” teams we have played, we have been second best.

However, there is a long time to go in the season, and plenty of time to improve. I’m looking forward, like a lot of fans, to seeing Walters in a Warriors jersey, but may have to wait for the Giants game.

Believe we have five players out of contract, expect the extra year option to be taken up on Mago and Douglas, think Isa will retire and be given some role at the club, and Cooper and Hampshire to leave, but we’ll see.

Fingers crossed for a reaction to the defeat last week, and a good performance and a victory.