Congatulations to Wigan. but you have to feel for the wire fans. I had hoped to see a new name of the SL Trophy but don't begrudge Wigan their win. Roll on 2017

Tony Smith....close big game.....final 20 mins.....loses again.

Never mind can McDermott succeed without Sinfield and Peacock. Can Smith win a GF without them? He's had 8 seasons and failed.

Good job Wigan didn't get flooded or were affected by SPOTY and the Kiwis last year.

Who knows what they could have won this season had they been affected by more than a mere season-long injury crisis to contend with, eh?

True, otherwise they wouldn't have won tonight. As we'll see next year a good pre season will make a big difference to Leeds and they'll be back in the mix.

William posting after a GF.....a novelty, you usually go into hiding

Good point, if they'd had their training ground flooded they probably wouldn't have been there tonight.

They've had an injury crisis ?

Why has no one mentioned this ?

They have but unlike Leeds it hasn't stopped them being a competitive side all season

True but firstly they didn't lose key time in their pre-season and secondly we all know they are the best drilled/structed team in the league and have been for several years. This has had both its pros & cons. Last few years they've not had that special play/player like us and it's cost them trophies for two seasons but then losing players effects them less which is why they can cope better.

So what do you go for, a system in which can work when starters are missing but can lack a bit of magic to get you over the line at times or a system which relies on the the magic of your starters but is badly effected when you lose too many of those starters.

Both have pros and cons as the last 2 Grand Finals have shown.

Warrington the first team to lose both major finals (GF & CC) in the same year since Leeds in 2005.

Who was the coach both times?

The Arsene Wenger "specialist in failure" tag comparison that's floating around now for Smith is quite accurate.

Smith has won two Grand Finals, three Challenge Cups, three League Leaders' shields and a World Club Championship. Including the WCC his final win rate is 50%. Smith-coached teams have won trophies in eight out of the past 12 seasons. A failure he is not.

Much bigger specialists in failure were Huddersfield as a club before he went there, Leeds as a club before he went there and Warrington as club before he went there. What happened to each of those clubs after Tony Smith's involvement is remarkable.

It's such a fine line between success and failure and i suppose the coaches live and die by the sword at the top clubs especially. Wigan have been calling for Wanes head on a plate most of the year, now he is the messiah for masterminding a miracle and there are calls for him to be knighted!

If Smith had been the winning coach last night (and it was a tight game) it would be the same over there, he would be a genius yet now their fans are saying he hasn't got a clue, no bottle, time for a change etc..etc..

FWIW i think warrington are headed in the right direction, they just need a bit more punch in the pack and they will be there again as the top team next year imo. Getting rid of Smith would be a big mistake.

I'm sure warrington consider it all a great success those CC's they won 4 years ago, no title in 8 years and the subsequent run of final defeats since. Just like leeds fans thought it was in great in 2006.

I would rather be losers, and playing finals, than been non challengers any day. At least they don't have to suffer the utter embarrassment of the middle eights.

I don't care if we finished in the middle 8's this season. I'd take lower lows for greater highs. Warrington haven't won a title for 61 years and just can't get that title winning forumla. Would I f*ck swap places with them. We thought 32 years was bad. We thought that was a monkey. 61 years.

I would rather be sometimes lower than expected down the table but then winning grand finals when you get there, rather than just never winning. 2 out of 6 grand finals for smith.

Why can't you have both or at least a plan B for when injuries do strike?
Look at Powell at Cas aswell he had plans/structures that could be adapted to the players he had available which made them competitive all season.
Hiding behind excuses early on GH gave this squad/Coaches an excuse culture all season.
We keep hearing about how much they've learned well we'll soon see but imo the biggest mistake will be starting 2017 with the same Coaching set up & we've yet to see the quality recruitment we undoubtedly need.