HEAR HEAR

Just like we did against Saints last year in the play off, oh hold on....

So finishing 5th, a team would have to win 3 to make the final. Leeds have won 3 games.

They would have to win all 3 away from home and play a team finishing above them each time. Leeds have won 2 away from home against a team above them.

So the main difference between that system and this is that first game at home. So yes, the current system is easier because of the first game but it's not the earth shattering difference that it's made out to be and certainly still very tough.

That is no excuse. Madge won a GF in his first season taking a side Noble made look ordinary to a much higher standard. To be blunt and straight to the point Wane has taken Madge’s 2011 side backwards.



Surely all that matters is whatever the reason the players leaving are of a higher standard than those coming in man for man including Blake v Finch. You can make all the excuses you want as to why this is but I don’t see a drop in quality as something unavoidable and inevitable. Not when the same is not occurring at Wire. Leeds could and probably will keep the same team more or less as this and despite their players being a year older they would still be at pretty much the same standard as this while we won’t be.

In that sense I feel sorry for Wane but sadly I don’t think he is going to be able to do what Madge did and get lesser players playing at a higher level.



But you see given his stated aim of winning the league he even went about that the wrong way. If you want to win the league you do it by taking every point on offer which means he could not afford to lose those two points v Windes in the way he did. You want points in the bank when you are on form. That loss meant we had to pull off the great escape v HKR or face beating Saints in the last game to top the table. That is not what you want to be doing with play offs coming up. If you want to be resting players at the end of the season [iand[/i you want to win the league the way to do it is put the league to bed as quick as you can.
Don’t get me wrong winning the league is important as otherwise all you serve up is rubbish far too often and there are far more league games to watch than playoff games. So winning the league is a laudable aim but you need to go about it in a much more thoughtful way.



He is not a trainee. He either gets it right next season by making changes to his approach or he needs to be given the boot. He came out with a pretty stupid quote a couple of week’s back which said something like “I have my approach to doing things and if I am wrong then I am wrong but I won’t change my ways”. Now that is not good.

Unfortunatley under the current system, YES.

A SL coach needs to be able to maintain some kind of consistency in his team and then fire his team up enough through the playoffs. Sad but true under this system.

We finished top and won more points in the weekly rounds but are not Champions. It's about the GF and nothing else.

you were shot from winning the cup and trying to win the league as well last season.

i think you were tactically out thought tonight.... i don't think that would have happened under your previous coach.

If a SL coach has to "maintain some kind of consistency" then SW is sitting top of the pile. If a SL coach needs to do that [uand[/u then fire his team up enough to get through the playoffs then there has only ever been a handful of SL coaches according to this definition. By your criteria Brian McDermot isn't a SL coach as he hasn't been able to maintain any kind of consistency?!

So, Wane in his first year managed to get the team to two semi finals and win the league.

Not bad for a first season!

What exactly do people expect? Win everything? Two finals and a league win? Or win everything?

No. You are ignoring the fact that the top five system not only means 5th have to play all three away and not have an easy game in week one but it also gives each team above them a progressively greater reward for finishing higher in the League. The current system doesn't do this.

It also means winning the league is of much greater importance as the league leaders get the biggest advantages of any of the teams and that is a very good thing for the integrity of the league competition whereas now people freely question the point of doing well in the league. You can easily make a case for finishing 5th and you should not be able to.

There is alsono difference between finishing 1st and 2nd apart from the stupid club call. There should be. In the top five no side is ever away to a side who finished below them. So if in week 2 Wire had lost to Wigan in a top 5 system they would still be at home to the winner of the other game. Ditto if Wigan has lost to Wire.

You are also ignoring the fact in a top 5 system the 5th placed team can't avoid any side above them. Yes its three games to get to the final but if Leeds win it they won't have beaten either Wire or Saints and that alone discredits it as a valid play off format in my opinion. It is more like a knock-out competition and it is not supposed to be.

So you see there is far more to the top 5 system than just what it means for the 5th placed side alone. I don't know how of why we got to this stupid format other than one N Woods at the RFL sticking his nose into it. He is the master of nutty ideas in RL.

So were you expecting us to go backwards? Which we have.

At the start of the season Shaun Wane said he felt Wigan could improve in 2012 over 2011. He said he wanted to cut out the stupid losses and win the games we lost by the odd point. He meant it to and was very clear about what he was out to achieve. It wasn't bravado and he said he was going to do this by adopting a different approach.

He has failed to deliver that. He has clearly failed to meet his own targets.

Impressive i agree, the team was inherited and the rugby played early on was awesome..but we only finished top because Warrington fluffed the London game otherwise it would have been a pretty underachieving season for the previous Cup winners and Champions the year before.

Next season no Tommy (our best player..inc Sam) no Finch, no Lima although he ain't been the same but he showed the same problems at Melbourne just before he left for England..and no Georgy..all in all for me it was a great start and a sad end, no doubt IL with give Wane more time and hopefully Wane will get a top notch front row in place rather than ones that shy away from the big games.

I dont buy the Burnout theory. We have just lost to a side who have played every week since February, whereas we have had two blank weekends in the past 5 weeks. Its all about what's in the mind come playoff time, and Leeds are clearly ahead of all the others when it comes to mental toughness.

I did a course at Leeds Uni on change management last April, and one of the days involved a visit to Headingley where Gary Hetherington & Brian McDermott gave us three hours of their time. It was fascinating chatting to Brian about how they adopt a siege mentality come playoff time, and are clearly far more mentally tough than any other side - they also have the advantage of knowing it can be done from 5th, and I wouldnt be surprised to see them taking the trophy back again.