For the last couple of weeks Hampshire has been left out of the 19 at Wigan and the only time he has got near the squad is when Bowen as been out.

(apart from when Williams broke down in the warm up and Hampshire had to do a quick change and almost caused the match to kick off late)



It seems that after Wane said that he didn't see Hampshire as anything but a replacement for Bowen and that is the only position he would play, he is being frozen out.



Everyone on here said that Bowen had a stinker at Cas last week, but more than that he threw the towel in.

So if Hampshire is the reserve fullback why isn't he even in the squad this week.



Food for thought.

I talked about last chance Saloon for one or two in another thread and Bowen is one of those.



I was the person who said he gave up at Cas and he did. He feigned injury during Castleford's last try and I didn't even see anybody do that during the shocking years of 2005 or 2006. He knew he'd been made a fool of and instead of turning and chasing like Manfredi and Bateman did (successfully) he threw himself to the ground.



Going back to Hampshire I worry for his future if he isn't getting a go after that tbh. He was very solid at HKR but did let himself down with a shoddy attempt on Dixon for their winner. I've said this before that I feel Wane highlights the negatives with Hampshire far more then some other players.

Hampshire wants to play 6 but he is fourth choice half back now.

It seems if your face doesn't fit then you've no chance with Wayne!

He might aswell move clubs

If I were Hampshire I'd give it a few more weeks, probably until May/June and make my mind up on where his career should go.



If the side was playing well then not being given a game is understandable but if we continue to struggle and more importantly Bowen, Smith and to a lesser extent Williams and Powell continue to not hit form he's got to seriously consider if he's at the right club or playing under the right coach.



Something doesn't feel right about the Wane/Hampshire relationship.

There's a few not getting their chance under Wayne. It seems no matter how bad some players play they won't get dropped. Must be frustrating for some squad members.

Not sure, he seems to have used pretty much his full squad this year already. The two I'd say have been a bit unlucky are Hampshire and Logan Tomkins but there is a lot competition in those positions.



With Hampshire it's not as much him not playing him on a regular basis that bothers me but more some of the things Wane says about him. He makes it clear he sees him as a back up full back and at points seems loathed to praise him. I don't know if he's trying to dampen expectation or it's a way of trying to gain a reason for not playing him but it all seems weird.



Ask me who our best stand off is and I like many would say Hampshire but Wane obviously doesn't see it anything like that.

I think money is dictating who plays for Wigan at the minute.

Last year Pettybourne this year Bowen.

Wayne should use his full squad if the team isn't playing well.

WANE

Hampshire is not happy at all. But there is only one decent potential offer for him, and that is from a, so called, unfashionable smaller club. IMO it would be best for him and the club for him to stick at it this year and hopefully prove his worth to Wigan or show other clubs enough to attract some interest.

I was at Cas, Bowen didn't have a stinker. He just didn't have a stormer either. People are really out for him at the moment, he took quite a few difficult kicks with good kick pressure on him which resulted in him being tackled as soon as he caught the ball, people being the sticks were still berating him. I'm a big Rocky fan but I reckon he would have dropped one or two of those kicks. We signed Bowen to be a solid experienced full back, the fact he scored a couple of wonder tries last season shouldn't detract from that. He is also good for a try assist per game.

Are the anti-tampering rules no longer in force then?



Serious question. I've been a bit out of touch recently,

Bowen has been 'safe' all season in fairness to him (apart from running past a kick at Widnes)and the early season pitches certainly don't suit him. He needs to offer more in attack but hopefully that will come like it did last year.



I still can't get past the build up to that last try though when he went all premiership footballer on us and clutched his leg rather then try and chase down the Cas attacker. I've never seen a player recover from injury as quickly as that!