Itchy Arsenal wrote:Irrespective of what team Salford have out I think that you will give them a proper beating. Your first 3 games are heaven sent in terms of getting off to a good start. I’m pretty confident that you will be top of the table after 3 rounds. I don’t think that you will finish top come the end of the season but you will finish in the top 4 unless you have some real bad luck on the injuries front.

WWste wrote:I don’t think Salford is a walk in the park as made out. They are a decent side and I imagine will be itching to settle things down on the pitch. I can see Saints getting beat in that game as they did in the pre season game with them

Stu M wrote:Thinking about it a bit more, Wigan were well stocked with back rowers and had a succession plan but losing as many as they have means you can understand why they have looked at Vaughan. Shane Eccles will have coached him for England Academy and will know him well but over the last few years they've lost Isa, KPP, Nicholson, Bateman, even James McDonnell. I may have missed some more out there

Mason and Kerr are backrowers I believe? Vaughan will add to the competition particularly if Farrell's minutes are more limited in 2026.

Stu M wrote:Because I'm wondering now if Saints are spending up to cap or saving money to offset losses. We are continually told that we are by the club but players leaving and players coming in doesn't add up unless we've made a bad job of managing it. Matautia has not been replaced and you could argue that some of that may be taken up with Delaney's new deal but who knows.

Stu M wrote:Staggered by this to be honest, I really am, for a number of reasons.

Wigan have acted like a huge club again, forward thinking and from what I am hearing, Peet and Radlinski have outlined a plan and shown some real faith in Vaughan in particular. I have heard the other side of the story but I'm not putting that on here. What is clear is that we have sleep walked yet again and our biggest rivals have beaten us to the punch. Its just another sign of the general malaise at the club that after feeling positive with the signings, the new assistant coaches and the feel good nature of pre-season and the players comments, that the Salford defeat, Knowles leaving and now this has just added to the negativity.

What I don't get though is the plan that Wigan will have. Vaughan is a competitor who didn't really do loads last season but there was also mitigation for that. He has been Lancashire and England Academy captain and is a terrific leader. A die hard Saints fan who has now signed for the enemy. However Wigan don't need to poach Academy lads when they have the best Academy in the comp. What now happens to their young lads? Walters, Nsemba and Farrell will be the back rows and that's without the Wigan Academy lads

Where does Sambou get a look in with Eckersley and Wardle. What then happens with Nathan Lowe who is extremely highly rated at Wigan, unless they are looking at a wing spot but then of course there is Jacob Douglas.

Sambou isn't the one that I am that worried about, he's coming off the back of a bad injury and Dagnall and Robertson are ahead of him. He may or may not turn out to be a good player.

I've argued with Saints fans about my worry of Wigan being the Man City of Rugby league and effectively turning the comp into a procession each year. Whilst that's great for Wigan fans it's not great for the game. They can't buy everyone but their financial strength means that no one can get near them.

I agree with NK that I can see both players being bought out and coming a year early. They simply can't stay at Saints and why should Saints invest in any sort of development for them when they are going to Wigan. We should let them rot and not play them nor send them out on dual reg but if they went earlier, we save a bit of SC and get them away from the environment.

What I will say though is that after Peet's comments about Matty Nicholson, it's quite ironic and I wonder what he would say now? Also there were lots on here saying that Vaughan isn't really all that when they were mocking the "golden generation" Saints talk about. Funny how the narrative changes

From Saints point of view we simply have to wake up and start to act like a big club again. We have gone from the most dominant team in RL to a laughing stock in 2 years. I get that Wigan fans will laugh at this and love it. Of course they will but Wigan need a strong Saints so be careful what you wish for. The sport needs a strong Saints and Wigan and at the minute and seemingly for the foreseeable future, there is only one powerhouse.

Cherry_&_White wrote:It's a fair point that. I suspect that Peet probably regrets being as forthright as he was - in public at least - when that was announced. A big difference though is that Wigan (alongside Saints) have easily the best record in bringing through their own academy players compared to everyone else in the league. So you can hardly make the 'demoralised' comment about anyone in the Wigan set up, whereas maybe you could for Wire. Hopefully we're starting to see that change under Burgess.

And on the Man City point, I think the only way that happens is with serious changes to the salary cap. As good as it feels to be a Wigan fan just now, sport is cyclical and no amount of clever salary cap management and positive culture is going to keep us on top. It's only a couple of years since Saints seemed almost untouchable.

Stu M wrote:This isn't sour grapes as I've said the exact same thing on Red Vee but the points you make on Vaughan are valid. I don't know what his USP is. He's not big, he's not super strong and he's not quick. He's a competitor no question but I don't know where he fits in.

You are spot on in that he could well turn out to be a Bateman. In 2-3 years time it will be clear who made the right decision. It's not a great look when die hard Saints fans are making the decision to go to Wigan although to be fair perhaps you could return serve with Welsby who was a Wigan fan and ended up at Saints.

Also it's worrying when Wigan are signing lads from the likes of Thatto Heath who again are St Helens lads born and bred and fans of the club but that's another conversation.

I've been very critical of the club of late and nothing is changing my mind however to play devils advocate, I do wonder if they are putting a lot of faith in Jake Davies and Billy Keeley, both back-rowers a couple of years younger and well thought of. Perhaps they've looked at the emergence of those two who knows. That's an assumption on my part that I am clinging onto!