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Wembley April 29 1989

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Cheadle Leyther

Cheadle Leyther

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This was when I stopped watching the Wembley finals because Wigan were full time and everyone else was not. As can be seen today part time teams have no chance against full time professionals.

 The Nineties were a lost era for most rugby league fans outside Wiggin.

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Whippet13

Whippet13

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59 minutes ago, Cheadle Leyther said:

This was when I stopped watching the Wembley finals because Wigan were full time and everyone else was not. As can be seen today part time teams have no chance against full time professionals.

 The Nineties were a lost era for most rugby league fans outside Wiggin.

It was only the first half of the nineties, after 95 Wigan did not win another Challenge Cup until 2002.

Leeds were full time too, I think, through much of that decade.  

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Damien

Damien

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3 hours ago, Cheadle Leyther said:

This was when I stopped watching the Wembley finals because Wigan were full time and everyone else was not. As can be seen today part time teams have no chance against full time professionals.

 The Nineties were a lost era for most rugby league fans outside Wiggin.

Except they weren't until 1992/93 and only went fully full time after Leeds. Before that it was a mixture with many part time players. Other teams had full time professionals too in the same manner.

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Cheadle Leyther

Cheadle Leyther

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My memories mainly relate to the years 1988 to 1995 inclusive, when they won 8 successive challenge cup finals, with only token resistance from the opposition in most of these matches.

My recollection is of them buying all the best  English players like Hanley and Offiah plus top Aussie players and coaches going full time partly based on winning at Wembley each year.

Then when Salford finally ended their cup trail in 1996,this helped lead to money problems ultimately leading them  being rescued by Tesco and leaving Central Park. Or have I imagined all this??!!

Edited by Cheadle Leyther
Aussie spelt wrongly
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Dunbar

Dunbar

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On 29/04/2024 at 19:49, sam4731 said:

I'll just leave this here for balance.

 

 

Look at those effective tackles by Wigan - we absolutely smashed them.

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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bobbruce

bobbruce

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17 minutes ago, Cheadle Leyther said:

My memories mainly relate to the years 1988 to 1995 inclusive, when they won 8 successive challenge cup finals, with only token resistance from the opposition in most of these matches.

My recollection is of them buying all the best  English players like Hanley and Offiah plus top Aussie players and coaches going full time partly based on winning at Wembley each year.

Then when Salford finally ended their cup trail in 1996,this helped lead to money problems ultimately leading them  being rescued by Tesco and leaving Central Park. Or have I imagined all this??!!

Always worth pointing out that Hanley and Offiah never played together for Wigan. People always think Wigan could just sign anyone they did have to manage their player budget a bit. 

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Dunbar

Dunbar

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21 minutes ago, bobbruce said:

Always worth pointing out that Hanley and Offiah never played together for Wigan. People always think Wigan could just sign anyone they did have to manage their player budget a bit. 

Is that true?  That has properly screwed with my head.

In my fantasies I am backing up a break by Hanley before sending Offiah over in the corner.

You’ll be telling me next that all my old girlfriends are not as attractive as I remember them!

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"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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bobbruce

bobbruce

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55 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

Is that true?  That has properly screwed with my head.

In my fantasies I am backing up a break by Hanley before sending Offiah over in the corner.

You’ll be telling me next that all my old girlfriends are not as attractive as I remember them!

They were all stunners. 

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Damien

Damien

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3 hours ago, Cheadle Leyther said:

My memories mainly relate to the years 1988 to 1995 inclusive, when they won 8 successive challenge cup finals, with only token resistance from the opposition in most of these matches.

My recollection is of them buying all the best  English players like Hanley and Offiah plus top Aussie players and coaches going full time partly based on winning at Wembley each year.

Then when Salford finally ended their cup trail in 1996,this helped lead to money problems ultimately leading them  being rescued by Tesco and leaving Central Park. Or have I imagined all this??!!

Hanley who left Wigan for more money at Leeds? Offiah who according to John Monie in his autobiography almost signed for Leeds on more money than Wigan were offering?

The trouble is you are being awfully selective with your recollection. Widnes won the league twice in the late 80s with an extremely good team and other clubs also had stars like Schofield, Crooks, Ward etc. Wigan by no means signed them all and always had a fair smattering of players that would be considered average at other clubs or journeymen. The typical starting lineups often included the likes of Mather, Cowie, Panapa, McGinty etc. Before that you may have had the likes of Preston, Myers, Byrne etc. The likes of Hampson, Preston and Mather were nobodies even in RU. Then there were all the homegrown Wigan players who were a core part of these teams.

Indeed Wigan only won the league on points difference at times in the 1990s. For a team that was supposedly the only full time team and that signed all the best English and Aussie players it seems odd that this could be the case.

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JohnM

JohnM

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18 hours ago, Cheadle Leyther said:

This was when I stopped watching the Wembley finals because Wigan were full time and everyone else was not. As can be seen today part time teams have no chance against full time professionals.

 The Nineties were a lost era for most rugby league fans outside Wiggin.

 The Nineties were a lost era for most rugby league fans outside Wiggin.

I don't think that's correct. So we're all those big crowds at Wigan games home and away made up of  mainly Wigan fans?

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JohnM

JohnM

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14 hours ago, Cheadle Leyther said:

My memories mainly relate to the years 1988 to 1995 inclusive, when they won 8 successive challenge cup finals, with only token resistance from the opposition in most of these matches.

My recollection is of them buying all the best  English players like Hanley and Offiah plus top Aussie players and coaches going full time partly based on winning at Wembley each year.

Then when Salford finally ended their cup trail in 1996,this helped lead to money problems ultimately leading them  being rescued by Tesco and leaving Central Park. Or have I imagined all this??!!

Yes, you've imagined all that.🙂

Wigan didn't do anything other than do what any other club could have done: they ran the club in a more-or-less professional manner. 

Edited by JohnM
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Wigan Riversider

Wigan Riversider

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1 hour ago, JohnM said:

Yes, you've imagined all that.🙂

Wigan didn't do anything other than do what any other club could have done: they ran the club in a more-or-less professional manner. 

Certainly the bit about Australian players. Gene Miles didn't play a full season, Andrew Farrar did. Prior to that Phil Blake and Les Davidson replaced Kevin Iro and Adrian Shelford for the duration of the Kiwi tour in Autumn 1989. Can't think of any other Australian players during the 1988-1995 Challenge Cup winning run.

As for coaches, Monie replaced Lowe(Kiwi) and Dorahy was sacked without completing a season and was replaced by West.

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Wigan Riversider

Wigan Riversider

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1 hour ago, JohnM said:

 The Nineties were a lost era for most rugby league fans outside Wiggin.

I don't think that's correct. So we're all those big crowds at Wigan games home and away made up of  mainly Wigan fans?

Seem to recall Leeds going full time in the very early 90s?

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JohnM

JohnM

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I'm away at present but when I return and get access to my various books on the topic, I might provide more detail.  The definitive source on all these matters, though, is Padge, who I'm sure can cover the issues in accurate  detail. 

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Cheadle Leyther

Cheadle Leyther

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4 hours ago, JohnM said:

I'm away at present but when I return and get access to my various books on the topic, I might provide more detail.  The definitive source on all these matters, though, is Padge, who I'm sure can cover the issues in accurate  detail. 

Don’t bother, fans from other clubs know what I mean.

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