Might be of interest, our latest article looking at Shaun Wane

rlhttps://wiganrugbyfans.com/2017/03/21/opinion-shaun-wane-under-appreciated/rl

An excellent piece. I totally agree with your assessment, especially the sections on his promotion of youth and his 'project' signings.

It is clear that Wigan's success has been built on long term planning, rather than on 'boom and bust' transfer policies. You certainly can't imagine Wigan using a 'quick fix' by signing the likes of Chris Sandow, Frank Pritchard or James Segayaro. I think Ryan Hoffman is probably the last big name signing (if we discount the re-signing of Joel, Sam and Tommy) and that was in 2011 - six years ago.

People who criticised SW often referred to a perceived lack of intelligence, and in interviews I think he comes across as a bit limited, albeit with a passion for the club, and a 'win at all costs' mentality, which doesn't sit well with neutrals.

For me, his biggest strength is in 'man management'.

The reason why Wigan fans are hesitant to call Shaun Wane the greatest is possibly because he's widely considered to be one of us.

That's not an excuse, but it may be an explanation ... ridiculous though it initially may sound.

What I mean is ... it's been a long time since we've had a top quality home-grown coach. It's almost as if we in the UK are so used to successful coaches being foreigners, that we've come to see the job as only being right for special creatures hailing from another world. Michael Maguire certainly held that mantle with his revolutionary tactics and hugely more effective methods than Nobby (who was seen as one of the best of British at the time); Madge turned a team of apparent no-hopers into champions in the space of one year - he surely had to be a wizard. But it may have started much earlier than that: because Graham Lowe is often (rightly) depicted as the saviour of Wigan RL, the man who returned us to regular triumphs after years in the doldrums, we often overlook the contributions of Colin Clarke and Alan McInnes, who coached the team just before him. True, they weren't as successful as Lowe, but they got us to Wembley and won the trophy for the first time in ages. That was a huge achievement which is hardly ever remarked upon because of the era that followed.

SW may suffer from the same thing. We see him as a local lad made good, and almost through a kind of warped humility, struggle to give him the huge credit he deserves. But in due course, I think that will fade. Personally speaking, there is no one else I'd rather have running first-team affairs at present. Certainly no one from the UK.

Wane is massively underestimated IMO. The consistent way he brings the youngsters into the first team and gets them playing at a high standard is absolutely unbelievable. Something I've appreciated all the more after watching Leeds' struggles for a season and a bit.

I think he's appreciated about right. People are talking about him like he's the messiah now because we have just won the Super League and World Club Challenge. There was talk of whether he was up to it when we got knocked out of the Cup by Castleford then Hull KR, and went 2012, 2014 and 2015 without a major trophy. The reality is probably somewhere in between.

Maguire is still our best coach of the SL era IMO because he didn't have the foundations in place like Wane had. We won a major trophy in both of his seasons, won a ridiculous number of games in a row in 2011 and pretty much never took a real beating as Wane's teams occasionally have.

I recall an away game at the HJ in 2011 and I considered that a good beating at the time.
Wanes team's look weaker on paper I would argue too. Two or three more trophy laden seasons and he will surely be considered our greatest ever coach?

I think the difference is that Wane has simply instilled an unbelievable belief into a squad of very young players. Whether that's through sports pychologists or just his personal relationship with the players we won't really know. The amount of times we've won in the last 10 minutes or come back from 2, 3 or 4 tries down is unheard of before now.

Maguire got a very talented team to perform at the level they should have been performing at with some slick structures and incredible fitness levels. It was quite revolutionary at the time in SL but other clubs adapted to it as well from Maguire's second season onwards. I think a lot of fans are quite harsh on that 2011 season but we played every single week for 8 months without a break with a lot of the players notching 30+ games and just fell short against actually a decent Saints team. The club clearly made a goal to win the Challenge Cup and we peaked mid-season to do that.

From an outsider it seems like Wane is very much a father figure to the players and they'd do pretty much anything for him, whereas Maguire was a bit of a hard taskmaster with a "win at any cost" attitude.

Remembering the dark (but occasionally fun) days of 2006, the transformation from 2010 onwards was amazing, and we continue to build on that.
Madge brought in three Melbourne players. No other coach was able to bring in that amount of quality, in one go, from a top club in the NRL, who had all worked together for a while with the winning, professional mentality and culture that Madge is credited for.
Wane 'brings in' Marshall, Ganson and Wells.
I don't expect to win a trophy every year: it wouldn't be good for the game in general. But I was amazed we won the GF last year, and for that, I believe SW deserves a whole load of credit, and be recognised as our greatest SL era coach.

Love him or hate him. He wears his heart on his sleeve.and is Wigan through and through his handling of senior players and young uns is superb

I've been a huge Wane basher - at times calling for his head last season but time and time again he proved the doubters, of which there was many, wrong. That Wigan team last year should of been nowhere near the Grand Final, let alone win it! You could argue luck was on our side with the state of other teams (Leeds/Huddersfield/Saints) but that shouldn't detract from what was a phenomenal achievement against an excellent Warrington side.

When George Williams was promoted to 6 after the departure of Blake Green he was heavily criticized. Since then George has arguably been one of the best HB's in the league, if not the best. That's not a shot in the dark gamble. That's knowledge, experience and a good rugby brain making those decisions.

Does he get it right all the time? Not at all, no coach in the world does or will. Either way he's taken the mantle from Madge, a coach who is adored in Wigan for what he did. That's no easy task in itself.

Will Wane go down as the greatest? He's in with a shout certainly if he carries on defying the odds and the ney sayers and unearthing the players he has.

Criticized often, praised little. Yet he manages to make Wigan achieve. If he carries it on, I'll have no qualms whatsoever in putting him up there.

This is because those who did see the good that he did, and tried to offer a balanced view, were shouted down by people who thought their own opinions were fact.

Shaun Wane doesn't have a win at any cost attitude?