I thought he was!

Sums it up nicely. The club would be waving goodbye to a decent wad of cash by not announcing them. If they agreed to swap a shirt for those mad enough to get the likes of Burgess or Clark on their back, it would cost way less then what they will lose out on if they don’t get these numbers out.

Somebody on the other forum is saying Burgess is trying to play on and will have an operation. That would be frustrating if he had it now and then misses the start of next season, as he quite clearly needed that as far back as February/March.

Field in at 6 is surprising, G Burgess at 16 isn't.
The positions when they start the first game will be the interesting one with probably one or two surprises.

I could see KIlner suprising a few this season alongside those who have already stepped up. It is probable a couple of seasons too early for some of the youngsters to play more than a bit part. Unfortunately I think that Saints and Wire may be pulling away from us for the lack of a top notch impact prop and a top class finisher outside. Personally I hope that we have enough confidence in Smith to bring him through. I was impressed with the way that he worked on his defence and some of his attacking play was exceptional.

Smith is the the best all round half back that we have in the squad particularly in terms of opening up a defence. He will hopefully continue to improve with age. Lam has to decide do we want a half back whose main priority is tackling or one who can run and dictate a game. As an Aussie I know that Lam will go with the former. Not sure if Smith lacks confidence but if I was him I'd ask for a loan next year if his first team appearances will be limited. If it goes well then don't come back. I wouldnt blame him if he went down that route.

I will be in the absolute minority, possibly of one,but I'd sooner play Smith than Hastings in the halfs next year. Put Hastings at 9 and play Smith & Tommy in the halfs with Field or Powell on the bench to come on to cover Tommy or Hastings. I;m assuming here that we cant not include Field in any starting 17.
Hastings will be gone by 2022 but hopefully Smith will develop and be with us for at least the remainder of the decade. Lets start building the team around a player capable of unlocking defences and has some longevity rather than a guy who will be gone by the end of 2021.

Our squad next year although exciting is totally out of sync at the moment and Smith may pay the penalty with limited appearances even though he is the best halfback to come through in a generation.
I'm pretty sure that if we knew that Hastings would take up his 2nd year option we would never have signed Field.

I don't know much about Kilner but his reputation seems to be growing and hopefully he can kick on and grab a few first team appearances in 2021

Hastings refers to Bateman as Skipper on social media...

All the players who have played in a game from this years squad have been given a number, but it may not mean that they are all staying at the club.

Aiden Roden, Jake Sculthorpe and Oscar Stone were also members of the first team squad, but have not been given a number and there is no news about what has happen to them.

There are eleven weeks between now and the start of the new season and as we are living in difficult times, there still still might be some players going to new club's and perhaps even players coming to our club.

What I would like to know is what is the position of Navarette and Woods who have both been out on loan at Wakefield Trinity and Leigh Centuriums, but there is nothing about them on either clubs list of players for the new season or indeed any news about their future by our club.

If Wigan are not careful, they could end up losing Smith as he is a outstanding talent and future International.

He is not going to get the game time and more experience required when he has now slipped in the pecking order behind Field, Hastings and Leuluai, especially as again there will be no Reserve League to keep match fit!

Make you wonder if the club were under the impression that Leuluai intended to retire at the end of the season but then changed his mind.

I sometimes wonder how people think a club is run.

If that were the case we simply wouldn’t have offered Leuleui a new deal and let him go.

Smith will be fully aware of what is happening and the plans they have for him moving forward. The club will have spoken to him and his agent and laid out a plan for him.

If that means he goes on loan then so be it.

It that means we use Tommy as a 9 with Smith covering the halves then so be it.

Most importantly Smith will know what is expected/planned for him in 2021.

I’ve no doubt he will be first choice 7 at Wigan in 2022 probably partnering Field.

Smith is going nowhere. The club know what they are doing.

Another year similar to this year, he played in more games than he didn’t. Then in 2022 Tommy will likely finish and Hastings may go to the NRL.

Simple