When Weeeegan won the Grand Final in 2010, I seem to recall their fans bleating about a new dynasty, that they would match or beat Leeds '3 in a row' etc..

What happened?

Leeds won the next 2 finals...from 5th

Wigan are no longer the biggest sports club in their town!!

When a team is really on the decline and fall below you then you don't spend the week your team is in the GF against another team trolling on their board about a signing of an International player.

Ok. We are in decline. A torrid club starved of success. Wigan are the greatest sporting institution the world has known and will win every grand final from now until the end of humanity.

Now, will you go away?

No fecking chance

Lol
I agree.

Regards,
Sam Tomkins, Pat Richards, Thomas Leuluai, Ryan Hoffman, Jeff Lima, Brett Finch, Lee Mossop


Wigan
2010 - 1st
2011 - 2nd
2012 - 1st
2013 - 4th

Leeds
2010 - 4th
2011 - 5th
2012 - 5th
2013 - 3rd

Which team is in decline?

Yes Wigan do have a more successful past. However it's undoubted which club is the biggest in the present.
Just as a clue, it's the one that aren't tenants.

Is it the one that didn't reach either final this season?

Or is it the one that went from 1st to 4th?
The one losing major players again?

Come on - surely we know more than anyone that league position means nothing.

That also happened in 2006 under the messiah Tony Smith, the only time in the last 11 attempts that we didn't even get to within 80 mins of Old Trafford, we also put in a disappointing Cup showing and exit to Hudds then too and they along with Wire (playoff exit) were nowhere near as strong contenders at that time.........we then reached and won 5 of the next 6 GF's, reached 3 CC finals, won 2 WCC and 1 LLS.

The scary thing is Last Son of Wigan is right, this is our decline, this is our transitional period, the next year or two will be tough to replace some top class talent, some Leeds legends will be retiring but we have comfortably the best back 5 in the league going in to next year, Hardaker, Hall, Moon, Watkins, Briscoe has the potential to be as good as any in the professional era and that is a back line that can stick together for 5/6 years at least.

We have 3 proven winners at halfback with a fantastic, very young, exciting talent coming through in Sutcliffe, We have a very good back row with Ablett, JJB and Delany, with Stevie Ward being an absolute top class back row prospect

In my opinion we are two props (of which Singleton should be one) and a hooker away from our 2nd dynasty and there is still trophies in the ‘golden generation’, especially with the quality of youngsters we have.

This being our decline shouldn’t be a cause for celebration for our rivals, it should scare them.

I thought our decline and transition was when we lost Senior, Donald, Toopi and Bai, and went from the oldest set of backs in the league to the youngest?

If Wigan were on the rise, they would have kept hold of their best players (Mossop, Richards, Tomkins) and wouldn't be shopping in the novelty isle with the signing of Powell.

Wigan will drop like a stone next season

So going from 1st on a meaningless ladder to 4th on a meaningless ladder while winning the secondary major trophy along the way and at least making the final in the major event is somehow now indicative of a team in greater decline than one improving from a unrepresentative 5th on a meaningless ladder to 3rd on a meaningless ladder while not making either final?

It's OK I know you're only jesting.



Losing major player's again needn't be an issue if you're prepared to be pro-active and if necessary enter the market place to plug those gaps with quality who could (as happened this season) go on to pick up the Lance Todd Trophy, make the SL Dream Team and put in a match winning contribution V the reigning SL Champions in a play-off semi-final decider ..... despite some on here claiming such replacement to be a major downgrade.

Could we really be so spoiled as to expect Leeds to win the title 3 times in a row again? Not even the "great" Saints team of 2006 could back up.
Part of it is that some feel that our last two years achievements have been trashed due to the playoff system and a 5th place finish during the regular season. I'm usually not bothered by what others think, generally because the people that make the most noise are those with the most bias and self interest. I'm pretty sure that the majority of people in the game that matter have a great respect and admiration for what our club has achieved - they just don't need to shout off about it. We shouldn't believe that internet trolls or the paid Sky mouthpieces are the voice of rugby league.

As hard as it is sometimes we really should flick the collective chips from our shoulders when it comes to other clubs and their "rich history of success". If we were back in 1985 on an internet board then Huddersfilelds great team of the 50's would be as relevent as what some were about to achieve, just like I never took any real comfort from Leeds domination of the late 60's and early 70's, it's simply rediculous. Do South Sydney fans brag about being the greatest ever team in Australian rugby history? They would be a laughable as someone (probably not even born) cacking on about what their club did 30 years ago in any context. In fact, this is probably more effort than I should have bothered with as it is.

Completely agree. As it rolled into the play offs, the signs were good that we could go all the way again, but the idea of doing it 3 years in a row again, made it seem remote, even with this outstanding group of players. Having had a sobering couple of weeks the club has ended up coming just short. Its regrettable, but its not a major problem. Realistically, we are in decline, but thats because we have been at the top for so long. There is only 1 way to go. Its the measure of how steep the decline is that matters. Next years I'd expect us to be fighting for the top 4 again, and could well do some damage in the cup, in fact given us not finishing as strong this year the cup could be ideally suited for us to peak for, especially if we get a walkover draw like Wigan did this year