FWIW - Win this Saturday and IMO it will be the Best Championship/League against the odds win we will have had since Mission impossible 91.
Every one of those Naff performances where we had between 6 & 12 players out yet still managed to scrape wins will have played a major part in our achievement.
I tend to try and take positives and each one of those wins, which in isolation we in most cases had no right to win those games, has given this set of players something you can't coach, the ability to win against the odds, never say die attitude etc.
Even though I agree the expected upturn in performances that I expected didn't happen, without those wins earlier in the season we would not have been in the position to win those Super8 & Play off games.

Whether you want to credit the players, the coaches, the club
Or
Whether you want to criticise the players, the coach, the club

Nobody surely can deny it is a remarkable achievement to be in this position given the consistent decimation of the team through injury and dare I say suspension throughout the season.

Well said.
It'll be up there with anything this club has ever achieved even going back to the 1950 Championship Final at Main Road when we beat Huddersfield with eight Wigan players on the way to Australia for the test series.

It's such a confusing season to summarise really. I was one of the people on here that banged away for months saying 'everything will be ok when we get a strong team back on the park' but we then did and if anything our form dropped off!! We then lost some more players and our form has picked up again.

The spirit has been amazing and Wane must take huge credit for that. The mentality of the players when their backs are against the wall has been superb and it's a real strength of Shaun Wanes. He seems to build up this culture of 'us against the rest' and with that also comes a bit of stubborness that he is right and he doesn't need any support.

The one thing the past month has done for me is put to bed any doubts that Wane should leave the club at the end of the year. I wouldn't be against an attacking coach coming in though to offer some support. The club and Wane should always look at ways of improving and whilst this could be a perfect end to the season, it hasn't been a perfect season by any means (and I'm sure Wane and the players are aware of that).

A win on Saturday would be very special though and it would be his greatest achievement without doubt. He won the LLS in 2012 and then the double in 2013 but you always got the sense that people still gave Maguire a lot of credit for those successes. This would be Wanes without any shadow of a doubt and will top anything that has gone before in the superleague era.

Good post. I've been as negative as they come, and I still have my opinions. I've never doubted he gets us fired up, we have heart and spirit by the bucket full. For me though, we have massively underperformed for the majority of the season, regardless of injuries. If there were the usual strong teams we would not be in the final, it's only the fact that SL is at an all time low, that a team so poor in attack with so many injuries can finish second and get to the GF.

This takes nothing away from the players, they have been up against it all season with injuries and dare I say, the tactics they seem to have been forced to stick with all year. They've had no choice but to be good in defence because or attack has been so drab and predictable. It's only now that we've binned it that the players are allowed to express themselves and play some rugby and look like they enjoy it. It's testament to the teams heart and defensive efforts that we've got there because it sure as hell isn't our attacking prowess.

All that said, no way can he be sacked, however I hope to God he has learned lessons this year, he's learned what works defensively and hopefully he's learned what definitely doesn't work in our attack.

Is it? I happen to agree, but if you lose on Saturday and then lose the next 2 Grand Finals as well, will reaching 6 grand finals in a row still be a great achievement or will you make up a song about it?

To expect champagne rugby with a team missing it's best players is asking too much. The team have exceeded what a lot of fans thought they could achieve. We have lost games we should have won and the won games we had no right to. The team has fought to get to the play offs. And if you look objectively at the performances has produced it's best rugby when needed in the must win games.

I would sooner be going to the GF having played our best rugby of the season at the right time of the season, than being happy making the top eight.

Good question (honest). I guess we'll have to get back to you in two years' time.

I never expected champagne rugby, I expected us to look like we had a clue how to move the ball around and open up a defence, something we were a long way from for a lot of this season. As I say, I'm hoping lessons have been learned.

Very true , and when have our best run of games happened ? At the business end of the season

Every silver lining has a cloud? You should try supporting one of the many other clubs who haven't had silverware for an age or would dream of getting to the end of the season in second place.

So by your logic, we should forget or even ignore how poor we have been because we've got to a final and just applaud everything, challenge nothing and look to maintain status quo? Sorry, I can't do that, it's great that we've got to the GF, it's also shocking how poor we have been at times. I'm sure Wane understands how bad we have been at times, I'm sure IL understands it and I'm sure both will look to improve.

Yes we can all cheer and celebrate getting to the final, we can also highlight our major weakness, work on it and come back a better team next year.

Why this is a crime I've no idea, I'd consider sticking my head in the sand and not mention our obvious weaknesses as far more of a crime.

You could also stick your head in the sand and ignore the injuries,The come from behind wins, it's a team that has come through a season with more positives than negatives. Can they improve? Yes they can the last month has seen that. Better Wigan teams have been nowhere near the GF so credit where it's due to the players and coaching team.

You could also stick your head in the sand and ignore the injuries,The come from behind wins, it's a team that has come through a season with more positives than negatives. Can they improve? Yes they can the last month has seen that. Better Wigan teams have been nowhere near the GF so credit where it's due to the players and coaching team.

I haven't though, I've commended our defense, I've commended our heart and spirit and never say die attitude. I just dont put our poor attacking form down to injuries, because it's been poor for much longer than this season. I find my view very balanced, I comment on the good and the bad, what's more middle ground than that?

I think that pretty much sums it up quite accurately from my point of view.
It will be interesting to see what other new signings will be announced over the next few weeks because although we have shown depth in the squad we are still palpably short of an experienced centre, goal kicker, winger and a 13 if SOL retires.