There are some whoppers on Red Vee but you’ve been extremely selective here.

The vast majority admit that Wigan are the benchmark and praise them for the succession planning in assembling a young squad with key players tied down on long term contracts.

Others like me fear that they are going to dominate for a long time given the money of Danson and the Academy which has always produced quality players.

The rest of SL may be playing for 2nd place which is great if you are a Wigan fan but not good for the sport.

We still have to work within the salary cap just like anyone else...

I suppose what this would allow us to do is offer very high salaries to our 3 marquee players?

Other than that, what are you referring to?

Yes you do but the investment Danson is making into the scholarship/Academy- means that an already strong youth set up will get infinitely stronger.

If the likes of Nathan Cleary decides that he does want a couple of years in the UK to be near his girlfriend then really there is only Wigan that can compete. Even Warrington may struggle.

When we had our 4 in a row we only won one CC whereas Wigan have won is it the last 6 trophies available?

The only issues Wigan may have is the younger players wanting to be paid commensurate with their trophies and then you will have SC issues. We had similar with the likes of Knowles and Lees becoming important players and wanting the big wage rises

Danson's wealth means that there will be minimal NRL clubs that can compete with him. It's a whole other level to anyone in SL.

Just to add by the way I'm not saying that Danson's wealth is the sole reason Wigan are the top dogs at the moment.

Matty Peet has proved a masterstroke and Radlinski has grown into his CEO role and is doing a fantastic job of running the club really well.

When you add the wealth of the owner and his willingness to invest into the above then its going to be really difficult for the rest of SL to catch up.

Wigan's success may in part be due to Danson but a lot of it is down to Ian Lenagan surely? He laid the foundation for the success we now have. His recruitment of McGuire in 2010 was a masterstroke. He also placed his faith in Kris Radlinski who over time has created a club ethos and culture which all seem to have bought in to.

Although it is 10 years since we were beaten by the Roosters in Sydney when we put our defeat down to the pack being too small compared to theirs. It has taken time but we now have a huge set of forwards. We've gone from Singleton, Isa, Faz & Lockers to Havard, Thompson, Nsemba, Faz, Walters and Ellis. Collectively they are huge.That is some transition. It has taken time but wow!

Where Danson may come in is that we could afford NRL players under the marquee rules. Also offer the best young UK talent terms to join Wigan which few can compete with.

As a Wigan supporter I want the club to go from success to greater success. Other clubs can and will compete and the RFL/SL just never ever do themselves any favours in managing the sport. The IMG gradings just announced are absolutely bewildering to average fans like me. Cas & Wakey grade A when Hudds and HullFC grade B. Are facilities for the paying customer not taken into account? Hull & Giants have excellent facilities for the paying customer. Castleford's and Wakefield's grounds are an insult to those who pay to watch Rugby League. Absurdity it its finest!

The end of term report for Wigan, Wire, Saints Leigh is excellent. The same report for the RFL/SL/IMG should read "Massive Improvement required"

Super League's club scene is improving and will continue to do so. The sport's management needs to improve.

I don’t disagree that the majority have the same view as you hence I did say someone. That someone is one of the main posters by the way. However, the vast majority of posters also believe that Wigan’s success is down to SL being very poor. It’s funny how they think it was so competitive during 2019-2022 but now it seems to have fallen off a cliff

The general quality of superleague is pretty poor compared to some other eras but you can only beat what's in front of you and you can only spend what you can spend under the cap. Some Saints fans always had an issue with people pointing that out but I've no issues with stating that it's still the case now, just as it was during the 4 in a row for Saints.


It might not go down well with Stu and the like but I do think the quality has been a little better in the last couple of years than the previous 4 or 5, with an improved Wigan, Wire, HKR, Leigh etc but it's still short of the late 90's through to around 2015 IMO. It really started to dip after that but there are some signs of recovery. Look at Salford and a poor Leeds team making GF's against Saints. We also made one and were so far off our current level.

HKR and Warrington I'll give you but you can also argue that the Catalan of 21-23 were much stronger and really dropped off this year. That 2021 Catalan side that we beat in the GF was a good one and we only just won that game.

That's true enough. Generally I think the standard of the sides has been pretty poor for a while. Saints had that period of domination and nobody could put a regular challenge together year in, year out. We've had a couple of years now and I do think we've been pushed a bit harder in general but again there isn't a stand out side that you're unsure if Wigan can get over the top of at their very best.

What the league could do with us 3 or 4 sides to hit that level Saints reached or Wigan have hit over a sustained period, to then build those rivalries that are fierce and where you genuinely have no idea who the favourites are in the biggest games. I'm not sure we've had a Grand Final where you hand on heart couldn't call it for years now. Any team can always lose a game on the day but you've known who the favourites are. As I say, I do think there some signs of improvement via HKR, Warrington and Catalans again look strong for 2025. You'd also imagine there will be some improvement in Saints and they'll always be there or thereabouts. Leeds look to be really trying to change things up as well and Arthur will have them well drilled and Salford and Leigh are making decent moves, so it won't be straightforward. Hopefully for the games sake, a few sides really kick on and make it a free for all come the end of the season.

I'm curious what Saints fans see as their best wins from the 4 in a row era, outside of beating Penrith. There really didn't seem to be that much competition.

For me the best win under Pete is beating Saints in the cup semi.

The closest I can think for them is winning the 2020 Grand Final. Difference being they were still on their run while we were in the middle of a transition.

The other one is when they annihilated us in the 2019 play offs, not a good game but an amazing performance.

2020 they scrapped passed a side that was starting Brad Singleton and Joe Bullock at prop, with a very young Oli Partington at loose forward.

2019 against us late in the season was their best performance, we couldn’t get out of our own 20

The Catalan team was a good one in 23,the HKR was a good one in 24,so now we have beat 2 very good ones.

Now that Wigan are winning it isnt down just to the coach and players we must factor in our owner and his cash even though Lenaghan started it,is there a cap still in place and other teams have brought in new players etc to hopefully win a trophy or 2.

What we have is a culture created by Radders and Peet that has got the feeling of togetherness between the team and fans not seen for a few years,its really good to be a Wigan fan or player at the min.If we go on to win more trophies it will be down to those factors not just down to cash as some people want to imply.
Other clubs have money upto the cap how they spend it is down to them to spend it wisely or not.

A culture created by radders? Lmao he’s been in charge for like 20 years. He’s finally got it right after years of failure and you think he’s some kind of bill gates lol