Excuses excuses...

Haha not at all, just stating fact. I bit like when we beat you last year and you lot told us it was because you were resting folk for the cup semi.

If we play to our potential, we will win. Our core players can draw on years of experience of beating Saints, and winning real pressure games.
Saints have had to start the season well, to try to rebuild confidence and credibility. They haven't been able to rest players for the CC, and still won't be able to, so have to try to sustain peak effort over a long period of time. Wigan have been doin what we did with such good effect last year, playing low key rugby in the low key games. We have also rested our key players, so that we will be well placed to have a mini peak around Easter, as we usually do.
We would beat a full strength Saints team on our day, and the day we the likes of Swift and Amor cause any sleepless nights are still a long way off yet.
I predict Brown to break into tears about naughty, rough Wigan and Clubb to aim straight at LMS on his first charge and scatter him - he's the daddy of the sarf!

I think winning runs sometimes get hard to maintain the longer they go on, overconfidence can turn to lethargy and carelessness when facing lesser teams who will always give their all for the top sides, and the best sides become even harder to beat because they want to spoil the party and prove a point. Anyway I hope that’s the case on Friday, and let a bad decision or two go are way this time. Yeah a wrong call giving us a last minute steal would be real sweet!

We did Tomkins, Hansen and O'Loughlin all played the week before and the week after but missed the Saints game. We also only played McIlorum for about 20 minutes. I wonder if Saints will rest Lomax, Soliola and Walsh then take Roby off early doors? Somehow I doubt it. Sure you're missing a few players but no one pivotal like we were last year. You won't see us banging on about Charnley and Crosby being missing if we lose

Pure comedy genius .Had a great season last year granted but that was last year .We have a far superior team to 2013 whereas yours is vastly inferior.Keep believing that your going to peak again when it counts if thats what eases the losses to huddersfield and cas does.The derby can go either way but our starting 13 and squad is vastly superior to yours this year .

You're mad. But that's fine. We'll see soon enough for sure.
The only time the 2 sides have played, and that was on your manor with your team having much greater motivation, we beat you. The good thing about your "vastly superior" point, is that by 2 on Friday we will know the truth of it.
Out of interest, how many titles/medals/cups can your "vastly superior" first 13 point to, compared with our "vastly inferior" one?
What interests me is that we have 4 years of evidence that Wigan are a very strong team, regardless of the squad changes in that period. That's no fluke - we're well caoched, perfectly conditioned, well motivated and with the right temperament. We have 4 of the same spine that won the double, and a full back in Bowen who is class from head to toe.
From Saints' perspective, Brown had to start fast, as otherwise he might have lost his job. No team can sustain that momentum forever, and all the signs indicate that Saints' form is dropping away. It served its purpose. Wigan are running a different race, and have repeatedly shown that when we have to step up a gear we can do so.