Tie those Kangaroos down, Wigan are coming!

Wigan chairman Ian Lenagan was in Sydney on a Kangaroos hunt after seeing Australia beat New Zealand 28-12 in Friday's Centenary Test. The Warriors are looking to life after Trent Barrett and "the man with the biggest chequebook in the game", according to the Daily Telegraph in Sydney, is set to wield it. Australia forwards Carl Webb and Ryan Hoffman were reportedly on Lenagan's radar - Darren Lockyer was and maybe still is, but his agent insists he'll still be at Brisbane in 2009. Before the match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Lenagan had been due to meet up with Parramatta hooker Mark Riddell.  "Anybody playing for Australia one has to contemplate. There is a shortage (at Wigan) and we are always looking for good players," Lenagan was quoted as saying before the game. "We will be watching players from both sides, but I don't want to name any individual targets. It is too early for that." Watch this space ...

Comments

[Brownie.Kougari]

Wouldn't this money be better spent on developing their own juniors? If a team has to rely on clubs on the other side of the world to produce their talent they don't deserve to be in a first grade competition.

[jonny h]

I'm living in NZ at the moment and originally hail from Wigan. The consensus within the NRL is that players want money and they don't care where they go to get it. Wigan might not be the nicest place to live but who cares for 3 years when you're earning such huge money. English players should benefit as well from playing with some of the worlds best! And at this stage the Aussies are a mile ahead of the English game

[Numptyboy]

Oliver, who not start with the dozens and dozens of Ausstie stars who have transfered their talents to Wigan. Jeez.
Wigan ain't that bad, you know. Mind you, Leigh is ...

[oliver]

sydney or wigan? I've been to both places and unfortunately there is simply no reason or amount of money that would persuade a high ranking aussie league player to switch from the glorious Sydney to the dump that is wigan, an insular place inhabited by insular people leading insular lives. In one word. Boring

[Lance]

I know the Super League has bucket-loads of cash to splash, but I cannot understand why a player from Australia that earns say $AUD600,000 would leave the NRL and join the Super League for an extra $250,000. Take Matt King for an example, I went to watch the Warrington-St Helens match recently and the Wolves home ground is like a tin shed. The climate is bitterly cold. Cost of living is twice as much, In Australia, rugby league gets the recognition it deserves whereas in the UK it's a second-tier sport. Even the British government's funding reflects this. Unless the money is SUBSTANTIALLY, I'd stay in Australia where the sport gets the recognition it deserves and a player can make a name for themselves.

[Dave]

Not really taking them away. Merely giving them an offer of a better life away from the colonies!

[Roger D]

The very same tb, the very same. Mind you I'd love to see Hoffman play for us.

[tb]

The Telegraph …Is this the same Sydney newspaper which claimed earlier this year that Mick Robinson and Terry Matterson were going to sign up all the top Australian talent for Cas this season?

[KWC]

Is Mr Lenagan saying that GB players arent good enough?
If so, the fault lies fair and square with the clubs themselves!

[Danny C]

No kangaroo will be going to the UK until after the world cup, that's a fact.

Lockyer is a strong possibility due to Brisbane wanting him off the salary cap. He's still a great player but his knee injury makes him too costly to keep with the amount of games he will play.

Carl Webb has just made his International debut, I can't see him now wanting to play in the super league.

More than likely Wigan will be signing Kiwis if anything.

[copa]

If the english actually had decent rugby players they wouldn't need to come down here to take our athletes away...