Quote: NickyKiss "Lenagan has got some things wrong for sure but my word he’s got more right and a lot of his decisions have been spectacularly right. I believe he’s an absolute legend of this club and I shudder to think where we could’ve been without him. It doesn’t mean you back every call he makes regardless of you being in favour or not but he deserves masses of respect.
The club we support today compared to the one he took over is chalk and cheese. I’m not chuffed with the badge but they’ve rebuilt a lot of our tradition and have constantly pushed our heritage in various ways. The pushing of the youth system gives everyone great pride. To see so many players come through and debut in his time has been my biggest highlight.
In short, I’ll forgive him for changing our badge and see how it plays out.'"
I've been thinking quite extensively about this since the weekend and on reflection its not the change that saddens me anymore its more about the execution of the product and an awareness that this was really a momentous decision..
I knew that the change was coming - Ive been aware for it for months. If I'm honest I'd forgotten it was "still on the go".
On reflection for me personally I shouldn't have watched the heritage video which I loved because I'm in my element embellished in club nostalgia. I think one or two people criticised the technical quality of the product which I couldn't even start to comment on but I thought the content and ethos was first class. I never give 10 out of 10 but I'd give it a strong 9. The emotion of all the history and what defines Wigan ending with a badge that looked like a blob of red was a bit of a roller coaster.
I don't like the new badge. Its too cluttered, too much cherry red, too bland, too much like a plethora of other badges and for me looks amateurish. There's nothing special or unique about it other than we have a "Warrior" who I don't think anyone has given any positive feedback on either on here or other social media outlets. It doesn't matter what I think and I'm fully aware of that and have zero issues or problems with those who like and embrace it. I haven't seen or heard of people embracing the new badge but maybe that will come with time. In terms of uniqueness I suspect that this doesn't really matter at the moment but for me if we are making such major changes I would have preferred
I'm still unsure as to the major reason for the change.
Was it predominantly SL or Sky TV pressure?
The cost of production piece I can sort of understand to a degree. Poor quality of the A&L on various platforms has zero impact on me personally but can to a degree understand this argument. To these 2 arguments I could argue the New Zealand Siver Fearn probably has the same issues but the chances of the All Blacks jettisoning this iconic symbol is less than zero.
A combination of the above and perhaps the need to reboot the brand is where I think we are but still unsure. If I'm interpreting it correctly then the brand is The Warriors but unsure what Ancient & Loyal represents on the badge?
I placated myself in that they will bring back A&L in 2022 which I think somewhere I have seen there will be some sort of heritage game where the A&L badge will be used. Although I've been pontificating and stating categorically that this will not maybe but will occur I now think that this would be wrong.
In the last day or so I have come to the conclusion that If we are to go through this pain and for me when the penny finally dropped that the Ancient & Loyal has been consigned to history I felt a little surreal so for me it is pain albeit not in a physical sense, then let's do this thoroughly and not half heartedly.
In the video where KR went through the rationale for the change and the process involved at one point he stated that IL wanted to be more bold and now I've thought it through IL is probably right. He will be fully aware of the pain and cost and probably thinks if we are going to do this then lets do once and get it done with. I think the problem is that with the new badge it wont be once and I think that it will quickly be refreshed as quickly as conscience will allow. In the future I suspect we will drop the Ancient & Loyal (in hindsight should not have been retained) and revamp the "Warrior".
I thought that KR was very good in the videos and certainly from a presentational point of view he is growing into his role admirably. Obviously a well rehed piece but still delivered with great professionalism.
For me if this rebrand it to work we need to stop looking backwards and continually look forward. Mixed message of Ancient & Loyal and Warriors to me just doesn't work and gives a confusing message.We need to stop referring to The Wigan Way and use The Warrior Way. All press briefings need to refer to The Warriors. If we really believe in The Warriors then the use of Wigan as the feature on the majority if not all marketing should be dropped. We should be advising Sky that during commentaries and any news updates then we should be referred to as The Warriors.
City, United, 49'rs, Jets, The Storm, The Broncos, Raiders, Chiefs...…. The Warriors
I suspect that if we do not do this then we will have had the heartache of major fundamental changes without the expected/targeted benefits.