Exiled Wiganer

He has decided to leave sport for a job in the leisure sector. League made him good, and will make someone else good in his place.

“Culture” though may be something more subtle than not having 20 pints, but be around what does it take to become a serial winner. I absolutely take your point that, over the last 15 years, you have won plenty of big games and done so in style.

I didn’t mean to claim any credit on Wigan’s behalf - you weren’t forced to sign him: this was good judgment on your part. Wigan have had a surfeit of good pros - Willie Isa being another case in point - and so the cultural upside was arguably less significant for us. My father - to our eternal shame as a family - was on Saints’ coaching staff for a while (and Wigan’s shortly after) and he made the point that the levels of dedication and professionalism pros like KC and Roby brought to every training session were light years ahead of Wigan’s efforts at that time. All the indications are that Peet has put that right. A result like Saturday’s suggests Wire are doing a lot right all day, every day. That was built on months of commitment. I would be very buoyant if I were you.

But another way of looking at that is that those were moments where in the past they might have folded. This lot didn’t and the next time they will draw from that.

A few things on Wire, having re watched the second half: - they have the resources but seemingly not the culture/character; - they were inspired one year by having Andrew Johns on board. That presence of a world class talent made everyone else believe and fulfil their potential; - if you don’t have a work hard enough to win ethos in the club’s DNA, then you have to look elsewhere. I wonder whether 2 Sams could be key here: in Sam Burgess they have an Andrew Johns equivalent. He has the stardust and can inspire because he has been there, done that. It doesn’t matter so much that they follow the Wire way when they can follow the Sam B way of doing things. It inspires greater ambition and takes some pressure off. While he is a limited player, everyone connected to the club believes that Sam Powell was a central figure for us. In terms of always turning up, always working, always learning. I assume he was signed with that in mind. With Sam B inspiring and Sam P keeping everyone’s eyes on the prize then it comes down to talent and resources, and Wire have enough of those to be champions; and - it might though be a year or 2 too soon for this squad, as they have ground to make up. However, with no inspiration at 9 or coaching them they have the advantage of being far better placed relative to Saints than at any time in the SL era…

They have won the cup on multiple occasions recently and topped the league. They have had a lot of good years recently.

Superb performance. Burgess was a risk, but my goodness it looks like coming off. The post Roby/KC world may be tricky.

Excuse me? Have you blocked my posts for some reason?

I thought that was a good game between 2 good teams. Both of them have superb players, and clearly know what they need to do. Very entertaining. Leigh have just got too many injuries to be at the top table, but the wheel will turn. And the ground looked and sounded absolutely brilliant - and that was for a cup game. It makes you wonder just how big they could become…

Whoever wrote that knows their onions. Having re watched the Giants Wigan game recently, I came away thinking we were very lucky to get one of our games against them out of the way. Good players and a good coach will take a team a long way.

On props, Wigan have Havard, Hill, Thompson and Dupree (and Byrne and Eseh), who could be internationals (again for 2 of them) one day.

I think Thompson is superb. O’Neill is class but there are other options.

If you like. I only saw one of his games and he was already central to everything their pack does. My point is a narrow one - how many WCCs, or international games or Suttons starring at Canberra do people need to see before they simply take it as read that there is nothing at all surprising about a player who has been in the pro ranks at Wigan (or Saints, or Leeds, or wherever in SL) walking into a middle of the table NRL side. It is exactly what we should expect. Again, the only surprising thing is someone swapping proximity to Liverpool, Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire and the Lakes for Canberra - playing in their winter. Am guessing the money is vastly higher there, because anyone who doesn’t opt for a Sydney/Brisbane team is going to a cultural/social desert.

KPP and Smithies will of course lift the level of the teams they joined. They were there or thereabouts in the first 17 for Wigan, after all. Having seen how well Thompson has handled the step up in quality, I am at a loss as to how he wasn’t a stand out player at Canterbury. I am guessing there is something not right with the culture at that club.

Or kept 13 men on the field. Make sure you don’t record over the video.