Re: Wire part 2 of 2 : Mon Jun 10, 2024 10:37 am  

Stu M wrote:

Was a much more dominant performance than I expected. Wigan looked comfortable and never looked like losing. Worryingly for the rest of SL they are only just getting started. This team now has that big game Finals experience and the stars are tied down to long-term contracts. They have a mixture of youth complemented by experience and to be fair recruited very well.

Thompson has been way better than I envisaged and its a sign of their depth that Walters can't make the 17. Nsemba is a superstar in the making and then of course there's Field and French and Smith now learning how to manage games and kicking teams into submission.

There's going to be a real lack of competition for Wigan soon bar maybe Warrington continuing to improve. Catalan have gone backwards so there's a real onus on Saints getting injured players back. Given that we are set for a couple of transition seasons there is a real chance Wigan will do what we did and win consecutive GF's for 3-4 years.

I said to my eldest lad a couple of years ago to enjoy the period we were in and to make the most of getting one over his Wigan supporting mates at his school in Wigan. I didn't expect Wigan to improve as quickly as they have but in Peet and a good coaching team, they are now the standard bearers and the rest of us need to chase them.

I think the problem with predicting 3 or 4 year dynasties is that in sport, and particularly one like ours, there are just too many variables. Injuries, suspensions and even refereeing decisions now, more than ever, have the potential to completely alter the course of a season. If it was a 'first past the post' system we played I'd be more confident in predicting a dynasty but essentially all our trophies, apart from the LLS, are decided by cup finals and, as we know, anything can happen in a one-off game. Saints own dynasty would probably never have happened had Hardaker made that kick or even punted the ball up field in the 2020 final. Even then it needed a freak bounce of the ball for that win to happen.

I think the club are doing all the right things and putting itself in the best position for success going forward and the rest are definitely in a position of catch up now as the clean sweep of trophies attests. This is already a special team that knows how to win the big games and, as you said about your own success, we should just enjoy it while we can.

Having said all that I hope I can post in 3 more years and say "well Stu, it turns out you were right"

Re: Wire part 2 of 2 : Mon Jun 10, 2024 10:40 am  

Zig wrote:

I thought he was called useless or was it tit, or was it both?

My favourite was his attempted "I'm a Wigan fan now" username which lasted all of 1 post before it was rumbled

Re: Wire part 2 of 2 : Mon Jun 10, 2024 2:35 pm  

No further action on either Cooper or Dufty. I should think so too!

Re: Wire part 2 of 2 : Mon Jun 10, 2024 2:40 pm  

Phuzzy wrote:

Edited it for you mate. Some still think they'd beat us 9 times out of 10 and then, of course, we still have to hear from honourary Saints fan Rob/Stef/Lebron/insertusernamehere who has gone strangely quiet

Very honest and considered post from Stu.

time to resurrect the 'envyometer'......

Re: Wire part 2 of 2 : Mon Jun 10, 2024 4:07 pm  

Has anyone seen the player statistics from the final?

Re: Wire part 2 of 2 : Mon Jun 10, 2024 4:31 pm  

Zig wrote: Has anyone seen the player statistics from the final? Some key stats here bud. https://www.wigantoday.net/sport/rugby- ... rf-4659536 Anyone remember the dark days of guys like Clubb and Singleton racking up metre totals in the 20s and 30s?

Zig wrote: Has anyone seen the player statistics from the final? Some key stats here bud. https://www.wigantoday.net/sport/rugby- ... rf-4659536 Anyone remember the dark days of guys like Clubb and Singleton racking up metre totals in the 20s and 30s?

Re: Wire part 2 of 2 : Mon Jun 10, 2024 9:59 pm  

MadDogg wrote: Some key stats here bud. https://www.wigantoday.net/sport/rugby- ... rf-4659536 Anyone remember the dark days of guys like Clubb and Singleton racking up metre totals in the 20s and 30s? Thanks mate.

MadDogg wrote: Some key stats here bud. https://www.wigantoday.net/sport/rugby- ... rf-4659536 Anyone remember the dark days of guys like Clubb and Singleton racking up metre totals in the 20s and 30s? Thanks mate.

Re: Wire part 2 of 2 : Tue Jun 11, 2024 7:41 am  

There are loads of positives in those stats but one thing that really jumps out to me is the contributions of Thompson, Havard and Ellis. You're lucky if you have one middle forward (hate using that term but will have to with Ellis playing at loose forward) capable of playing 80 minutes but we have these 3, all of which are ideal modern day forwards. They are absolute athletes, big but mobile, defensively fantastic and will test their opposite numbers by still being able to go as strong late in a stint (or late in a game if they do complete the 80 minutes) as they were at the start of it. We're so fortunate to be in a position that we have those 3 guys and can then just rotate around them.

Re: Wire part 2 of 2 : Tue Jun 11, 2024 7:52 am  

NickyKiss wrote:

There are loads of positives in those stats but one thing that really jumps out to me is the contributions of Thompson, Havard and Ellis. You're lucky if you have one middle forward (hate using that term but will have to with Ellis playing at loose forward) capable of playing 80 minutes but we have these 3, all of which are ideal modern day forwards. They are absolute athletes, big but mobile, defensively fantastic and will test their opposite numbers by still being able to go as strong late in a stint (or late in a game if they do complete the 80 minutes) as they were at the start of it. We're so fortunate to be in a position that we have those 3 guys and can then just rotate around them.

I was reflecting on that and remembering when we were all (or nearley all ) were crying out for a more dominating pack. We now have an embarrassment of riches

Re: Wire part 2 of 2 : Tue Jun 11, 2024 8:39 am  

NickyKiss wrote:

There are loads of positives in those stats but one thing that really jumps out to me is the contributions of Thompson, Havard and Ellis. You're lucky if you have one middle forward (hate using that term but will have to with Ellis playing at loose forward) capable of playing 80 minutes but we have these 3, all of which are ideal modern day forwards. They are absolute athletes, big but mobile, defensively fantastic and will test their opposite numbers by still being able to go as strong late in a stint (or late in a game if they do complete the 80 minutes) as they were at the start of it. We're so fortunate to be in a position that we have those 3 guys and can then just rotate around them.

Think we always knew Havard and Thompson could do 80 but Ellis doing it is an added bonus.

The fact these 3 can do massive minutes is why I would have opted for the versatility of Walters on the bench rather than 3 props. Byrne and Mago both played about 10 minutes if I remember correctly.

Didn’t matter in the end of course!