Re: Fitness Now V Then : Wed Apr 22, 2020 1:25 pm  

ploinerrhino wrote:

Trouble is you guys think that everybody else does not respect everything you won in that era (and you are right ) because there was nobody to compete against you .

That's like listening to a West Brom fan moaning that Manchester United bought all their trophies. If it makes you feel better, go for it.

Re: Fitness Now V Then : Wed Apr 22, 2020 1:34 pm  

ploinerrhino wrote:

Its not all regarding the ground is it though as despite all the claims that are made that it was the building of the stand that was the problem , the other major problem was the wages paid to the players that were massive and not sustainable , hence the reason why Leeds nearly went bust buying the best players that were left after you had the elite . Trouble is you guys think that everybody else does not respect everything you won in that era (and you are right ) because there was nobody to compete against you . What it does not take away is the fact that Wigan had world class players who would have been just that in any era.

so Leeds were full time spent a fortune yet werent able to compete? Saints competed and spend a fortune also look at their squads in the 90's plenty of money spent

Re: Fitness Now V Then : Wed Apr 22, 2020 5:13 pm  

hatty wrote:

All the clubs had the chance to go to the next level, but only one had the bollox to do it

Agreed. The top teams in SL should be thanking us.

Back in the early nineties Wigan were the only time a RL team has ever had a number of household names (Hanley, Edwards, Offiah, Tuigamala, Robinson) it was Wigan who dragged the game kicking and screaming out of the semi pro/train three times a week then go to the pub era.

The 82 Aussie invincibles (and subsequently 86 team) changed all that for us. Ultra, ultra professional. To play like them, you had to be like them.

Wigan are lucky, anyone can throw cash at a club and expect success.... Leeds laughably tried and failed on many occasions (John Gallagher and Slammin Sam Backo anyone, massive wages).

For Wigan, every big signing we had a young lad coming through (even better fir us these days).

For every Hanley and Offiah, we had an Edwards and Hampson. We had a Betts, Clarke, Dermott, Preston.....

All local lads and all special.

Leeds paid more for Hanley off us that we bought him for. Turned local lad Robinson down. Laughable.

Re: Fitness Now V Then : Wed Apr 22, 2020 6:27 pm  

There was nobody to compete with us but we won the league by 2 points, 1 point and on PD. We were out the cup 3 or 4 times during the run and pulled it out the bag. Hull away for example. We lost finals, semi finals, and never went unbeaten.

Either sides weren't as bad as everyone makes out, or we weren't actually that good.

Re: Fitness Now V Then : Wed Apr 22, 2020 7:20 pm  

What the hell has all this got to do with the fitness of players then and now?

Re: Fitness Now V Then : Wed Apr 22, 2020 8:27 pm  

Weeds were the first full-time team and spent more than anyone else .. they just had a terrible youth system and bought a load of duds!!

Re: Fitness Now V Then : Thu Apr 23, 2020 7:11 am  

Ziggy Stardust wrote:

Weeds were the first full-time team and spent more than anyone else .. they just had a terrible youth system and bought a load of duds!!

This

Re: Fitness Now V Then : Thu Apr 23, 2020 8:11 am  

hatty wrote:

All the clubs had the chance to go to the next level, but only one had the bollox to do it

What happened 22 years ago was the darkest time in the clubs history, but it appears that some today cannot face up to the reality of the then situation which was created as a result of the club paying out massive players contracts which it could not afford. A situation which resulted in a salary cap being introduced so that clubs could only spend on players contracts in relation to the income of the club and a more even playing field for all clubs to win trophies.

As a result of Wigan being the only club who had the "bollox" (as you put it) to do it, it resulted in the club ending up with no new stadium of its own and near possibility of being made bankrupt.

The irony is that some of the players who were getting the massive contracts were the first to jump ship when Union became fully professional.

Re: Fitness Now V Then : Thu Apr 23, 2020 8:24 am  

Egg Chasing wrote:

Any excuse to try and belittle Wigans success back then and how good we were.

We may have been good, but it led to the crowds starting to go down as some supporters got fed up of watching one sided games!

Re: Fitness Now V Then : Thu Apr 23, 2020 9:29 am  

Ruddy Duck wrote:

We may have been good, but it led to the crowds starting to go down as some supporters got fed up of watching one sided games!

really? thats not true crowds have been pretty consistent weather we win something or not filling the away ends at grounds we go to similar to crowds at CP