In contrast we had five make their debuts, the most for us in the period I looked at, and got relegated.

Now, it could be coincidence - but it’s interesting imo.

i think he's just pointing out that sometimes people percieve wigan as a small town and wonder how they knock out all the young players, and he's saying wigan has more population to draw on than some people think. nothing more than that

Correct.

Hull and East Riding have a combined population in excess of 800,000...

… nearer 600k, over an area of 930 square miles, wigan borough is 77 square miles.

add another 50 sq miles on. Hull is half the size of Wigan.

As many of us say, stats count for little.