Can we finish in the Top 5?

Discuss all things Wigan Warriors. Comments and opinions on all aspects of the club's performance are welcome.

Will we make the top 5??

Poll ended at Thu Jun 27, 2019 8:45 pm

Yes
25
69%
No
11
31%
 
Total votes: 36

DaveO
Posts: 15880
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2002 5:32 pm

Re: Can we finish in the Top 5?

Post by DaveO »

Nezza Faz wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2019 11:00 am
fozzieskem wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2019 10:50 am
jao711 wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2019 10:14 am
Would it be a travesty if Cas Make the top 5 having so far won one more game than Wigan,or even Catalan both showing patchy form.If you get enough points you deserve the place.
Is that down to the comp it’s self,I think the standard across the board has been abysmal,no beginnings? don’t make me laugh
The same standard that the NRL are pilloring our ranks for across the comp with a record number of SL players plying their trade over there ! And that's on top of some players who choose to stay here.
A record number of League coaches being poached by the rival code, to spice up their game is not an indication our game is "abysmal".
I think some League fans really excel in decrying the very sport they are supposed to love; I've never heard union fans criticize or chastise their game like some on here do.
I took a friend, Liverpool supporter, to a game at the DW last season and he said he couldn't understand all the wingeing from people throughout the 80 !!
Just go with your mates/family, have a pint and enjoy it. It won't kill you.
I am not sure you realise it but you are giving reasons as to why the standard of competition here has gone down the pan. The fact is most of GB'S truly class players are in the NRL. That is why it a major reason why is a poorer competition. I don't need the finger of one hand to count the number of class players who chose to stay. At Wigan it is a grand total of one. Lockers. Others who have not gone to the NRL such as Faz have never been good enough.

On the other hand the list of players leaving is well known and it is probably only a matter of time before Gildart follows Williams. If that happens and our centres end up as Hankinson and Bibby the drop in quality there to just a few seasons ago is dramatic.

The poaching of players and coaches says our game can uncover talent but it can't keep hold of it. If we had several players running around in the league equal to Bateman it might not be an issue but we don't.

As to can we finish in the top five, while ever it is still mathematically possible the answer is yes.

It's not beyond the realms of possibility we could even do well in the play offs. I think to win it Saints and Wire would need to suffer an injury crisis and we'd have to have everyone fit but this has happened before. Bradford won it after a horrendous season with injury but became the first team from outside the top 2 to win a GF even though had Saints run away with the league but had injuries for the playoffs.
Nezza Faz
Posts: 1932
Joined: Sun Jan 23, 2011 10:05 pm

Re: Can we finish in the Top 5?

Post by Nezza Faz »

It's the here and now Dave, players/coaches have been going over just the last season or so. And you name current talent being targeted.
And stories persist of Makinson, Johnson, Thompson, Hastings, Burgess, Lomax, Fages, Williams, McGilvary, and more being recruited. wouldn't surprise me if Smithies is on their radar ?
fozzieskem
Posts: 6494
Joined: Sat May 14, 2016 10:54 am

Re: Can we finish in the Top 5?

Post by fozzieskem »

Nezza Faz wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2019 11:00 am
fozzieskem wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2019 10:50 am
jao711 wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2019 10:14 am
Would it be a travesty if Cas Make the top 5 having so far won one more game than Wigan,or even Catalan both showing patchy form.If you get enough points you deserve the place.
Is that down to the comp it’s self,I think the standard across the board has been abysmal,no beginnings? don’t make me laugh
The same standard that the NRL are pilloring our ranks for across the comp with a record number of SL players plying their trade over there ! And that's on top of some players who choose to stay here.
A record number of League coaches being poached by the rival code, to spice up their game is not an indication our game is "abysmal".
I think some League fans really excel in decrying the very sport they are supposed to love; I've never heard union fans criticize or chastise their game like some on here do.
I took a friend, Liverpool supporter, to a game at the DW last season and he said he couldn't understand all the wingeing from people throughout the 80 !!
Just go with your mates/family, have a pint and enjoy it. It won't kill you.
Barring festivals etc I go to every game and I’m sorry I think bar Saints the standard has dropped markedly this season,in part to the reasons you mention the rate of the cream of the crop heading out to Australia to find fame and fortune,it’s bound to have an effect on our game.

You simply can’t compare the NRL to our game they’re leagues ahead,as for coaches well that’s up to them work is work I suppose but ultimately it is having an effect on our game,you can only sustain losing the quality for so long before the sport suffers,at least until the next set come through and I think that lull is what we have entered now,it happens and it will pass but at present the league is so close but I’m just not buying the enetainment on offer like I say it’ll pass it always does
morley pie eater
Posts: 3219
Joined: Tue May 02, 2006 2:01 pm

Re: Can we finish in the Top 5?

Post by morley pie eater »

bertina wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2019 8:13 am
morley pie eater wrote: Mon Jun 17, 2019 9:27 pm Yes, we can finish 5th or even 4th. From memory, we've won 5 of our last 7 league games, whilst teams like Wakefield, Salford and Cas are fading after good starts.

What chance of us getting to GF? 1000 to 1 at best.
Hardly 1000/1 Morley. bookies are only offering between 12/1 and 14/1 for us to win it. !!!
Bookies' odds are based on punters' decisions - the bookies always make a profit.

I was offering my opinion on our chances. I wouldn't put £10 on us unless the odds were at least 100 to 1, and, even then, i wouldn't expect to win.
. . . . . . ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
bertina
Posts: 897
Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2005 12:29 pm

Re: Can we finish in the Top 5?

Post by bertina »

morley pie eater wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2019 6:03 pm
bertina wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2019 8:13 am
morley pie eater wrote: Mon Jun 17, 2019 9:27 pm Yes, we can finish 5th or even 4th. From memory, we've won 5 of our last 7 league games, whilst teams like Wakefield, Salford and Cas are fading after good starts.

What chance of us getting to GF? 1000 to 1 at best.
Hardly 1000/1 Morley. bookies are only offering between 12/1 and 14/1 for us to win it. !!!
Bookies' odds are based on punters' decisions - the bookies always make a profit.

I was offering my opinion on our chances. I wouldn't put £10 on us unless the odds were at least 100 to 1, and, even then, i wouldn't expect to win.
I fully understand that. But, if you get in the play offs you obviously have a shot. The seasons best team hasn’t won the GF very often in recent years.
I have been as frustrated as everyone else with our form this season, but I honestly believe if we can get our best side fit for the play offs , (assuming we get there), we won’t be far off.
Apart from Saints, nobody else is setting the game alight.
Cas romped away with the league 2 years ago and won Jack sh-t.
DaveO
Posts: 15880
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2002 5:32 pm

Re: Can we finish in the Top 5?

Post by DaveO »

bertina wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2019 9:05 pmBut, if you get in the play offs you obviously have a shot.
You do and I said the same thing myself above but this time we are back to the top five system and to win it from outside the top two I think you need more than just a fully fit team.

When Bredford did it under this system it was, I think, the year Terry Newton broke Long's jaw and he was ruled out. I think Leeds were second and also suffered injuries to key players. Meanwhile Bradford who had injuries all season got all their key players back a few games before the playoffs so many had not played a full season so were not tired but were match fit.

I remember this vividly because I thought at the time they would definitely win it given what had happened to the squads of the teams who finished above them as well as them getting their players back. I'm not a betting man but I do regret not looking at what odds I could have got for them to win it.

If we get into the top five it's going to be 5th I reckon and so we will need a similar stroke of luck.

The other thing to remember is when Bradford did this they were also a quality team not prone to the mistakes and lapses we are currently so Lam will also need to get that sorted by then as well.
No straw damn us
Posts: 2060
Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2010 11:12 am

Re: Can we finish in the Top 5?

Post by No straw damn us »

No team has over won it from outside the top two under the current top five system.
bertina
Posts: 897
Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2005 12:29 pm

Re: Can we finish in the Top 5?

Post by bertina »

No straw damn us wrote: Wed Jun 19, 2019 7:40 pm No team has over won it from outside the top two under the current top five system.
The current top 5 system has only just started.
DaveO
Posts: 15880
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2002 5:32 pm

Re: Can we finish in the Top 5?

Post by DaveO »

No straw damn us wrote:No team has over won it from outside the top two under the current top five system.
True. Bradford were the first team In any playoff format to win it outside of the top two.
DaveO
Posts: 15880
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2002 5:32 pm

Can we finish in the Top 5?

Post by DaveO »

bertina wrote:
No straw damn us wrote: Wed Jun 19, 2019 7:40 pm No team has over won it from outside the top two under the current top five system.
The current top 5 system has only just started.
We had it previously. It was the first system used. Didn’t last long. From 1998 to 2001.
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