Wouldnt everyone want to win both the LLS and the GF ? That would be the ultimate season. It is only with the expansion of the play-off system and the fact that there is very little advantage to winning that coaches have taken a longer term view of the LLS.

Have to agree, Lowe was way ahead of his time and I often think that we are who we are in the world of RL because of that man.

For me there are two names in Rugby League that I can never imagine being challenged in my own personal reverence for them: Ellery Hanley on the field and Graham Lowe off it. Shaun Wane is an amazing coach and is perfect for the Wigan of today, but it's too early to be laying "best coach ever" accolades on him yet.

He would t have been half the coach, without the maguire influence. Maguire turndd you from a mid table team to campions within a year, and with the same players. Fortunately for Wayne he happened to be under his tutorage

Absolutely correct, but those are reasons why Shaun Wane is a spectacular coach, not reasons why he isn't. Personally I think he has surpassed Madge as far as leadership of the Wigan team goes. Madge was a revolutionary and his impact blew the rest of SL away in his opening season, but opposition teams adapt, imitate, learn, and eventually start to defeat you. Wane has built on the successes of Madge and incorporated his best assets into his own successful style of coaching whilst learning from the mistakes they both made.

I think that the assumption that SW needed 2 years of MM to become successful is pretty dismissive considering the record SW had at junior level.
There is no doubt that having a period as assistant helped, but it also created a level of expectation that MM never had to deal with.
Given this additional pressure and at the same time having to cope with the lure of both the NRL and RFU make SW's achievements even better than MM in my eyes.
SW is already one of the better coaches we have had, and with a continued sustained level of success he can truly be ranked with the best.

People are crediting MM alone with the culture change at the club. While he was undoubtedly a big part of it, I think the change of ownership played a significant part of the philosophy of the club as a whole. Getting rid of Lindsay and Whelan and getting IFL in their place marked a total shift in the way the playing personnel were recruited, retained and paid.

Very much so, and the addition of Mark Bitcon and Rads should not be underestimated either.

Any new thoughts?

Nothing like stirring things a little

Aye, the beggars don't let the grass grow beneath their feet do they before having a swipe?

I was wondering who would chuck this grenade

To be fair it is a daft thread. A good coach, yes, the best coach in our history, or the SL period, no. That's not to say he'll never get to that level, but he's in Maguire's shadow for now IMO. In the time I've been watching I'd rank our coaches thus:

1. Maguire
2. Wane
3. Gregory
4. Raper
5. Noble
6. Endacott
7. Betts
8. Millward

I wish things had turned out better with Mike Gregory. He could have been the best of the lot

Monie , Lowe, West, Maguire all better than SW...in SL then yes Wane has to be up there for the work he has done with the youngsters..but i feel that he has hit the ceiling and it may be time to consider bringing in someone new