Quote: The Yellow Giraffe "I don’t buy the “more to lose” thing. Wigan fans are talking like anything is a bonus now but you’re still the reigning champions. You’ve therefore got your super league title to lose. So I don’t buy into this argument from some Wigan fans that you’ve somehow already overachieved this season and you’ve done well just to make the playoffs. Yes you started slowly but nobody bar Saints has been consistent so you’ve hardly had to hit amazing heights to climb the table.
As for being nervous, if we meet again I’ll be no more of less nervous than any other Saints v Wigan final I’ve been to. Is there more pressure on us to deliver something after the dominance we’ve had in the league? Yes. But if we play to our potential then it’s highly likely we’d win, so in that sense I’d still be confident.
You’re right though that Wigan have proven they can do it when it counts so I wouldn’t pick you as a GF opponent given the choice, I don’t mind admitting that.'"
It won’t matter if you’re nervous, it will matter how the players feel and with their highly dubious record in these knock out games/finals, I’m sure they will feel plenty of pressure and dare I say even more so against Wigan then then they would against other teams (probably Wire aside now).
As for us, when we were near the foot of the table three months ago we certainly didn’t expect to be in the position we’re now in. We were flat, lacking confidence and looked to be going nowhere. You can believe it or not and again like you not feeling nervous, it’s a fan thing and I’m sure the players don’t think ‘anything would be a bonus’ but I do. We’ve gone from 10th/11th three months back to 2nd now, via injuries/departures we’ve had the chance to develop three excellent young forwards in Smithies, Partington and Byrne who’ll be part of this team for years now and we’ve seen an exciting recruitment drive for 2020 that gives us great hope past this season. Dare I say we also had more good news for 2020, with the best run of the mill game coach in the league deciding to head back to the NRL. If we get anything in 2019 it’s a bonus as I say but when a few months back people were genuinely worried about our future plans, with star players leaving, no coach in place, crowds dwindling, young players having not really burst through for a while to any great degree of success (couple of good wingers aside)and an owner who seemed to be losing interest, then we can be nothing but happy with how things look going forward.
A Grand Final win would be the icing on the cake but I’ve honestly never felt as easy about us winning it or not. We would like to win it whereas Saints really have to win it.