I like Liam Byrne. Big lad, 100+ games for Wigan and won everything there is to win. Bit of an edge with him too. Only 25.

Byrne is coming in to his prime years. I think Burgess could be just the coach he needs because Burgess played the game at 100mph each and every week, regardless of how big the game was or how good the opposition was. Byrne frustrates Wigan fans because he drifts through seasons and for months on end plays within himself but he then flips it and when the big games come around, he is excellent and shows what he can do. If he can find some consistency, he could be one of the better props in the league. Sometimes it feels like he just needs a bit more belief in himself.

He cannot have a better mentor and role model than Sam Burgess. Good signing.

While I’m broadly positive about Burgess/Chambers and the recruitment & retention work, I read similar about Bullock when we signed him. Granted, the environment that he came into was different, I just worry as to why Wigan would let anyone leave to join Warrington.

Yes, while I would have liked to have kept Byrne at Wigan, this could be one of those signings that works out well for all concerned. The move and the influence of Burgess could help Byrne kick on and become the player he can be just as he goes into his peak years, while the pathway opens up for Harvie Hill to get his first team place nailed down long-term, which helps Wigan hold on to him.

I think you are stretching it a bit to even suggest that Byrne & Bullock have much in common apart from being at Wigan.

There is a difference with Bullock and Byrne IMO in that Byrne does show that he has an edge and an intensity to his game when it really matters, in the biggest games. Bullock looked great physically but he just doesn't have the mentality IMO to use it correctly. I would never say anybody playing Rugby League is soft but Bullock is like those heavyweight boxers you get sometimes, where they're huge and look the part but there is just something missing when things get tough. Byrne does have it in him to smash people and play at a huge intensity but currently doesn't do it often enough. If he can find his best games more often, then he can really kick on.

It might not be a case of Wigan "letting him leave". His contract is up at the end of 2025, so it's then just about who makes him an offer and which one he chooses to accept. I have no knowledge about whether or not Wigan have made him an offer to stay, but I would be very surprised if they hadn't. Maybe we have offered him more money, maybe he fancies the idea of working with Big Sam? And maybe, until the move has been confirmed, we are all just getting ahead of ourselves anyway!

bang on

Byrne, is a different league to Bullock, and thats not be saying he is a world beater, but he is a far better player than Bullock

the comments so far seem to be positive, and as NickyKiss says, there is a player in there when he wants to. I personally think some of that has been down to playing 2nd fiddle to Thompson and Havard this last season, and not being able to get up to speed "in game" quickly enough. When he starts he's usually very good and a player i'll be disappointed to see move on, but equally its a good move for him if he can guarantee himself a starting spot, as its unlikely he'll replace Thompson or Havard as starting prop this or next season

i've just posted about the rule changes on the other Wigan forum. Its interesting to see that he's sorting his career out so soon under the new rules (if he has). You would assume Wigan have made him an offer, but as a squad player, and Wire may have been able to offer him a starting spot (assumptions on my behalf on all of this but its a scenario), and as you say playing for Sam is an appeal, most likely to a prop forward