It doesn't though, really, does it Pete? You've been around Rugby long enough to know that every coach who's ever held a team talk has said something similar at one time or another. The only difference being that it's usually behind closed doors.

Shhh don't let reason and common sense cloud their hatred and fear of the big bad Wigan!

Of course no one can prove anything like that.

Be that as it may, theres a video of wane telling his team to be reckless and knock people out, and then one of his players does just that in another game. What conclusions do you expect opposition fans to draw?

How about the reasoned one that it's no different to what our own coaches will have said from time to time and we've also had players go out and do similarly foul play within the next year or so without the two incidents being indicative of a grand conspiracy. Or is that too much to expect? I guess it is...

But we don't know what other coaches say. I mean, when you compare the demeanur of someone like smith with that of wane, do you really think smith tells his players that kind of rubbish? There was a no holds barred behind the scenes doc on GB in 2005 and 2006 with Noble as coach and he never said anything of the sort and he won a fair amount in his career.

Both Smith and Noble are far more media savvy than Wane and Smith also of a different disposition. What about Cullen for example for Wire? Same opinion? Are you really also telling me that you think Noble won't have said something similar in his career behind closed doors? He's a self confessed lover of the Biff! Most clubs will have had coaches that used similarly emotive language. If you know anything about rugby you'll know that to be true. It doesn't mean they're looking for players to go out and make the sort of attack we saw on Saturday.

No your missing my point mate, I don't believe for one min that wane would ask a player to do that, no way at all would he do that and I really really believe that.

I think maybe he had you to revved up with his "we hate THEM" and " I was brought up to hate them" and also " I'd never let my daughters go out with a saints fan" so IMO he'd just got so wound up before the game with Wane trash talking that it wasn't controlled aggression.

In big games, I'm all for aggression and being fired up and I've praised how well up for it Wigan are in big games but maybe just maybe Wane took this a little to far.


For what it's worth, I thought Wigan was probably the better team. You was opening us up with ease out wide and you'd think saints was the man down with the overlap you was creating.

Great effort with 12 men for so long in a big game but saints just hung in there and we took our very few chances.

I'm pretty sure Wigan will come back stronger after that.

Very Commendable post St. Pete.
Congratulations on the win.

fair comments Pete although I think you may be taking Wane's 'pantomime villain' comments a little too seriously! Do you really think anyone in the Wigan dressing room really believes he'd have any say whatsoever on his daughter dating a Saints fan? You don't know daughters very well if you do! Haha

Fair enough then, good assessment mate. Interestingly, I said to my Dad when the players came out Flower looked 'up' for it when he ran towards the Wigan end. Perhaps a little too fired up obviously! Congrats on the win, any Grand Final win is not to be sniffed at.

From earlier this year. www.wigantoday.net/sport/wigan-w ... -1-6412322

From earlier this year. www.wigantoday.net/sport/wigan-w ... -1-6412322

There's no moral high ground to take here. If you live by the sword you die by it and you did.

Classic