The is no doubt Wigan have been the best team so far over the first 9 games of the season. They look awesome in defence and have improved there attack this year but we are only 9 games in.

As us saints fans no, you get nothing for being top in April or all the way to September, it's what you do in play offs and the final on 2nd October.

From what I've read on the pies forum I think they going a little OTT. FFS sake we are only 9 games in, they sound like Warrington fans when they win a few games.

Man for man, wigan arent in the top 4 on paper. I dont rate their pack one bit and wigan fans can claim they dominated Saints pack all they want. They never. We made so many easy yards even with graham off the pitch. They arent strong enough to win the grand final at all, but with a few signings for next season a grand final win in 2011 is on the cards.

I fully accept the above, but how you start the season can dictate how you finish for me. The higher up the table you finish the better your chances are in the play offs. Wigan in previous years have been slow starters - we lost six of our opening nine games last season - and this has meant Wigan have subsequently given themselves too much to do in terms of catching up with the other teams at the top of the table & so run out of steam in the play offs, as going one game from Old Trafford for the last few years proves.

Wigan are nowhere near the finished article yet. As many Saints fans have been quick to point out Wigan weren't fantastic against Saints on Friday. Our defence was awesome, but poor discipline and a poor kicking game could have cost us the match had it not been for our excellent defence. This team is still earning under MaGuire and will keep getting better as each week passes. So I think it's the fact Wigan fans know that this side will only get better which is causing such optimism from our supporters.

I think that's a bold claim. Wigan have one of the best backlines in the league with Phelps, Roberts, Gleeson, Carmont and Richards. Shaun Ainscough and Darrell Goulding as back up. We have the hottest talent in Super League in Sam Tomkins. Joel Tomkins and Lee Mossop have been awesome for us & Sean O'loughlin must be a candidate for Man of Steel.

Our pack did the job against Saints. Joel Tomkins put some massive hits on James Graham in the opening minutes and Lockers put in a monster hit on him which kept him quiet throughout the game. Saints got forward through our poor kicking game and ill discipline. The referee penalised us a lot in the second half and that carried you up the field. Watch that scrum again if you think your pack dominated us.

How after beating Warrington away, smashing Hull FC at home, beating Leeds Rhinos and then backing it up with an away win at Saints, you can then rule Wigan out for winning the Grand Final just strikes me as someone who is either stupid or very worried.

What is this boldlocks about your pack doing a job on us? Your pack did put some hits on Graham, but bar knocking him out twice did it do anything at all to detract from his normal game? He was as dominant as he always is. Check the stats for the game if they are available, I'll bet he did more metres than Wigan's front row added together.

Our pack was easily the better of the two on show. Look at the second half and the volume of possession and more importantly ball we had in the Wigan half. Whenever we got the ball in the second half we made 60 metres before the kick. The only thing lacking from Saints was the composure and execution required to first build and then exploit pressure. We got there easily, we then knocked on or turned over possession on the 1st, 2nd or 3rd play of the set. Saints never managed to get any repeat sets despite setting up basecamp on the Wigan 20. Not because of Wigan's defense, simply because we didn't put that defense under any pressure bar the Puletua barge overs. We lacked even the ability to move the ball along the line properly. It was the most disjointed and disorganised Saints performance I've seen at KR in many a year.

Yet despite this the game was basically even. 2-2 in tries. Wigan weren't better on the day it was just a tight game during which the breaks went their way. Saints had enough penalties in easily kickable positions to have won the game with just 2 pointers. We also had enough ball and enough position to score 40 or 50 points, we just didn't use it properly. To get back to the original point, the pack was dominant. Every time we knocked on near the Wigan line on the 2nd or 3rd tackle the pack just brought it back to the same position. Most of the penalties you refer to were awarded in positions that meant they were irrelevant, often resetting the 2nd or 3rd tackle back to the first.

Another point is that the game was almost no different to the play off game last season.

Thanks for the instant ( and hopefully ) long-lasting fame, but you can't have read many posts on here if you really think that my statement is so outrageous. For what it's worth a case [icould [/ibe made for Paul Sculthorpe being a better all-round player than Ellery Hanley.

Wigan have made a tremendous start and are serious contenders. Don't get carried away though. You were more than fortunate to claim the 2 points against Wire. One dropped ball in the dying seconds from solo and you wouldn't be top. Every time I have seen Wigan this year( and friday was no exception), their spoiling tactics at the ruck have been allowed to stand. That won't last and they will come unstuck on the drier grounds.
I accept that offensively they are very good though

their spoiling tactics at the ruck have been allowed to stand. That won't last and they will come unstuck on the drier grounds.

Everyone keeps going on about Wigans "spoiling tactics",it's wearing a bit thin now mate,EVERY side tries to do the same,we are just doing it better at the moment.
And spoiling tactics and having scored the most points to date(i think)don't really go hand in hand .

I said on hear before the season started that it was time for a change and it would be us and the wire in the Grand Final,i'll stick with that.

A bit strange then that they seem to be beating everyone (Bratfud apart)

You really need to stop drinking.

The way things go in RL anything can happen between now and GF. Wigan have been the stand out team along with Warrington without a shadow of a doubt but its how they fare in those very high pressure games that will count. Leeds/Saints have players who have been there and done it all before so they are still the ones to beat.

I understand where you are coming from, for a guy who played a lot of his career at centre and stand-off, Hanley had no kicking game and virtually no passing game - a case could be made for a lot of players being better all round than Hanley

On the other hand, what Hanley did well, he did better than any other player I have ever seen and he was easily the best player of his generation... certainly in the UK

Best sideways runner at high pace I have seen. A great and undervalued skill.

Check out his try off Lydon for the evidence - CC Final 1988. Sorry 'fax fans.

No it could'nt,don't get me wrong Scully was a great player,one of the best ever ay my club(saints)but he's not in the same league as Hanley.