Head ruling Heart.....

[Kol]

I'm as loyal as anyone on this site, but optimism is one thing and realism is another. I think we'll win on Friday, but that's it. The 3rd game is a bridge too far for us. We are incredible for the first 25 mins then we slip. Saints and Leeds are on their way up and have a winning mentality and I doubt that loss to Leeds will make us bounce back that well. Tommy Leu is not good enough as a hb and we lack so much there; Deacon proves that. But, hey, Come on Wigan!!!

[Kittwazzer]

I'm a lot more confident about the semis and GF than I am about Friday.

Fortress Wigan we are not this season!

[GeoffN]

I think we'll win on Friday, and go on to beat Leeds (without McGuire and possibly Buderus) away, but I doubt we'd win at OT, whether against Saints or Wire.

[KOOCH]

We will beat HKR and then go on to beat the cheating Leeds.Then it's on to win the GF.

[x Wigan Warrior x]

so have we really improved over last season ? We have found consistency over a season ..... but if we still finish 90 mins away from a GF will Nobby have a wry smile on his chops ?
We are differently playing better ...... i think we peeked well before the playoffs though

[Wigan_forever1985]

I think what we lack is a big game mentality which is natural for a side who have been out of the chase for silverware for best part of a decade now.

The youngsters we have a great talents but lack big game experience which will only come with experience. I think next year we will have that edge with the imports we are bringing in.

Of the team that played leeds i can only think of paddy, lockers and feilden that have had regular big stage action(deac's has but obv he didnt last long) LuLu i guess does with NZ buts its not what i say was regular. I think thats what hurt us in the end the ability to make the right choices at the right times.

Im not too discouraged because i think 1-2 years time we will have that big game ability and will be a force to be reckoned with for the forseeable future judging by the age of the team.

When we lost our last really good team the likes of Dallas, Rads, Farrell, Newton etc etc between 2003-2005 we made the worst mistake possible we panicked for about 3-4 season's buying "established" players who would do one season and bugger off but the wigan public expected success so no one was willing to take a couple of seasons rebuilding the structure of the team and taking a hit on results so we tried to form ready made teams.

Now its a different story we have a great set of youngsters working with splashings of seasoned veterans who want to be here. Wigan will slip back into being one of if not the top team over the next few years barring any big loss of personel. We have over achieved this year and i still think we have the potential to win the GF but what we lack is maybe the confidence when it comes down to the crunch.

Leeds played us exactly how they needed to, to win the game. They dragged us down rather than upping to our level. Put simply few teams can match us in full flow. What we need to be able to do and this is something Stains do so well is when a team trys to drag them down they can on playing their style of rugby and stop the other team from playing to their game plan. W

[exile]

I think the management got it wrong by leaving out feka. We dominated the game until the point when our front row subbed. The kids who replaced did not make the yards. This happen on Friday, away at Leeds in the Cup and home to Warrington. Games we lost. On Sunday losing Deacon and leaving Sam at FB left us lacking power in the front row and no creativity.

[gpartin]

I think the management got it wrong by leaving out feka. We dominated the game until the point when our front row subbed. The kids who replaced did not make the yards. This happen on Friday, away at Leeds in the Cup and home to Warrington. Games we lost. On Sunday losing Deacon and leaving Sam at FB left us lacking power in the front row and no creativity.

agree I think Coley and Piggy going off affected us as much as Deacs if not more. Feka should have been in instead of Tuson as far as I'm concerned.

As for the previous poster even if we get beaten by Rovers I'd still say we have improved massively this season.

[Panchitta Marra]

so have we really improved over last season ? We have found consistency over a season ..... but if we still finish 90 mins away from a GF will Nobby have a wry smile on his chops ?
We are differently playing better ...... i think we peeked well before the playoffs though

The players think things have improved dramatically from the Noble era.
A friend of mine asked Mark Riddell what he thought the difference was between 2009 & 2010.
He said that the players fitness levels and enthusiasm had very much improved since the appointment of Michael Mcguire and his assisting coaching staff.
IMO opinion, if Amos had not picked up a freak injury in the Wakefield game, we would be waiting to choosing our next round opponents, not Stains.
McGuire's new training regime will have come as a culture shock to many of the squad, as it no doubt much more disciplined and intense.
Prior to wakefield away, Amos Roberts was 5 meters faster than in 2009.
Pat is running through players with much more strength and pace.
Sam is even faster, making more line breaks.
Mark Riddell is more fitter, enthused and looking like a top class hooker (very sad we are loosing him).
Stuart Fielden has gained some confidence back, a much improved player from 2009.
IMO Wigan are a much improved side from 2009, but not yet the finished article. Brett Finch & Ryan Hoffman will be welcome additions to next seasons squad.
I am a big Iafetta Paleasiina fan, so Lima will have to be a world beater for me to see an improvement on Feka.

[exile in Tiger country]

This sounds very much like a rehashing of the "We're in a transitional phase" stuff we have had for a few years now. Top of the league by a good margin should be looking at an easy run to old trafford. We need to develop the killer instinct to close games out, and not to panic when things don't go our way.