Wigan Athletic trio outline plans for link-up with Wigan Warriors - 'That's what working together is. It's Wigan, and Wigan's important...'

The trio made the comments during the first half of the forum, during an open chat with host Tommy Gore, before the second half saw the panel take questions from the audience.

And there was no doubting the importance each believes a more 'aligned' relationship with the town's rugby league side is to a bigger and better future for all concerned.

"There are a lot of commercial partners who are either with one club or the other," said Ms Guilfoyle. "There are a few who do work with both groups, and it absolutely makes sense for there to be more overlap.

"Other than Heinz - who are obviously a huge global brand - Wigan Athletic and Wigan Warriors are the two biggest exports in the town. And the power of those two brands, together...it could really be a real force for good, and we need to make sure we're using that as much as we can. Businesses should absolutely be working with both clubs.

"Both clubs have their own media teams, both have their own commercial teams, and we feel both could learn a lot from each other. Work has just started to merge both sets of offices to bring the off-field staff closer together.

"So, for example, both sets of finance teams will set together, same with commercial, same with media, and HR, and safeguarding. Because while the sports are very different, a sporting environment is very similar, and there's a lot of things we'll be doing well that the Warriors can learn from, and vice versa. So sharing that best practice is very important for both clubs to help each other off the field."

Both Ms Guilfoyle and Danson - whose billionaire dad, Mike, owns both Latics and Warriors - spoke of their view of the situation as non-Wiganers.

"Personally, I'm not from Wigan, and when I first joined the club I was asking why we weren't doing things like joint tickets with the Warriors," said Ms Guilfoyle. "It was explained to me that it was a generational thing in the borough, you seemed to pick one or the other, and that's something we want to change. But it's going to take time.

"The potential reach of both brands working together - with the same common goal - could be so powerful across the borough, and it's really important we do start to make inroads on both sides...so that at some point it will become commonplace to have both sets of supporters appreciating the other."

Danson Jnr added: "I was loosely aware, and it's one I found interesting. I'm from London originally, and there's not much of a rivalry between Saracens and Arsenal.

"We need to work as one as a town, because the two clubs are two of the biggest assets we have got, and we need to celebrate both. There's so much scope to bring them both together, and I'm super-excited about the future.

"The rugby club are obviously at the top of their game at the moment, and there is a lot we can learn from them as an organisation as a whole. I think we can work better commercially...we'll be using the names of both teams to sell the naming rights of the stadium, which will bring in great revenue for the group as a whole.

"I think we can work together in terms of infrastructure...again, the stadium is obviously used by both clubs, and anything we do will be to the benefit of both clubs and both sets of fans."

The third member of the panel, Rioch, then offered an insight on how links between the two clubs have already firmed up in the last 12 months.

"I think the rivalry is very much outside of the four walls of both buildings," he said. "Just to give our supporters a little bit of an insight...last year when the pitch at Robin Park was really struggling after the concerts, the Warriors players would come over to Christopher Park on a regular basis, to train and to prepare for games. We put some posts up for them, and we'd watch them train, and we can learn from them.

"And on the flip side, the last couple of weeks have been very difficult for our players and staff, and Matty Peet invited everyone over to Robin Park last Wednesday to watch training, to do a gym session over there, in a different environment. He had a good hour with the lads, talking about where they were at, where their minds were at, and had a really good conversation.

"Both clubs respect each other in sporting terms, on and off the field, and I'm very grateful for that, because that's what working together is. It's Wigan, and Wigan's important...and if we can make a difference by way of both sports in Wigan, we will do so...because it's beneficial for everybody."