Cheers. Used to have a soft spot for a Wigan when I was a young kid when you had the likes of Connolly and Wiganw ere my second team even had a Wigan shirt! I think that fled the year you got the points deduction mind

Best of luck for the end of season.

That relegated Cas. You should love us

I’ll judge the season as a whole at the end. It’s been up and down and I could be way off but I do feel we’ve made a conscious decision this season to try and peak for the must win games and that is leading to some iffy form for the rest of the games. I’ve seen enough in the cup games and in games like Good Friday and Wire away to have some confidence that we’ve got plenty in the tank when the big ones come round but it has been a frustrating watch in between.

The real weakness in us continues to be around the middle, with us unable to get Ellis and Havard in the team at the same time. Guys like Singleton and Mago should hang their heads in all honesty, when you watch a couple of younger forwards like Nsemba and Hill busting a gut and then last night Smithies, O’Neill and Shorrocks ran themselves in to the ground and are just having to try and lead the way in the effort areas but they’re being let down by not having the right experienced quality in support.

A weird year, I feel we can beat everyone but also can lose to anyone.

Wouldn’t absolute shock me if we won the cup and got the GF but equally wouldn’t shock me if we lost the semi and crashed out the playoffs.

I think the penny may have dropped, the Club will let Singo and Mago leave at the end of the season. What is really annoying is that they are both getting a fair wedge and we could have recruited players who offered more on a smaller salary.

Definitely but sadly we’re stuck for this season. Singleton in particular looks like he’s given up now he’s not an automatic pick. Mago is Mago, makes some yards, not many carries, the odd error and a defensive liability. I’d love to see us pull out all the stops to get somebody in this season but given Wire have cap space to spare, 2 quota spots already open and they’re still struggling to find anyone, I don’t fancy our chances.

I think that the real weakness is too few really experienced players in the squad and an unbalanced squad. Last year we brought in 3 Aussies with little or no 1st team experience which compounded a very average squad and a very underpowered pack. So far the signings for 2024 are another hooker and 2 “potential “ forwards. We are screaming out for proven forwards and a proven 6. Obviously I hope other signings are afoot but unless there are some shock exits I don’t see how we are going to add really quality to the squad.
As for this year if for one second I thought the team were “picking” matches I would stop going immediately. Not sure how they could “pick” games because every game now is against a team looking to get into the playoffs or avoid relegation.
Our starting 17 is ok but no HB partnership worth it’s salt and an underpowered pack. Once we have an injury or two we are very stretched. To win the GF I suspect we would have to beat Leyth away, Saints or Catalan away and then Saints or Catalan in 3 consecutive weeks. I just don’t see us being capable of that.
I don’t think I’m being negative just honest that we were not good enough last year and we have definitely regressed.
The only way I don’t see Saints or Catalan winning the GF is if they have a catastrophic run of injuries.
Regarding Mago I’m not sure why we signed him and why the fitness staff haven’t improved his fitness in nearly 2 seasons. Singleton was and just is ok. He’s obviously on the way out and I agree his current levels of performance are still unprofessional and unacceptable unless he is carrying a knock.

Why are we stuck? People will say "they are under contract", but how many players did Wire manage to move on last year? Why do others manage it and we never seem to?

If I have one criticism of IL tenure at the club, it's his willingness to watch many a season slip away without doing what's needed to be done.

It's obvious we need a prop & the 6 position isn't working. Why don't they just sort it?

We’re stuck unless we do as you say and start paying people up but realistically you need to replace them and that doesn’t look easy. As I say, Wire (who you point out just spend to try and fix things) want forwards desperately and don’t need to create cap or quota space but they’re struggling to get anyone. It just isn’t that straightforward by the looks of things.

I guess it all depends on who we're looking at. Knowing Wire, they'll be looking for something stupid etc.

The reserve leagues in Auz are literally packed full of talent. Anyone would be better than Mago and Singo.

I don’t know if ‘picking games’ is quite the right way to describe it but the intensity we’ve played at and the concentration levels we’ve displayed, in games at Leigh and Warrington, on Good Friday and in the two cup games are night and day compared to the vast majority of other games we’ve played this season. We certainly aren’t managing to string together a run of performances where we look fully focused and motivated.