Stu M wrote:Was a much more dominant performance than I expected. Wigan looked comfortable and never looked like losing. Worryingly for the rest of SL they are only just getting started. This team now has that big game Finals experience and the stars are tied down to long-term contracts. They have a mixture of youth complemented by experience and to be fair recruited very well.
Thompson has been way better than I envisaged and its a sign of their depth that Walters can't make the 17. Nsemba is a superstar in the making and then of course there's Field and French and Smith now learning how to manage games and kicking teams into submission.
There's going to be a real lack of competition for Wigan soon bar maybe Warrington continuing to improve. Catalan have gone backwards so there's a real onus on Saints getting injured players back. Given that we are set for a couple of transition seasons there is a real chance Wigan will do what we did and win consecutive GF's for 3-4 years.
I said to my eldest lad a couple of years ago to enjoy the period we were in and to make the most of getting one over his Wigan supporting mates at his school in Wigan. I didn't expect Wigan to improve as quickly as they have but in Peet and a good coaching team, they are now the standard bearers and the rest of us need to chase them.
I think the problem with predicting 3 or 4 year dynasties is that in sport, and particularly one like ours, there are just too many variables. Injuries, suspensions and even refereeing decisions now, more than ever, have the potential to completely alter the course of a season. If it was a 'first past the post' system we played I'd be more confident in predicting a dynasty but essentially all our trophies, apart from the LLS, are decided by cup finals and, as we know, anything can happen in a one-off game. Saints own dynasty would probably never have happened had Hardaker made that kick or even punted the ball up field in the 2020 final. Even then it needed a freak bounce of the ball for that win to happen.
I think the club are doing all the right things and putting itself in the best position for success going forward and the rest are definitely in a position of catch up now as the clean sweep of trophies attests. This is already a special team that knows how to win the big games and, as you said about your own success, we should just enjoy it while we can.
Having said all that I hope I can post in 3 more years and say "well Stu, it turns out you were right"
Joined: Mar 21 2006 Posts: 2174 Location: in a world of my own
Phuzzy wrote:Edited it for you mate. Some still think they'd beat us 9 times out of 10 and then, of course, we still have to hear from honourary Saints fan Rob/Stef/Lebron/insertusernamehere who has gone strangely quiet
Very honest and considered post from Stu.
time to resurrect the 'envyometer'......
Wellens 3/10 Like public transport. Late, slow and stunk
There are loads of positives in those stats but one thing that really jumps out to me is the contributions of Thompson, Havard and Ellis. You're lucky if you have one middle forward (hate using that term but will have to with Ellis playing at loose forward) capable of playing 80 minutes but we have these 3, all of which are ideal modern day forwards. They are absolute athletes, big but mobile, defensively fantastic and will test their opposite numbers by still being able to go as strong late in a stint (or late in a game if they do complete the 80 minutes) as they were at the start of it. We're so fortunate to be in a position that we have those 3 guys and can then just rotate around them.
NickyKiss wrote:There are loads of positives in those stats but one thing that really jumps out to me is the contributions of Thompson, Havard and Ellis. You're lucky if you have one middle forward (hate using that term but will have to with Ellis playing at loose forward) capable of playing 80 minutes but we have these 3, all of which are ideal modern day forwards. They are absolute athletes, big but mobile, defensively fantastic and will test their opposite numbers by still being able to go as strong late in a stint (or late in a game if they do complete the 80 minutes) as they were at the start of it. We're so fortunate to be in a position that we have those 3 guys and can then just rotate around them.
I was reflecting on that and remembering when we were all (or nearley all ) were crying out for a more dominating pack. We now have an embarrassment of riches
NickyKiss wrote:There are loads of positives in those stats but one thing that really jumps out to me is the contributions of Thompson, Havard and Ellis. You're lucky if you have one middle forward (hate using that term but will have to with Ellis playing at loose forward) capable of playing 80 minutes but we have these 3, all of which are ideal modern day forwards. They are absolute athletes, big but mobile, defensively fantastic and will test their opposite numbers by still being able to go as strong late in a stint (or late in a game if they do complete the 80 minutes) as they were at the start of it. We're so fortunate to be in a position that we have those 3 guys and can then just rotate around them.
Think we always knew Havard and Thompson could do 80 but Ellis doing it is an added bonus.
The fact these 3 can do massive minutes is why I would have opted for the versatility of Walters on the bench rather than 3 props. Byrne and Mago both played about 10 minutes if I remember correctly.
Didn’t matter in the end of course!
RICHARDS IS SUPERMAN!!!!
Wire_91 wrote:its your first final in about 8 years and now you ravin and rantin about it F**k off, and ill be going old trafford tomoz cheering on the saints and ill be writing on this forum givin you loads of shi* when your drying you eyes and the wire fan will be here handing out the tissues in the thousands, thats if you do take that many fans cause now it looks like its your fans who have jumped on the band wagon now your in a final, this time last year there was only 1000 people in the jjb and now its fillin up cause youve won the league hahaha proper true supporters you are
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