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The real lessons of Wigan's rebirth and climb to the top:


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It's almost that simple.

1. You need an owner with deep pockets, who really loves the club. Ian Lenagan is a Wigan boy, who is very smart and very wealthy, and he loves Wigan.

Warrington is the only other club apart from Wigan that has that kind of owner at the moment. Harlequins and Les Catalans have devoted owners, but the owners do not have deep enough pockets -- in Harlequins case not deep enough to cover the revenue losses from a poor fan base.

However Leeds is very well managed and profitable, so it offers an alternative model of ownership and management.

2. You need a top class coach who can not only prepare a team, but also recruit the best talent in the world. Wise recruitment is a skill. Again, Warrington seems to be the only other club that has that kind of coach.

3. The cheque book can only take you so far. You need a good juniors structure as well, to keep the playing talent coming through. You also need good juniors to be able to step up when there are injuries to the senior players. This is where Wigan is ahead of Warrington. But Leeds and Hull FC also have good junior set ups. So does Harlequins, and increasingly Les Catalans -- though the devoted owner of the latter does not seem to take full advantage of the juniors, preferring to buy Aussie imports.

Edited by ParisSurtout

Le rugby a treize, c'est moi!

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I agree with 2 and 3, of which Wigan certainly do have.

With 1 I disagree a little. You spend the cap, that is all. It's HOW you spend the cap which is important and obviously that ties in with having a great coach. Having the extra money is great for building up the club off-the-field, but once you've spent the cap that's crucial in the results you get throughout the year.

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so in the list provided, no mention of saints youngsters...i must be watching another club. Think ours have done well with the injuries we have had, and we still have a few in the wings

Saints Fan from 47 through good and bad times

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so in the list provided, no mention of saints youngsters...i must be watching another club. Think ours have done well with the injuries we have had, and we still have a few in the wings

True. Sorrry I missed your junior program.

Edited by ParisSurtout

Le rugby a treize, c'est moi!

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Ever heard of Phil Caddick? He's a very rich man.

Brian McLennan won a Four Nations and Grand Finals.

After that, I'm off for a bath. So so dirty.

I haven't heard of Phil Caddick. I only know of Paul Caddick. Tell us a bit more about the other mysterious undercover chap Phil if you would be so kind.

Leeds is one of the few clubs (the only one?) that is making a profit from business revenue. Paul is not needed for subsisdy to keep the club afloat like some of the other clubs with rich owners. He has started a damned good business structure and with a good general manager named Gary Hetherington.

Enjoy your bath. But keep your phone handy besides the bath though, in case Phil calls. Meanwhile I will phone Paul and see what he can tell me about Phil. :lol:

Edited by ParisSurtout

Le rugby a treize, c'est moi!

_____

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I haven't heard of Phil Caddick. I only know of Paul Caddick. Tell us a bit more about the other mysterious undercover chap Phil if you would be so kind.

Leeds is one of the few clubs (the only one?) that is making a profit from business revenue. Paul is not needed for subsisdy to keep the club afloat like some of the other clubs with rich owners. He has started a damned good business structure and with a good general manager named Gary Hetherington.

Enjoy your bath. But keep your phone handy besides the bath though, in case Phil calls. Meanwhile I will phone Paul and see what he can tell me about Phil. :lol:

Whatever.

I don't know of any general manager at Leeds called Gary Hetherington. Perhaps he is related to Gary Hetherington the Chief Executive? Maybe you should ask Paul that when you ring him.

Or maybe you could try to argue why you left Leeds out - who after all have a far more successful record and structure than Wigan or Wire.

People called Romans they go the house

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Forgot to mention number 4.

4. Be prepared to cheat and breach the salary cap, with the comfort of knowing you wont be dealt with in the same manner as ANY other club!

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Wealthy owner, not really

Good coach - Outstanding

Good juniors - Aiways been there, just not been given the opportunity..............back to good coach then........

Even though our utter, unquestioned dominance in the sport has ended, all Wiganers believe that we are really just indulgently letting the other teams win for a while in order to make it more interesting.

Stuart Maconie, Cider with Roadies

"cause people often talk about being scared of change but for me I'm more afraid of things staying the same cause the game is never won by standing in any one place for too long"

Nick Cave

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Forgot to mention number 4.

4. Be prepared to cheat and breach the salary cap, with the comfort of knowing you wont be dealt with in the same manner as ANY other club!

That's right - other clubs breach the cap (some of them repeatedly) and get a slap on the wrists, Wigan don't breach the cap and get fined 200 grand and docked league points.

Leeds breach the cap every season but have a business structure so labyrinthine that it's impossible for the RFL's "independent" cap assessors to ever understand it, so Leeds never get done.

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That's right - other clubs breach the cap (some of them repeatedly) and get a slap on the wrists, Wigan don't breach the cap and get fined 200 grand and docked league points.

Leeds breach the cap every season but have a business structure so labyrinthine that it's impossible for the RFL's "independent" cap assessors to ever understand it, so Leeds never get done.

so the cap assessors can't work it out but you can? Give over. If a Grand final win can't cheer you up then there is no hope.

"surely they've got to try somthing different now, maybe the little chip over the top?2

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You didn't go far enough!

4. Win games, by scoring more points than the opposition.

5. Win so many games, as to win more games than your rivals.

6. In the play offs, win all the games available until there are no more games left to play.

I feel with these tactics, clubs can soon learn from Wigan on how to succeed at the very highest level.

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You didn't go far enough!

4. Win games, by scoring more points than the opposition.

5. Win so many games, as to win more games than your rivals.

6. In the play offs, win all the games available until there are no more games left to play.

I feel with these tactics, clubs can soon learn from Wigan on how to succeed at the very highest level.

Wigan didn't achieve (6), they lost one. ;)

"I am the avenging angel; I come with wings unfurled, I come with claws extended from halfway round the world. I am the God Almighty, I am the howling wind. I care not for your family; I care not for your kin. I come in search of terror, though terror is my own; I come in search of vengeance for crimes and crimes unknown. I care not for your children, I care not for your wives, I care not for your country, I care not for your lives." - (c) Jim Boyes - "The Avenging Angel"

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That's right - other clubs breach the cap (some of them repeatedly) and get a slap on the wrists, Wigan don't breach the cap and get fined 200 grand and docked league points.

Leeds breach the cap every season but have a business structure so labyrinthine that it's impossible for the RFL's "independent" cap assessors to ever understand it, so Leeds never get done.

if the assessors dont understand how LEEDS CHEAT THE SALARY CAP as you have alleged ,how is it you can?

 Soon we will be dancing the fandango
FROM 2004,TO DO WHAT THIS CLUB HAS DONE,IF THATS NOT GREATNESSTHEN i DONT KNOW WHAT IS.

JAMIE PEACOCK

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That's right - other clubs breach the cap (some of them repeatedly) and get a slap on the wrists, Wigan don't breach the cap and get fined 200 grand and docked league points.

Leeds breach the cap every season but have a business structure so labyrinthine that it's impossible for the RFL's "independent" cap assessors to ever understand it, so Leeds never get done.

Proof,dear boy,proof.

Thank you for your valuable contribution.

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I love the way the work of Brian Noble is being ignored. He took Wigan from being a club right at the foot of SL and got them to withing inches of a GF. Without those foundations, Wigan would not have won yesterday. A GF win does not come about form one season, it comes about from years of dedication from a lot of people.

Edited by PC
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I love the way the work of Brian Noble is being ignored. He took Wigan from being a club right at the foot of SL and got them to withing inches of a GF. Without those foundations, Wigan would not have won yesterday. A GF win does not come about form one season, it comes about from years of dedication from a lot of people.

Noble gets plenty credit for turning the club around from where it was when he arrived, but Wigan's performance this season compared to 2009 when they only signed Deacon in the off season also highlights his limitations.

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oderint dum metuant

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I love the way the work of Brian Noble is being ignored. He took Wigan from being a club right at the foot of SL and got them to withing inches of a GF. Without those foundations, Wigan would not have won yesterday. A GF win does not come about form one season, it comes about from years of dedication from a lot of people.

Noble was given a lot of resources and they actually cheated to stay up the season he came in.

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I love the way the work of Brian Noble is being ignored. He took Wigan from being a club right at the foot of SL and got them to withing inches of a GF. Without those foundations, Wigan would not have won yesterday. A GF win does not come about form one season, it comes about from years of dedication from a lot of people.

I agree, and along with him there are no doubt many individuals who have put in hours of paid and unpaid work that led to the likes of the Tomkins brothers taking the pitch yesterday, they should all be enjoying the moment and take credit for the part they played.

A great deal of credit must go to Michael Maguire and Ian Leneghan for abandoning the culture that rightly or wrongly I felt had existed under previous regimes that more often and not the 17 that took to the pitch were the 17 top earners at the club and not necessarily those in form or deserving of the shirt.

To early to talk of a re-birth or dynasty, next season should be an interesting one especially in the run up to the license announcements, I wonder if any of those clubs deemed under threat can pull something out of the bag at the 11th hour on the pitch.

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That was the year they breached the salary cap wasn't it? They brought in Fielden and Dobson mid way through a relegation scrap?

Let's be honest any half decent manager with the resources to bring in players like Richards and Fielden and call upon the kind of the kind of youth built up over the years Wigan have would be underperforming not to achieve something. The strength of the Wigan club is the big triumph here not the manager. They have international players and a youth system consistently strong for years on end, Noble has hardly performed miracles.

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Avoid injuries to key players. If Sam and Lockers had been out for a long time simultaneously we would have had a different season. While we were often without 7/8 players at a time they were often in positions in which we had cover. Contrast that to Saints and Leeds, where you can have everyone fit apart from 2 of your strike players and be far less potent.

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