How did Wigan manage it in the late 80s/early 1990s when they were in all the finals and so the fixtures piled up at the end of the season? They would play 3 or 4 games a week for the last 5 weeks of the season and they would still pretty much win them all.

They weren't really resting big names either, you would get Hanley, Bell, Edwards, Botica and co playing all those games.

That was an incredible achievement which gets overlooked, when you think not only did they win all those trophies, but the physical efforts that it took from them to win game after game.

Of course I know you will get some saying the other teams were all amateurs in those days, their opposition was only guys like Davies, Bateman, Mackey etc but I reckon even against today's superior Super League elites they would have stood out peerless.

Fantastic achievement by Wigan. Reminds me of the time the Jamaicans won a gold medal at bobsleigh in the '88 winter olympics, I can still remember the film (Cool Running) they made about it. Some sporting achievements are just unbelievable and don't get the credit they deserve.

I don't know how Wigan managed it. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that, for the most part, they were full time professionals playing against part time professionals. That and the fact that they had so much quality because they spent more than anyone else. So much so that they had to sell their ground and now live like some tramp in Dave Whelan's stadium shaped layby.

And then there was Lance Armstrong winning all those Tours, who would have believed that ? Amazing.

So we are all happy then? I'm sure you fit right in Mr Brummel

Who would have believed all them tries Brian Bevan scored.

Sometimes you don't ask the question if you can't deal with the answer.

I think you always need to ask the questions. On the face of it, Lance winning 7, and Wigan 8 in a row is a staggering performance. So why don't people talk about it any more ?

If we start crowing about winning 4 in 5, I think we will hear a lot about the 8 in a row from our Wigan friends.

"Sometimes you don't ask the question if you can't deal with the answer"

How did Lance manage to win 7 in a row ?

Hard work and dedication?

He was doping. He was caught and disqualified.

If you want more information I can link you to various articles that reveal the extent of his doping and the findings of the authorities.

Now your turn, how did Wigan manage to win 8 in a row as well as multiple other trophies, whilst having to cope with huge fixture backlogs at the end of the season?

By having all the best players in the league and spending money they didnt have.... They also didnt have to contend with an end of season play off system to be crowned 'champions'.

Only Widnes really tried to break their dominance by also spending large chunks of money they didnt have. This resulted in Widnes also winning major trophies... Then Wigan went and signed their best player.

Actually Leeds did try, but that didnt go very well.

So how did they win 8 on the run? By having the desire to do so AND having by far and away the best and fittest squad of players in the league.

Ah, Deckchair has virtually stolen my answer while I slept.

Maurice Lindsey transformed Wigan when he joined their board. He turned them from semi-professionals into full time players, so it was similar to todays Championship sides playing a SL club. And of course he bought lots of the very best players (which in those days meant world class, not just UK). Andy Platt from Saints, Ellery Hanley from Bradford, Andy Goodway from Oldham, he brought Brett Kenny over from Parramatta and of course he brought Martin Offiah back from Oz for a world record fee of close to £500,000. The result was that between '87 and '95 Wigan won virtually everything; eight league championships and the 8 CC's in a row.

Armstrong tipped the balance in his favour illegally using EPO, Lindsey / Wigan did nothing illegal, and their team(s) were undoubtedly the most exciting that we have seen over here. But unless there is a strong element of fairness in sport, it becomes meaningless. Andy Murray could win 10 Wimbledon women titles in a row if he was allowed to play. If the salary cap was abolished and a billionaire came in, Wire could buy every best player in the world and win everything. It would be amazing to watch a team of that quality, but how much satisfaction would you get from winning year in, year out ? (other than beating Saints, obviously).

LOl, that is true, he was. Much as it pains me to say it, he was a top class athlete. A really good climber and an even better time-trialler. I think he would have still won a couple of Tours even if he had not doped.

If that was the case then he really was a proper dope