"Top" rugby union player?



IIRC he hasn't played for Wales since the golf buggy incident in 2010. He got shown the door by Wasps in 2011 (mutual consent my backside) after a drunken brawl outside a pub.



He's been fined already this season by Sale for abusive language and gestures towards supporters.



He's 32 years old, has a questionable temperament and a history of both unprofessional behaviour and shoulder reconstructions.



Frankly - and I know Wigan are desperate for some depth up front given their injuries at the minute - it's a hell of a stretch to imagine him breaking into their first team.



It's a long time since he played RL at Cardiff Demons, and there are no reserve games these days for him to get used to the game again. So unless they're planning on sending him straight out on loan somewhere I can't see where he's going to get a game.

Hope they play him v Leigh next week! Could do with a few missed tackles, profile to the game and extra bums on seats too.

Wow a 32 year old dck head. How has the game survived without him?

There are better things the RFL can do with the little money they have than give it to pro players. Particularly pro RU players.

If it was George North or Manu Tuilangi then fair enough, but this guy is 3 or 4 years past his prime and has been off the radar somewhat in RU for a while.

I do think the idea of having a pot for signing RU players would be a good idea, both to boost national sides and to raise the profile of the game in growth areas with well-known players.



Of players currently in the UK, I reckon that



Manu Tuilagi

Matt Banahan

George North

Alasdair Dickinson

Stuart Hogg

David Denton

Sean Lamont

Rory Lamont

Nikki Walker

Neil Best



would all make a good go of playing league.

You don't think that money would be better spent on development officers, community coaches, community clubs, coach and club education, and marketing?

There has to be both.

There has to be money diverted from those causes to give to old RU players?

The RFL clearly see the benefit of having a high profile Welsh RU player come to play Rugby League. Andy Powell has played RU at the highest level internationally and is a high profile RU player. He's apparently agreed to come to Rugby League - when was the last time this happened? Gareth Thomas is the only other one I can think of. This is fantastic for the game. It sends the message out that top RU players can come over to RL just as RL players can come over to RU. Hopefully Powell is a big success and it might encourage more RU lads to try the game.



Wigan also have a direct partnership with South Wales RL and the nation's governing body - helping to promote and grow the game in Wales. Our former development coach Dave Clark is the head coach at South Wales, sharing our knowledge and expertise in bringing through young talent, which we're pretty decent at seeing as it was that young talent that massacred every team in its path over the Easter weekend. What is your club doing? We currently have Ben Flower, Gil Dudson, Rhodri Lloyd, Rhys Pugsley and now Andy Powell at our club who will all no doubt be a shoe-in for the Welsh squad. We also have the current head coach of Wales currently on our books as well. We share resources with South Wales as well as loaning some top young RL talent there way as well. We provide a pathway for young Welsh lads to aspire to make the grade to Super League. Helping the international game and helping the development of Welsh RL. Again I ask, what is your club doing? Andy Powell will no doubt spend sometime in South Wales on dual registration - that can only help raise the profile of the game in Wales. Don't we also have a a world cup coming soon? Do you think Andy Powell might, err, I dunno, help put some more bums on seats when Wales are playing a fixture in Bridgend in the World Cup? The RFL will more than make their money back in Andy Powell for the publicity he will bring to the sport, which hell, we bloody well need! If only every club made the same efforts Wigan make to grow the game. Perhaps if you developed a Sam Tomkins, perhaps if you signed an Andy Powell, perhaps you're club would get the same benefits.



Wigan have always been pioneers of RL. Both on and off the field. This is just another one of those times when you have to sit back and applaud Ian Lenagan, the RFL and Wigan RL for the outstanding work they do for the development of our game.

I haven’t seen him play in the flesh (I don’t watch any Union in the flesh!) but I’ve seen him on tv a couple of times



He went on the 2009 Lions tour to South Africa which means he’s not too bad (we have signed many Unions internationals over the years who were very good League players and this was before their game was pro)



One thing that sticks in my mind is that when I saw him play, my first impression was “this guy is a League player playing Union”. His game is all about running rather than the breakdown work and when he runs he looks to break the line while the vast majority of Union forwards go into the tackle with a low body angle to ensure they don’t get turned over which means very few tackles broken. Funnily enough, it’s his running to break the tackle that brings him criticism from Union people as he gets isolated and runs too upright... as I say, I think he could be a very good League forward. Or could have been, maybe 32 is too late



Good publicity for Wales and the world cup if it works out though

I think that the press and interest in the game generated by such signings will likely earn us more money than we put in, allowing those things to be paid for.



Think about the press a Catalans side with (for instance) Freddy Michalak, Aurelien Rougerie and Mathieu Bastareud in will get, and the increased attendances/sponsorship attachments that will become available to them with those names.



Similarly, a Five Nations competition where Scotland aren't whipping boys. Or a London side that suddenly has a host of well-known southern players in.