Having a Wigan and Saints thread is probably needed. Loads of threads are going back to that us vs them debate but it’s not surprising. Love it or hate it, we have to measure ourselves against them because they’ve been the best side for the past few seasons and realistically it feels like it’s only them stopping us having an amazing chance to do a double or even treble. So if we sign a player, it results in conversations about how that player will help close the gap to Saints, we discuss a game and it turns it to looking at positives and negatives around details that will help or hinder us closing the gap to Saints, a disciplinary debate turns in right comparisons between our incidents and there’s and so on and on and on.
I enjoy it tbh, I think it shows we’ve closed the gap somewhat that Saints fans feel the need to jump in and comment on certain points but I get why it becomes tedious to others. The rivalry lost some of its magic IMO around 2004/5 until recently because there have been long spells where one side has been dominant over the other and for the game as a whole, that’s not good. It feels like the fixture is getting in to a place now where there will be huge anticipation before fixtures and that’s great. It makes those Derby days the occasion they should be. We’ve work to do to go in to one as the favourite or an evens chance but we’re getting there.