The current wire squad isn't strong enough or deep enough to sustain a season long challenge as has been proved.
Plus next season ourselves and saints will be stronger and have more depth so imo wire will need more than myler and as rumoured atkins to turn them into consistent contenders.
They've done well to win the cup no doubt about it but the GF and season long consistency are totally different.

You've not addressed the point TVOC makes though. Take out Wire's results before he took over (and when he went away with England) and they're right in the mix.

Losing 5 of the last 6 and 6 of th last 10 in SL is not really the form of potential champions.

making the playoffs and hitting form then is the hallmark of potential champions.

I still don't see wire as potential champions and their consistency this year clearly shows that plus as has been pointed out their recent run also shows a clear lack of consistency.
If next season i'm proved wrong so be it but i still think they've a long way to go!!
P.s Add to the fact that now they Hold a trophy other teams will step up against them and they won't be used to it either.

Their current [url=http://www.slstats.org/position[/url means that they have to win their last two games assuming that Cas beat Celtic and Catalans beat Wakey. That means they have to beat Hull KR away and Harlequins at home just to make the playoffs. It's easy to slip up in the leadue the week after a cup final victory and they've got to go to hull KR who are in a scrap for third spot. Not the easy route to the playoffs that you are suggesting.

would you say P8 W4 D1 L3 is the form of potential champions?

Its better than P6 W1 D0 L5 or P10 W4 D0 L6

You may also note that i further clarified the position by opinionating that Warrington may struggle to scrape into the playoffs in the first place further undermining their position as potential champions.

Huddersfield loked poor, and it could be season over for them if they can't pick themselves up from it

The gap between the quarter and semi finals of the cup won't have helped their form much and they still got within a minute of beating Leeds at Headingley the week before the latter so perhaps their form wasn't as bad as the stats might suggest.

The proposition was more aimed at what Warrington would need to do in the future under Smith to challenge for the SL title. How much more or how little they would need?

FWIW I have Warrington missing out on the eight this season as I see no way for them to beat Hull KR this week and 24 points maximum won't be enough. Even if Les Catalans don't make 26 (Castleford will), Bradford will probably make 25 and scrape the last place.

There's no doubt that Warrington should be able to challenge for titles. They have got one monkey off their back by winning a trophy which should give them belief. They now need to get the St Helens monkey off their back. Their biggest problem IMO was their lack of depth, but they seem to be getting a group of youngsters coming through which is rectifying that problem (ring any bells with TS in 2004)