You'd have thought so, but there hasn't been a great deal until recently. Wolfies antics at St Helens and at the darts in Liverpool, plus the initiatives for the London and Salford home matches to try and get some juniors/families in, shows that the club is making an effort. How prolonged this will be is anybodies guess.

Historically, the three eyed fish depicted in the Mersey near Fiddlers Ferry on a poster, brought some attention, for the wrong reasons, from the folk of WA8. Otherwise, not a lot springs to mind.

Why all this about Wire etc doing so much better than us?
Like when did they last win the Cup or the League. Sorry I do know when they last won the League, it was 1955.
We are where we are right now and when we get our starting 17 players back results will improve. Who would bet on us not making the top five end of the regular season?

Anecdotal, but it seems to me, even the relatively few number of years I've been going to the DW, that although there are still plenty of primary school kids, boys and girls (often taken by grandparents, by the looks of it), I don't seem to see as many in their teens and twenties as I used to.

Nobody’s saying Wire have been more successful on the field, they haven’t, but when you look at their squad to ours, in the last 2-3 years they look to either be spending more or have a larger squad of experienced players. They’ve just signed Luther Burrell who is due any time now, they seem to be on the up.

Either way, look at their website and there’s a 2019 handbook whereas if you want to find out about us then it’s 4 years out of date.

I’d rather have an out of date website and be champions that have an up to date website and go 60 years without winning the league....... just saying.

Wane massively overachieved when he was here, like a poster said the other day, he did so whilst the squad was being stripped. That just papered over the cracks of what is going on.

I disagree. Wane did his job, nothing more, nothing less. He was paid to coach a side to win rugby matches and we won the ones that mattered. That’s not over achieving, that’s being successful in your role.
To say the squad is being stripped is simply not right. Players will always come and go and we’ll never stop that. We’ve replaced Tomkins and co with arguably the best we could realistically hope for. We’re never going to attract top Aussie imports and up to now we’ve had two marquee players in a very large squad.
Perhaps a few on here need to manage their own expectations a bit better. We’re reigning champions!

To be honest, this is quite churlish. I hear your concerns and I share some of them, but to try to argue that our exceptional trophy success under IL and KR was somehow lucky and undeserved - and was all down to a remarkable coach - is neither worthy of you nor accurate.

If the current administration have had enough or have run out of cash, then maybe they should sell up. But let's not try to pretend they haven't done excellent things while they've been in charge.

Nobody can deny the success we have had on the field and we have to be grateful for that. I have actually said on other social media channels that I would accept a mediocre year or 2 of rebuilding, such has been the success we have been treated to in recent years.

However, the on field successes cannot excuse the apparent sloppiness that is creeping in off the field. We all want the club to be the best it can be and I take no joy in being critical of the club, but they need taking to task on things.

Anyone who is not concerned about the fall off in crowds / interest needs to wake up and smell the coffee. Looking after the little details makes a big difference.

Having said that, looks like a good crowd tomorrow.

What sloppiness off the field? I just can’t see it.
If you mean Hamlin and Mullen then that’s down to them as individuals and not down to the club who run monthly seminars to educate players re drug / alcohol/ gambling etc and have a genuine mental heath awareness program. They can’t be held responsible when they players go home.
If you mean Edwards, this whole saga is entirely down to him and is not of club’s doing.

I would say the squad was stripped, McIllorum wasn’t replaced and neither was Frank Paul Nu’uasala regardless of what people thought of him.

If you look at the last few years more have left than have joined.

2015 -

Ins - Tautai, Joel Tomkins, Mossop, Larne Latrick - 4 forwards.

Out - Blake Green, Goulding, Greg Burke (Loan), Jack Hughes (Loan), Scott Taylor (Loan), Gild Dudson, Jordan James and Eddie Pettybourne - 2 backs, 4 or 5 forwards

2016 -

Ins - Sam Tomkins, Willie Isa - 1 back, 1 forward

Outs - Joe Burgess, Ian Thornley, Scott Taylor, Jack Hughes, Larne Patrick, Ryan Hampshire (Loan) , Logan Tomkins, Connor Farrell and Matty Bowen. 4 backs, 5 forwards.

2017 -

Ins - Joe Burgess, Leuluai, Frank Paul Nu’uasala, Escare, Navarette, Forsythe. 4 backs, 2 forwards

Out - Dom Crosby, Lee Mossop, Josh Charnley, Dan Sarginson, Matty Smith, Ryan Hampshire. 2 - forwards, 4 backs

2018 -

Ins - Sarginson, Hamlin, Greenwood. 1 back, 2 forwards

Out - McIllorum, Gelling, Frank Paul Nuuausala, Joel Tomkins. 1 back, 3 forwards.

2019

Ins - Zak Hardaker, Jarred Sammut, Joe Bullock. 2 backs, 1 forward

Out - Sam Tomkins, John Bateman, Ryan Sutton, Hamlin. 1 back, 3 forwards

All in all, we never replaced McIllorum, Bateman or Frank Paul-Nu’uasala (Say what you want about his ability, I’m talking player wise or cap space). Plus, we are a marquee signing down, soon to be two as of next season, just look at the ins and out of the last few years and tell me we have t got weaker as a squad on paper year on year.

It might have something to do with the young lads aged 14-16 who are courted by the club in some capacity, treated like s**t and discarded which will leave a bitter taste in their mouths. You could potentially lose a generation of fans through poor management of whatever projects, schemes and pathways they’re working on, only thinking of maybe getting 1 future first teamer but losing 50 future fans. You’d have 30-50 rugby mad, Wigan mad lads aged 15-16 year on year falling out with the sport and the club because they’d been treated like a commodity, and discarded without a conversation or feedback.