What on Earth are you talking about? Douglas already makes the Wigan squad. If you were taking notice you'd have spotted him scoring a hat-trick on Friday! He may not make the squad if everyone is fit but that's a complete irrelevance. You need players able to step up when a first team member is missing....you know...like Douglas did the other day.


Douglas is a better winger than Sambou. Vaughn isn't a centre. He may be ok at 2nd row but, currently, he looks too small and isn't playing there for Salford, let alone for Wigan. Chan looks a better bet than Vaughn at 2nd row and we already have him signed. 

Not really sure what part of this opinion you're struggling with unless it's that you simply disagree which is fine. You're entitled to your opinion. 

Douglas will be 22 early in to 2026 and needs to play first team rugby. I don't get why he's going to Saints in that case but I think he's doing the right thing in leaving Wigan, certainly if Keighran is staying on and Eckersley will continue to be the first back up option. In terms of Sambou, he's 19 years old, so is likely to be a bit more comfortable with being a second back up option. 


Vaughan is a different case. I think he'll be used in the second row, as mentioned above and while he clearly has lots to work on, he's still very young and hasn't really had a run there yet. I'm in no way saying the lad is in this class or ever will be but his pedigree in terms of captaining every side he's played in (club, county and country) is the same as guys like John Bateman and Sean O'Loughlin of days gone by. On that alone, I can see why the club feel he's worth bringing in and I look at his style of play (energy, character, hard working etc) and see a guy that won't smash first team straight away but will grow in to it over a few seasons. It may not work out but I think we'll end up being pretty pleased with the signing in the long term. 

Couple of points from this. Firstly, I think Douglas will get a decent amount of game time. I've been really impressed with Murphy but he is injured again (currently waiting to find out how long he's out for) which is his second injury of the season already. It's a shame as he had put together a good run of games and looked decent. His acrobatic finish whilst a no try last Friday was an example of his quality and finishing prowess. Ironically that was what caused his injury. 

Sailor won't stay on the wing forever so I can see Douglas easily getting 10 games next season when Murphy is out, with a view to him starting in 2027 when Feldt will be gone and also Murphy off-contract so a lot will depend on how many games he plays from now until then.


Secondly on Phuzzy's point. I agree that at this stage it certainly looks like we have the better deal. I've not seen a lot of Douglas but every time I have seen him (including for the Reserves) he looks good. I have been told that he is a big, strong athlete but there are errors in him. This may be why he hasn't had more chances at Wigan and by all accounts he bombed a couple of chances on Friday and could've scored a couple more tries? However he is still really young so lots of time to develop.


I think on the Vaughan/Sambou debate there is an element of both kicking on under better coaching. Wigan and HKR are playing their own competition at the moment and are streets ahead of the rest of the comp. The rest of us are playing for 3-6 position but we all know the winner of the GF will be either team. Mercifully it seems that Wellens will finally be gone at the end of the season and we go down the well worked route of a hungry NRL assistant but you'd expect Vaughan and Sambou to develop under an excellent system at Wigan and a superior coach in Peet. 

Dougie is a good player and like Byrne he has received a better financial offer elsewhere, good luck to them both. I agree with Stu's summary (or that given to him by a third party) apart from he also struggles, at the moment, to make yardage. Sambou I think, has the build to be a Wigan winger and as others have said Vaughan will be cover for the second row. MP believes that he can develop both players, so I will put my trust in him. 

I hope it works out for Douglas, he is a good player and looks well capable of having a Superleague career. I just think with the age of him compared to Sambou, the move of Sambou to Wigan and Douglas leaving does actually make quite a bit of sense. I don't think there's any doubt Douglas looks the better player currently but they're at quite different stages of their journey's and that has played in to why one seems to want to leave Wigan and one seems to want to come here IMO. One is likely happy enough to be a little way down the pecking order at Wigan in 2026 and one probably wasn't and I think if that was the thoughts of both of them, then they're probably spot on. 


Vaughan sits completely separately in any debate IMO and has been signed on potential. I think it's likely Wigan see his role a bit differently to Saints (I just look at the gaps in our squad and it's at second row, whereas I think Saints might have fancied continuing to use him as a utility) and they'll take their time with him and let him settle in to one position. There is a clear pathway going to open up for a second rower at Wigan in time, with Faz not having too much longer left in him. 

Douglas won't be missed, Sambou reminds me of a young Patrick Van so we will have a good one in him, the future is bright.