Looking from the outside, the enthusiasm of your young, inexperienced and fairly lightweight pack got you through up until yesterday. Catalans pack worked them over and the halfbacks took advantage. We have our own numpty in Tom Lineham but Hardaker and to an extent Bateman are rather “nastier” when things don’t go their way, that could prove costly.

I know we generally like having people work for the club who have an emotional attachment to it but sometimes you can see how it can hinder our progress. Kris R is Wigan through and through so it might be a good idea to give the strategic planning job to someone who is not worried about upsetting their mates.

The next 3 games are Huddersfield HKR and Wakefield
I’d suggest a top 2 side should win all three
A top 6 side say 2 out of 3
A bottom 4 side probably 1 or nil

How confident currently are you on how many we would win?
My assumptions above are not very scientific but I’d like to think are roughly what a lot of people would broadly agree with.

Perspiration will only get you so far and at the moment there seems to be very little inspiration within the set up.
I’m not being defeatist but I’m not sure with the current personnel on and off the field how we are going to improve and after the next three games the opposition gets stronger so the downward trend could continue.

I agree with others that Lam rightly or wrongly will be here until the end of the season so unless new blood is introduced on the playing front I just don’t see how we turn it around particularly in the short term.

Hey I hope I’m wrong and the first 8 games have been a blip but at best I see us around mid table and lower than that would not be a great surprise

The next 3 games are Huddersfield HKR and Wakefield
I’d suggest a top 2 side should win all three
A top 6 side say 2 out of 3
A bottom 4 side probably 1 or nil

How confident currently are you on how many we would win?
My assumptions above are not very scientific but I’d like to think are roughly what a lot of people would broadly agree with.

Perspiration will only get you so far and at the moment there seems to be very little inspiration within the set up.
I’m not being defeatist but I’m not sure with the current personnel on and off the field how we are going to improve and after the next three games the opposition gets stronger so the downward trend could continue.

I agree with others that Lam rightly or wrongly will be here until the end of the season so unless new blood is introduced on the playing front I just don’t see how we turn it around particularly in the short term.

Hey I hope I’m wrong and the first 8 games have been a blip but at best I see us around mid table and lower than that would not be a great surprise

You honestly believe we will finish in the bottom 4?

My main concern is our lack of line breakers now that Field and French are out long term. Gildart and Marshall may help but in 2020 we were hugely reliant on Bevan French, both to break the line and to create space for others. This is why I was never a fan of Zak playing fullback long term even though some of the media were calling for it.

I wouldn’t discount it. We just don’t score enough points so potentially most games could go either way so if we lose more than we win it wouldn’t surprise me.

If we lose the next 3 games then the possibility would for me harden.

How many of the next 3 games do you you think we will win?

I agree our lack of as you say line breakers will be a major issue for the remainder of the season
Even with Marshall back there is no guarantee that he will retain his pace and if he does are we capable of utilising it?

That’s an unbelievably simplistic view.

Warrington lost to Hudds and Cas but beat Catalans twice. It’s all swings and roundabouts in this poor league.

Catalans looked awful until they beat Hull. No doubt they will lose 2 of their next 3 games as well.

All you need to do is make the top 4 (ideally top 2) and then win a few close games and you are SL winners.

The main stickler in this league is injuries because the dirge in quality and salary cap means any side who gets 4 or 5 players out means they just can’t compete against a side with no injuries.

Yes and a particular concern with Marshall as that's his main strength.

Looks like Hanley will be at fullback now for the next 6 games or so - he'll provide some speed but we'll clearly have to accept the rough with the smooth.

I think we're likely to finish between 4th and 6th. Our best hope IMO is Jai Field returning in mid August.

It most certainly is but probably just as accurate as a “war and peace” analysis

How many wins do you forecast from our next 3 games?
How many games do you need to win against “lower” opposition to achieve a top 4 spot. I’d say the majority in fact the vast majority

Probably 2 if not all 3 but like I said it’s less black and white when you have a load of injuries.

No coach or team in the world can carry on as normal with 7 of your starting 17 out with 5 or 6 of them in the backs which is where our squad is balanced towards.

Obviously you need to beat the lower teams to finish top 4. Currently there’s 4 or 5 of them so that makes up a large part of your calendar but winning 60% of your games will likely get you top 4 so we can afford to lose 9 or 10 games. Even if we lose every game against Saints, Wire and Catalans we can then still lose another 3 games and still make top 4.