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?