Offered a million for Hanley

you actually bought all the stars and paid them more ,

we bought all the ones on the way out and paid them too much , still at least we still have our ground .

Another d1ck measuring contest

Another thread devolves into arguing.

There were some good points brought up though. I agree with you that we will miss Moon massively, I agree that at the minute are squad has a few too many Aussies. I'm hoping like you, the Aussies are just a stop gap, trying to keep us competitive while we wait for some of our younger guys to come through/good.

I'm looking forward to a good game, between two clubs who instead of looking to get one up on each other should be looked on as an example of what and where other clubs want to be.

Argh, remember those days well.Yes you are right, Leeds brought in Dougie Laughton from Widnes and gave him a war chest to take us to the top. As well as the 250k paid for Hanley from yourselves he he raided his old club for the likes Tait, Eyres, Howard, Faimalo and old has been Mike O'Neill.Kevin Iro came in as well as Craig Innes from the All blacks (and we had already wasted a kings ransom on John Gallagher 'the worlds best rugby player' before Laughton came in!) many others too, as well as top dollar to the likes of Schoey still in his pomp we were shelling out some right cash around that time it can't be disputed.

The problem was, and not just for ourselves but the other clubs at that time, by 1990/91 you had built such a quality and settled side there was little to no chance of anyone stopping you. Infact, the 250k we gave you for Hanley gave you the cash to put the final piece in the jigsaw and signing Offiah.

I would also like to add though, although we won sod all between 92-95 when we had that side we played some of the best rugby i have ever seen at times, we just couldn't quite match your consistency and ability to step up in the big games.The 94 final is still the best live game i have ever been to despite the defeat and all the trophys we have won since.

Nobody has denied we spent money also but for me the only club who can't throw the old 'you bought all your trophies' line at us is Leeds because you tried (and failed) to do the same.

As pointed out also the class of player Wigan brought through its academy was better then all other clubs as well so it was a great recipe for success.

That doesnt make sense, you DID buy your trophies, just because Leeds tried and failed to do the same doesnt change the fact that you won those trophies when you were a full time team in a league that was mostly semi-pro

When do you think that Wigan went full time?

He has had the best winger in the competition outside him and he doesn't know what to do with him. I would like to see how many passes in the last 2 seasons that he has actually made to Hall.
A typical Kiwi centre all brawn and zero brain.
Im sure someone will highlight his good points but for me not a classic centre in any shape or form.

You can't buy trophies. It takes a lot more than money, that's just one piece of the jigsaw, an important one granted. At Leeds proved at that time it takes more.

Succession planning was key, Hanley is the prime example. Wigan sold him when he was heading towards the end of his career, Phil Clarke was ready to step up to the #13 shirt. We had a significant number of players who came through our academy supplemented with a few proven stars and a few unknowns our coaching made good and a few Australians ans New Zealanders.

The biggest influence in my opinion was the coaching starting with Graham Lowe who layer the platform for what was to come.

Well, I reckon Joel Moon is a terrific player, one of the best NRL imports in recent times. And he's an Aussie, although he came from the NZ Warriors.

Anyway, I'll be coming up for the Leeds game, my first SL match of this season; looking forward to a cracking contest!

Just a side note on tomorrows game- if Wigan win it will be 25 home Super League victories in a row.

No one can deny that is impressive.

It would be a poor world without differing opinions.
Have a good journey up tomorrow