What era??

If Wigan had suffered the same luck - say Tomkins and Charnley injured, how would they have coped? I don't see anything in Wigan's bench or starting 13 that suggests they'd have managed any better; the disruption would have been as great, the result may well have been different, Eddie, Phil & Stevo would have been lamenting their bad luck and we may well have been champions.

What is certain is that if we'd have gone with 3 forwards on the bench and Westwood & Wood (for example) had got injured TS would have been murdered.

We are in transition. Morley, Hodgeson and Carvell will leave this year, Monas and Briers next. That is a huge amount of talent, but sadly they are not the players that we remember in their pomp. Next year is a concern for me because I don't see Briers lasting more than 1/3 to 1/2 of a match - he doesn't seem to have the stamina. And whilst Monas showed flashes of his old self at the business end of the season, I suspect his knees will force him into a repeat performance of 2013 - solid, but without the attacking venom of yesteryear.

So the ball is in TS's court, and we are back to a discussion we had months ago, can he re-shape a new cup hunting Wire team ? and what are our prospects for 2014 ?

What we don't know is how much cash the club is able / willing to spend on new players. On paper, the three signings we know about look promising rather than key signings. In terms of salary cap, then including NI, Morley Hodgeson and Carvell must have been pushing £450k. That must mean there is plenty of room to bring in at least one more quality player, perhaps two, providing the transfer money is available. From our own youngsters, we can expect a bigger contribution from Rhys Evans and Ben Currie next year. Outside of that I suspect it will be a case of providing more game time and experience for the better prospects (Laithwaite, Riley, Dwyer and GOB) - essentially building for 2015.

If you add all that up, my feelings are similar to those of Sally on another thread. I think Wire could be around 4th next year, and challenging for the silverware rather than being well positioned to win it.