We still have to work within the salary cap just like anyone else...

I suppose what this would allow us to do is offer very high salaries to our 3 marquee players?

Other than that, what are you referring to?

Yes you do but the investment Danson is making into the scholarship/Academy- means that an already strong youth set up will get infinitely stronger.

If the likes of Nathan Cleary decides that he does want a couple of years in the UK to be near his girlfriend then really there is only Wigan that can compete. Even Warrington may struggle.

When we had our 4 in a row we only won one CC whereas Wigan have won is it the last 6 trophies available?

The only issues Wigan may have is the younger players wanting to be paid commensurate with their trophies and then you will have SC issues. We had similar with the likes of Knowles and Lees becoming important players and wanting the big wage rises

Danson's wealth means that there will be minimal NRL clubs that can compete with him. It's a whole other level to anyone in SL.

Just to add by the way I'm not saying that Danson's wealth is the sole reason Wigan are the top dogs at the moment.

Matty Peet has proved a masterstroke and Radlinski has grown into his CEO role and is doing a fantastic job of running the club really well.

When you add the wealth of the owner and his willingness to invest into the above then its going to be really difficult for the rest of SL to catch up.

Wigan's success may in part be due to Danson but a lot of it is down to Ian Lenagan surely? He laid the foundation for the success we now have. His recruitment of McGuire in 2010 was a masterstroke. He also placed his faith in Kris Radlinski who over time has created a club ethos and culture which all seem to have bought in to.

Although it is 10 years since we were beaten by the Roosters in Sydney when we put our defeat down to the pack being too small compared to theirs. It has taken time but we now have a huge set of forwards. We've gone from Singleton, Isa, Faz & Lockers to Havard, Thompson, Nsemba, Faz, Walters and Ellis. Collectively they are huge.That is some transition. It has taken time but wow!

Where Danson may come in is that we could afford NRL players under the marquee rules. Also offer the best young UK talent terms to join Wigan which few can compete with.

As a Wigan supporter I want the club to go from success to greater success. Other clubs can and will compete and the RFL/SL just never ever do themselves any favours in managing the sport. The IMG gradings just announced are absolutely bewildering to average fans like me. Cas & Wakey grade A when Hudds and HullFC grade B. Are facilities for the paying customer not taken into account? Hull & Giants have excellent facilities for the paying customer. Castleford's and Wakefield's grounds are an insult to those who pay to watch Rugby League. Absurdity it its finest!

The end of term report for Wigan, Wire, Saints Leigh is excellent. The same report for the RFL/SL/IMG should read "Massive Improvement required"

Super League's club scene is improving and will continue to do so. The sport's management needs to improve.

I don’t disagree that the majority have the same view as you hence I did say someone. That someone is one of the main posters by the way. However, the vast majority of posters also believe that Wigan’s success is down to SL being very poor. It’s funny how they think it was so competitive during 2019-2022 but now it seems to have fallen off a cliff

The general quality of superleague is pretty poor compared to some other eras but you can only beat what's in front of you and you can only spend what you can spend under the cap. Some Saints fans always had an issue with people pointing that out but I've no issues with stating that it's still the case now, just as it was during the 4 in a row for Saints.


It might not go down well with Stu and the like but I do think the quality has been a little better in the last couple of years than the previous 4 or 5, with an improved Wigan, Wire, HKR, Leigh etc but it's still short of the late 90's through to around 2015 IMO. It really started to dip after that but there are some signs of recovery. Look at Salford and a poor Leeds team making GF's against Saints. We also made one and were so far off our current level.

HKR and Warrington I'll give you but you can also argue that the Catalan of 21-23 were much stronger and really dropped off this year. That 2021 Catalan side that we beat in the GF was a good one and we only just won that game.

That's true enough. Generally I think the standard of the sides has been pretty poor for a while. Saints had that period of domination and nobody could put a regular challenge together year in, year out. We've had a couple of years now and I do think we've been pushed a bit harder in general but again there isn't a stand out side that you're unsure if Wigan can get over the top of at their very best.

What the league could do with us 3 or 4 sides to hit that level Saints reached or Wigan have hit over a sustained period, to then build those rivalries that are fierce and where you genuinely have no idea who the favourites are in the biggest games. I'm not sure we've had a Grand Final where you hand on heart couldn't call it for years now. Any team can always lose a game on the day but you've known who the favourites are. As I say, I do think there some signs of improvement via HKR, Warrington and Catalans again look strong for 2025. You'd also imagine there will be some improvement in Saints and they'll always be there or thereabouts. Leeds look to be really trying to change things up as well and Arthur will have them well drilled and Salford and Leigh are making decent moves, so it won't be straightforward. Hopefully for the games sake, a few sides really kick on and make it a free for all come the end of the season.

I'm curious what Saints fans see as their best wins from the 4 in a row era, outside of beating Penrith. There really didn't seem to be that much competition.

For me the best win under Pete is beating Saints in the cup semi.

The closest I can think for them is winning the 2020 Grand Final. Difference being they were still on their run while we were in the middle of a transition.

The other one is when they annihilated us in the 2019 play offs, not a good game but an amazing performance.

2020 they scrapped passed a side that was starting Brad Singleton and Joe Bullock at prop, with a very young Oli Partington at loose forward.

2019 against us late in the season was their best performance, we couldn’t get out of our own 20

The Catalan team was a good one in 23,the HKR was a good one in 24,so now we have beat 2 very good ones.

Now that Wigan are winning it isnt down just to the coach and players we must factor in our owner and his cash even though Lenaghan started it,is there a cap still in place and other teams have brought in new players etc to hopefully win a trophy or 2.

What we have is a culture created by Radders and Peet that has got the feeling of togetherness between the team and fans not seen for a few years,its really good to be a Wigan fan or player at the min.If we go on to win more trophies it will be down to those factors not just down to cash as some people want to imply.
Other clubs have money upto the cap how they spend it is down to them to spend it wisely or not.

A culture created by radders? Lmao he’s been in charge for like 20 years. He’s finally got it right after years of failure and you think he’s some kind of bill gates lol

20 years ago Radders said the culture was wrong then and through time it has changed with him and Peet and to be honest Lenaghan as well so yes my little fellow Kris has been a part of this culture revolution.

So in all of those years of 'failure' we still won plenty of trophies. Now he is getting it right 'in your words Steph' we look pretty formidable. We have a succession plan for players in all positions and only the best make it through. We have the best young coach in the game and the wealthiest owner who is investing in improving the already top notch facilities (which is something any owner could do if they wanted to) We already have by far the best side in the league and it's young. Any team that could topple us would be well deserved. It won't be Saints, not for a while yet, It won't be Hull KR and it wont be Catalans. Warrington look the main dangers but Leeds are recruiting well and could be back next season.

Wild Saturday nights in again for Robert.

Do we?

i'd be surprised if we dont, but with a sports team it may be a little more fluid than what i am used to in business, and it is likely to start at the top with a plan for Matty Peet

so for Matty, it could be SoL, Tommy or bring in external. Obviously with Matty tied down to long term contract, the club arent envisaging having to act on this anytime soon, but they will be conscious that things change, and one of the current coaches needs to be in a position to take on the 1st team or we go external

Players are where its likely to be a little more fluid as injuries / loss of form. So for example Harry Smith could be our no 7 for the next 10 years, but we will be monitoring all the young lads coming through from scholarship into academy. The coaches can take a view on the ones most likely to make it, and even though we may bring in 20-30 young lads each year, we know that only 2-3 are likely to make it. If there is an outstanding talent that comes through, then it is likely that they would put pressure on Harry. Harry could get injured, short term, medium term loss of form, change of playing style doesnt suit, therefore we need to have someone ready to pick up that no7 jersey. Equally, we may know that we dont have any potential suitors to that no7 shirt, so we go for Nathan Cleary (only joking), so we would need to look externally for our replacement

the club(s) as i include all professional clubs in this, wont just be thinking player x is our player for the next 10-15 years, and therefore i am pretty sure all will have short, medium and long term succession plans in place for coaching through playing staff

I get your points and information, but the post I originally quoted implied we have a succession plan for every position (which may be true) but framed as if we didn't historically.

So my question is around how does he know we have a succession plan for every player and why that is different to anything we have had historically.

To highlight my point - What is the succession plan for Jai Field? And if the answer is X youngster in our academy or first team, how is that different to what we have always had?

If we don’t we have got very lucky of late!

Most clubs have a depth chart covering first team down to scholarship which would take up a major part of planning and recruitment/retentions and scouting.

In the James Graham podcast Penrith CEO was on and he said he knew what his starting 17 would be for the next 4 seasons more or less.

to be fair i'd be surprised if we havent had this for years(but i have no inside knowledge just my opinion based on work experience), we may just be doing it more professionally than previously. Its something i've been involved with for years at work, so would be shocked if professional sports teams dont have similar. However, i would caveat, that as we have seen at Wigan in the past, Leeds and Saints recently, that clubs arent always getting it correct as there would be a greater consistency in on field performance if that were the case. Sometimes there are emotions that get in the way where players are concerned that i dont think you would typically see in a day to day workplace

re Jai Field, the short term (injury) plan could be Bevan French or Zak Eckersley. Medium term say 12-24 months, they will have a view that Bevan / Zak could cover injury and also they have a view of what we have reserves, academy and scholarship. is there a player within the current structure able to take over at full back (not saying he will be as good as Jai at this point), so the club need to look and think Jai, Bevan / Zak, AN Other or recruit if salary cap available

coming towards the end of Jai's contract, do we offer him a new contract or let him go? Do we have a replacement for him (yes / no), do we need to recruit (yes / no) with both questions the club would also be querying what the impact is of Jai no longer being here i.e. he's rapid, and can do things other players cant, so what benefits does the player promoted / recruited have v what we are losing? Can the player be adapted or does playing style need to be adapted? Do we have a player in another position with strengths that we currently dont have

from what i've seen of Matty Peet he is a very shrewd man manager, and is most likely using tools from business / other sports to get the best out of himself and his players

Wigan will have succession planning in place by the fact they have an academy, scholarships and talent scouts in place, the unknown in all of it is the players themselves.

Bevan may decide to go back at the end of his contract so Wigan will in theory have someone in mind to take over, however Bevan may decide he wants to stay and if he is the best half back in the comp at the time, then I suspect Wigan would renew his contract unless of course they couldn't afford it, that then leaves the player coming through to replace him with a decision to make when his contract is due, does he bide his time or move on for regular games, all of these decisions are in the hands of the players, the club just has to have contingencies in place based on the variables, which I suspect the club and all clubs who have academies etc. will do

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/ru ... s-30404661 Saints squad numbers released a couple of days back On paper 1-17 looks decent, although i think Hurrell and Bennison could be gotten at. much will depend on injuries as outside of the 17, there is only really 2 players with lots of 1st team experience or you would consider 1st team players. The pack is more than capable of mixing it with the best, and with Bell, Whitley & Paasi have some good strength off the bench, but as just commented it will depend on injuries how they go this season

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/ru ... s-30404661 Saints squad numbers released a couple of days back On paper 1-17 looks decent, although i think Hurrell and Bennison could be gotten at. much will depend on injuries as outside of the 17, there is only really 2 players with lots of 1st team experience or you would consider 1st team players. The pack is more than capable of mixing it with the best, and with Bell, Whitley & Paasi have some good strength off the bench, but as just commented it will depend on injuries how they go this season

I'm really surprised that Hurrell has been given a new deal. They look to have sorted out the wing issues but Matautia will be a huge loss, the centres will struggle to get through a full season and a fair chunk of luck will be needed with Walmsley and Paasi to then allow the pack to try and dominate. They'll be up near the top of the table again but it feels like their recruitment/retention needs to be a bit more ruthless.