Pemps wrote:Andy Farrell has just been given the England Saxons assistant coach job. I think it'll take something really special to prize the Farrells away from RU now.
We keep talking about bringing the Farrells back to Wigan, but I'm not sure it would be that big a thing for us.
Andy is long finished as a player, and seems to be at the very start of whatever coaching career he may have; I'm surprised to hear that he's got a job like this, given how little experience he has. I'd also cast doubt on the view that his mere presence would be inspirational. I don't think the likes of Faz and Robinson, who the new generation mainly remember for taking the Union shilling, would have an nth of the respect that the likes of Radlinsk and Wane have.
Owen would be the main reason for bringing the Farrells back north, but even he by now will have got into lots of bad Rugby Union habits. I'm not sure he'd be anything like as effective in League as if he'd stayed on and served his apprenticeship. Sure, I'd like to see him at Wigan, but would he really be worth breaking the bank for? I think Owen now falls into the bracket of those top Union stars who League used to sign all the time, but who we never sign any more because, with the salary cap, it's too much of a risk to pay them the necessary big money.