So, tonight was Longs last game for Saints, surely this now signals the beggining of the end of the self-dubbed "Entertainers". Personally I can't wait to hear the first scouse "but we lost a lot of good players at the same time, and we couldn't recover straight away, you wouldn't understand"

Nope, us Wigan fans would know NOTHING about the demise of a good team through losing too many key players to quickly

Does anyone else wonder whether Eastmond has what it takes to lead Saints round the park like Long? I think the scousers have lacked direction when Long hasn't been playing this season, and if Eastmond can't then who else have they got that can do that job? Pryce certainly doesn't look up to it.

Thoughts?

Matty Smith maybe??? but I think they could now be in decline.

Leeds are still champions and will for the next 2-3 years. Who's era ended? Saints era ended in 2007.

In Eastmond & Graham they still have 2 outstanding players. Scott Moore (is still a saints player I think), and they still have Roby and Wilkin. But Pryce just doesn't look interested last night Stevo was praying for him to do something, truth is he hasn't done anything for a long time. They might have to spend big to get back to the top. But I think they have been in decline for a long time.

Dont miss thishttp://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/oct/10/leeds-st-helens-super-league-grand-final1rl

I think you will find we won most games with eastmond at 7.

The bulls away, Wigan home, Warrington away and quins away being the stand out wins.

He also was the match winner against Warrington and Wigan.

Long found a novel way to make himself the centre of attention – as the victim of a high tackle from Rob Burrow, his pint-sized opposite number.

Thats just plain wrong !!

They have been entertaining me loads in the past 3 years grand finals

While in decline I don't think they will go down to the level we were at unfortunately. I think they will just come down to our level now. Only Leeds to decline now and the salary cap will have done its job of bringing the best teams down rather than the poorer teams improve.

In the 6 games you played whilst Long was out didn't you win 3 and lose 3?

Must have a selective memory

My father used to talk about "eras"
There was the mid war era when Wigan had a wingman called Johnny Ring who one season scored I think 68 tries.
Then there was the immediate post war era when Hudds had a good team.
Now we have the Super League/Salary Cap era.
What is obvious though through these "eras" there is one constant.
That Wigan are the most successful club in the game having won more trophies than any other club.
We do need to add to the total and soon but that fact still remains true.
Lets hope IL/MM/SW can keep it that way!

A typical scathing Andy Wilson article.

Each week he picks out someone or some club he doesn't like, and has a catty go at them. What's makes this one unusual is that it's Sean Long and Saints who are in the firing line. Granted, it's difficult to feel any kind of empathy for Sean Long at the best of times, and after his antics of this last week the holier-than-thou Guardian columnist was always going to line him up for a righteous pop. But there was no mention there, I notice, of the ridiculous video ref decision near the end, which took the game out of Saints' reach. Even as a Wigan fan I was shocked by that one.

I thought they were level