We have ridden our luck

[catman]

A lot of the posts on this forum often bemoan our luck saying how unlucky we are and how we are being done badly to by the RFL and match officials etc. I would like to argue against this point and suggest that in the past few seasons we have been very fortunate and this papers over some very evident and alarming cracks in our club set up.

My first example of this luck is this year's challenge cup. We got to the final by beating Swinton, a side struggling in the championship, Warrington a side who were going through the horrors at the time and did not qualify for the super 8s and Salford who by the time of the semi final were busted and well past their best form. So we got to the final and we're runners up. However can anyone honestly say we were the second best team in this year's Challenge cup. We were well beaten by Hull in the final and again our luck was in as a four point margin flattered us. I would argue that if we had played Castleford, Leeds or Saints in the final the result would have been the same we were well short of the required standard yet at the end of the season IFL will appear in the press saying we've been in a final this season so that's the target met.

Another example of our luck has been this year's superleague Some of our performances have been abject we had 50 points put up us at Leigh and we have lost at home to Wakefield and Salford. Some people might argue we've had injuries but weve had this level of injury problem caused by brutal training methods for the past three years and we've decided not to change them or strenghen our squad so injuries are no excuse. This year we were lucky that Huddersfield have also suffered from bad injuries and lucky that Warrington suffered from a nightmare start. It would have needed only a small change in circumstances to have put us in 9th place and relegated us to the middle eights unthinkable for a club like Wigan.

Yet another example of our good luck was winning the Grand final last year. Some of our performances in the early to mid part of last season were terrible we should have got nowhere near the play offs and final yet we did. Our good fortune last year was getting our injuries early and as the season went on we got stronger as the missing players returned as other teams weakened through wear and tear. We were also lucky that our two main rivals for the league Hull and Warrington met in the Cup final and this played a major part in us being able to beat them in the following weeks' super 8 fixtures. We were also lucky that Hull played Warrington in the final round of the super 8s and this allowed us to sneak into second place in the table and a home semi final. Our luck held in the final Warrington's best players Ben Currie (injured) and Chris Sandown (half fit) could not influence the final and we got on top.

I don't want to suggest that Wigan success is just down to fortune a lot of players have shown great effort, determination and the ability to play through the pain barrier in seemingly hopeless circumstances so they deserve all the achievements they have gained. However Wigan as a club and a team do have major and obvious shortcomings, poor attack, no goal kicker etc and these have have been identified and discussed on this forum ad finitum over the past few years and I believe they will not change as long as the current management remains in post. In the past few years Wigan have had a huge slice of good luck and if this luck ever runs out we will be in a very sorry situation.

One last thing after last year's grand final SW stated in the media that he had overcome the negative comments of some of the Wigan supporters that he was correct, his will had triumphed, his way was the right way, he was victories, he had smitten the unbelievers perhaps at the end of this season he will reflect on our performances at Leigh, at home to Wakefield and in the final and issue another statement that perhaps the unbelievers had a point, no chance.

[moto748]

Good post. I sure get fed up with reading about anti Wigan conspiracies and bent officials. Yes, we've been on the receiving end of a few bad calls, but so have all clubs.

[morley pie eater]

You're wrong from the first sentence. The majority of posts are like yours: complaining that Wane/IL/the club have got it all wrong and telling us how you would put it right.

[Wandering Warrior]

Seems a pretty clear and concise post to me. Purely an opinion, which is what matters and for the record I thought Wane got lucky last year and have said so on here before.
Now I might be right or wrong but we've certainly been going downhill since that glorious double in 13. Top teams strengthen at the top, not stagnate.

[butt monkey]

You're wrong from the first sentence. The majority of posts are like yours: complaining that Wane/IL/the club have got it all wrong and telling us how you would put it right.

I'm sure you are a troll who loves nothing more than enjoying our sides dispirited performances and the club lose it fans as a result

Think the "morley" gives it away. Now go back to cheering your beloved rhinos on and admit we Wigan fans are correct and Wane's time is up