Yes - afraid so, but more annoyed with our performance.

One game though. Why are we throwing in the towel, over reacting and giving up on the team because of one game?

But it's not one game, is it. As I've alluded to, many times this week, we have a habit of bottling it/throwing away huge leads, not only this season, but in our recent past, too.

We look like we have no answer, when somone has the temerity to eat into a big lead.

If we had of won last Friday then this thread wouldn't exist. This thread, especially the opening post is with reference to last weeks Wigan game, is it not?

A point off finishing top and a game away from the Grand Final, it's hardly the end of the world is it? We've got issues I agree, but we've improved massively on the last two seasons and things have been worse, much worse, regardless of how we all felt last Friday.

Yes, it may well end up being the same old story and we fluff our lines once again. We'll probably get turned over tomorrow and the odds are against us for when we go to Wigan, but how about we get behind the boys and give them our support for another couple of games at least?

You could well be right the thread may not have existed had we won, but we didn't win and not only that we threw away victory after being in a commanding position and it's happened numerous times and it's actually becoming a habit.. Last Friday, The Challenge cup final, Cas at the magic weekend.. Those are just from this season off the top of my head...
You have to understand that stuff like that really grates on people and for a lot of Wire fans it felt like the last straw..
You know that every Wire fan will be right behind the boys tomorrow night , the playoffs and beyond.. But if things aren't right we are going to discuss it on here..

One game - Come off it? Look at the facts.

Last 3 league games

Wigan - Lost 2nd half 12-21
Widnes - Lost 2nd half 10-12
Catalans - Lost 2nd half 8-22

More tellingly the recent big games. (Ive now added Magic 2016)

CCFinal 2016 - Lost 2nd half 6-12, ahead at HT, lost game
Magic 2016 - Lost 2nd half 0-22, ahead at HT, lost game
SL SF 2014 - Drew 2nd half, lost game.
SL GF 2013 - Lost 2nd half 0-24, ahead at HT, lost game
SL GF 2012 - Lost 2nd half 4-12, ahead at HT, lost game
SL SF 2011 - Lost 2nd half 12-20, ahead at HT, lost game

The omens are clearly not good if we are not unassailably ahead by half time.



Are these them? Our inability to win big games when we are ahead at HT? The Wigan game rubbed salt into the wound as they were down to 12 men for 20 mins. The backlash is justified.

And if my aunty had a pair of plums swinging about between her thighs, she would be my uncle.

Anyway, 0945 train to Hull for mine, best shake a leg!

You can add the magic weekend to that also. Although a standard league game, it's played under the spotlight as if it were a cup game.

Would any other coach survive those damming results? TS has the comfort of sitting in his position as an untouchable becase of winning 3 CC in 4 years with a team initially built by Paul Cullen.

I had my fill a couple of years ago.
I'd be happy to see him gone even if we won the GF. However we are capable of winning what I consider to be the easiest SL LLS ever. The competition was weaker after injury and departed players rocked chances from Leeds and Huddersfield early on.

Added. Yes I was a bit shocked when I compiled the list. Definitely a trend we have there.

The reason I still back Smith, although not as fervent as I once was, is that before him we never even had the big games. One thing Smith can have undoubted credit for is turning us into a team that make finals regularly under his tenure. Before Smith the last final we made was the Regal Trophy in 1995, the last time we won one was the same trophy in 1991. Cullen's team you say? Well Smith did better with it than Cullen ever did.

I agree with you Wires71 in terms of backing Smith, but my patience is wearing thin.

Someone recently compared him to Arsene Wenger on here. I think that's a pretty good comparison from where I am sitting. Not from a spending money perspective, but in terms of his apparent belligerence. Us Fans always think they have all the right answers and rarely are we right in reality, but at the moment, it's plain as day to anyone and his dog that Russell and Evans on the wing is such a terrible option when we have 2 designated wingers sat in the reserves. Yes we don't know the behind the scenes goings on with either player and it's not as if we have 2 modern day Bevan's sat in the stands, but sometimes you just have to work with what you have for the benefit of the here and now.

Frustrating is the word.

Arsene Wenger is a good comparison. But he is endorsed by his board as they don't have the real ambition/expectation to win the sports biggest prizes and he delivers exceptional European qualification and Premier league final positions per £ spent.

I think Warrington are different. I think there is an attitude now where aspirant aim is to win the GF and CC each season. Fundamentally Smith will be judged on results as the Wembley wins fade into folklore. Perhaps the contract extension was a mistake and, with hindsight, we could have ran the risk of losing him to Hull KR (as if) and made a balanced decision at the end of this season.

Tony will feel bombproof though I suspect, so much so he can come up with his, crazy to us, selections and re-invention of the role of winger into red zone ball returner. His hubris cannot be denied. The BS I read in the Guardian about how the Wigan loss will be "good for us" shows he is losing it a bit. Total lack of consideration for all the fans that turned up.

I think a meek exit from the semis this time and I may come to the conclusion that Smith won't get us the GF win we want so much.

If we win tonight you can take this post and shove it up my backside though

I think that's the key. I'm also a long-term fan and I recall all too clearly when we won the cup in 1974 how I found it difficult to imagine how older Wire supporters had waited twenty years between trophies (previous win had been 1954). Well, I then went through 35 years before we won it again! We had lots of 'cozy' years where we got nowhere, even getting into the playoffs was beyond us. End of season was still interesting because as an RL fan we could watch Hull, then Wigan, then Saints, then Bulls, compete in semis and finals without the pressure/tension of being a supporter of one of the teams contesting those big games. Being close to the top is a completey different fan experience. Wobbly legs, nervy guts, joy or despair at the end of tight games. Last Friday was, indeed, a stupid, self-inflicted capitulation, no doubt about that. With our new cop of injuries I'm not sure we have the players to win the GF this year. However, Wire is still clearly one of the very best sides in the comp, regarded as an exciting team to watch by other fans. TS has built the side into genuine contenders. We need that 5% extra, not the 50% extra we lacked in the 80s, 90s, and 00s. That, and a few cups along the way, is genuine achievement. Will still need that extra 5%, but I much prefer being where we are now to the previous three decades.

After reading the Joe Westerman's comments in the Guardian, he admits that the team thought the game was one when they went 28-14 up. I think
this backs up a lot of what people have been saying on here in that it's not for a lack of talent, but more a case of putting the cue on the rack early.
For the huge game last week it is very dissapointing and it also comes across as the team showing arrogance/complacency- not good signs!

Yes it's a real pity that the players have not learnt from the past instances that I listed where we blew a HT lead.

There is a lack of talent in the 3/4s and prop department.

There is a lack of talent throughout superleague, that is why it is spread thinner than marmite. Wigan beat us last week with a gang of journeymen.