Although Sam Burgess has made decent progress as a rookie coach in his first year, Warrington still look to me like a collection of talented individuals rather than a fully integrated team.
Their game plan last night, as it has for the bulk of the year, seemed to revolve around hoping either Williams or Dufty will create a piece of magic in the middle along with Ashton's pace for finishing. It nearly came off last night but rover's scrambling defence saw them home.

Dodgy try notwithstanding, I thought the result was about right. Rovers overall teamwork and organization was the difference in the end. They work hard for each other and play until the end which is what most supporters ask of their team, and which has been sorely lacking in our side these past 3-4 years, which is probably the biggest bugbear we have amongst our many failings.

Maybe in four years time it will be us preparing for a Grand Final, who knows, but we need to start making some smart decisions across the board for that to happen. Fingers crossed the fightback starts right now for us.

I’m also uncertain about the longevity, possibly for slightly different reasons. But, for me, sport thrives on uncertainty. Meaning results of games/outcomes of seasons rather than clubs surviving… RL just has its uncertainty in the wrong place!

I’d take the kind of sustained success enjoyed by Wigan and Saints, obviously, I envy their fans in some ways, and want Rovers to aspire to excellence. But as a fan, there wouldn’t be the same types of moments. I’d learn to live with it, I’m sure, but its absence would not come as a shock.

Relating it to Hull, what this long-trailed investment looks like will be crucial. Rovers have spent well, there’s been a huge amount of hard work and some really good decision making, but Rovers have also spent more than in the past.

There’ll always have to be a threshold though. If everything goes up as no try until proven otherwise, needing clear evidence as an absolute threshold, then there’ll be outrage when tries that are nearly-certainly tries are chalked off. So… balance of probabilities? Which is a guess.

There’s as strong a case as sending everything up as a try unless proven otherwise - it’s just a question who would get the benefit of the doubt.

My guess about Burgess’s try is probably similar to yours, but it is a guess.

Hope they beat 50-0 in the final though.

I actually thought the Joe Burgess interview was quite funny, it's not his fault the try was given, good to have characters in the game rather than players coming out with the same cliches week after week, credit to the boys, we've trained hard all week etc etc

Decision making is the key, both to your current success and our current travails!!
The financial situation at our club almost certainly precludes us from making any sustained challenge at the top right now, but it wasn't the reason for the horrendous year we have just endured. That was completely down to some extremely poor decisions over a number of years across so many areas of the club's operations, particularly player recruitment, the failings of our 2024 intake being well documented on here!

Wholly agree with you about the joy of unexpected moments! I know we have discussed this before, but I'm of the opinion that some Wigan fans probably can't remember some of their titles and Challenge Cup victories due to having so many to choose from. Over the past forty years we have won four major trophies (1991, 2005, 2016/17) and every one of them is burned into my memory, four afternoons which made all the madness and frustration of following an eternally underachieving club feel worthwhile!!

I guess whatever happens next Saturday, you will remember it in detail through the years to come. It's the frission of the unexpected that over-familiarity dulls to the point of meaninglessness? I suspect next Saturday will mean more to the rovers base than it will to Wigan (unless of course you are facing Leigh whose fans will then feel exactly the same as you). I had that feeling with us in each of our major triumphs because they are not everyday occurrences for us!

If I was to give you a piece of personal advice, I would say enjoy the moment, soak it in and revel in being there (whilst trying to contain the butterflies!!). Personal experience has taught me that success can fleeting and it disappears before you have even had chance to savour it.
Maybe it will be different for you. Maybe in years to come you will also have so many titles and cup wins that you can no longer remember them (like Wigan and Saints), but right now you don't know that. For all you know in two years time you may be back amongst the mid-table throng, dreaming of days gone past or days hopefully to come again.

Like I said, grab the moment while it's here, none of us know what tomorrow may bring, unless you're a Wigan fan of course, safe in the knowledge that normal service will be resumed before too long!