Just looked on Cherry and sh*te and saw that Wane is the fourth favourite to be the first coach sacked in 2013 (Millward, Vievers and Betts ahead of him, not sure on the order). Found that quite interesting really...questions were asked of his coaching after the Widnes game, with many Wigan fans ringing up on the phone-ins complaining! If Tomkins picks up an injury it could well be like our situation last season.

Who do you think it will be?

I'd stick money on Millward tbh. Castleford struggled last season and if they don't get off to a good start then he'll probably go. Widnes seem to want to stick by Betts, unless they gave him a season's grace? I'd be surprised if Vievers was sacked given the situation at Salford.

I would say Millward tbh..

R1 Warrington away
R2 Leeds home
R3 Bradford away
R4 Catalan home
R5 Wigan home
R6 Hull FC away

very tough to start with that.

I dunno he could pick up a couple of wins there. Leeds and Bradford being the 2 big ones. Leeds never bother with the regular rounds anymore and they have the WCC to get ready for and Bradford could be a potential 2 pointer. If he gets 2 wins i the first 4, I can see him getting past Wigan and Hull even with defeats.

Sackings always depend on expectations, I think Wane was fairly high on the sacking list last year too, but wigans superior league form put paid to that early doors.

The Hull KR coach could be under a bit of pressure after the Justin Morgan years if he fails to make the top 8, 2 years running.

I think Wane has by far the hardest job based on expectation vs. probable reality of his team's position. They'll be a significantly weakened squad next year and he'll no longer be able to surf the wave still left over from the Maggie years as he did last season. If Tomkins gets injured for any length of time then they could suffer quite badly...

It’s started already! OK I’ll get my little voodoo doll out and a few of the wife’s dress making pins. Now who shall it be?

The facts from last season would back that up I think , did they manage a win without him?

If they perform as per 2012, then its really harsh to sack him. they were top of the league for freaks sake! and only lost to one team in knock out games, hardly grounds for sacking.
I'd say our own Nathan Brown is at least as likely as wane to get sacked

Don't talk sense, it spoils good debate.


Lenegan has never sacked a coach since he took over at Wigan.

If Wane doesn't win a trophy next year then his contract may not be renewed for 2014, which personally I think would be a shame.

Whether Brown gets sacked or not will depend upon how many games we lose consecutively and whether that degree of slippage annoys the chief.

which could be said of nearly every coach sacking.

or by slippage do you mean on the wet concourses ?

very harsh again not to renew. In just one season he seems to have brought some of your younger players on really well. He did (unfortunately

) exceed my expectations

Blame the bookies!





Tbf neither had McManus prior to Royce.

EDIT: actually Millward was sacked, but that was for GMC.

Thank you, well said that man. A balanced and fair statement, we all should take note (including me) can we keep it up?

Wane has a tough, tough job on next year - if he can do remotely as well as he did last season with the much weakened squad he now has and the influence from the Maggie era further diluted by time then he deserves every pat on the back imaginable. FWIW I think Wigan will probably finish 3rd or 4th, win nothing and will be shaking his hand and looking for an Australian come the end of 2013 - we shall see.

Difficult one this.

Wane does have a hard job with their turnover of players but Wigan do seem to have a realistic view to things at the moment. Plus there is little sense sacking a coach in the last year of his contract unless the team goes into melt down.

Millward at Cas is a good shout, you would think Cas should be far better this year but Ian could be in trouble if they do not improve.

Coming from left field maybe Humberside is a good place to look. Hull have a hot head chairman with too higher expectations and a squad that will need to bed in. While Craig Sandercock has lost players from what is starting to look a poor HKR team and could get the blame for it. I also think Hudderfields castle is built on sand with a head coach setup to fail and take the fall.

A few look safer than the others. I think Betts will do well, Widnes have a good chance of having a strong season. Veivers is safe as he works cheap, as long as he doesn't talk himself out of a job. Same could be said of Tony Rea. While Nathan Brown is probably paid to much to get an early play off, so is probably safe for the honeymoon period. Richard Agar can live off last season for a while.

Agree with much of what Noel Cleal says. Wane has done enough to at least see out the last year of his contract. Tony Smith is in no danger and there's no way Brian McDermott can get Leeds into a worse position than the ones from which they've won the last two titles, so he's safe too. Saints, Hudds, and London all have new (or nearly new) coaches, so I can't see any of them getting shut. Gentle seems to be well thought of at Hull, and Richard Agar's stock is well up at Wakey after a great first season, so they both go in the 'safe' column, for me. Betts keeps getting mentioned, but all the rhetoric coming out of Widnes for the last 12 months has been about slow but steady progress. I think he'd struggle to do any worse than last year, so I reckon he'll be fine.

Phil Vievers is in a slightly insecure position, I think. If Salford's new owners have a grand plan for the club, that might involve a clean start and a new coach. If that is the case, then even if they can't get rid of him straight away they'll be looking for an excuse to, and it being Salford one will come along soon enough.

Ian Millward had a dreadful first season at Cas, but it would be unfair to judge him on that, given the personal crisis he's had to deal with. Now that he's one season on and has made a few signings of his own, it'll be do or die time for him.

Craig Sandercock has had a disappointing first season, and has the disadvantage of being in charge of a club with expectations that might be deemed slightly unrealistic. He's my favourite to go first - if they aren't in solid contention for a playoff place by the halfway stage he'll be gone, I reckon.

Having said all that, I wouldn't be surprised if this ended up being the first(?) SL season in which no coach gets the boot. The absence of the threat of relegation makes it a distinct possibility; why spend lots of money paying off a coach when you can just wait for him to see out his contract?

In agreement with you two I think. Here are coaches who I think;

Have 2 years grace at least
Tony Smith
Brian McDermott
Nathan Brown
Laurent Frayssinous

Have 1 years grace at least
Shaun Wane
Matt Gentle
Tony Rea
Richard Agar
Paul Anderson
Denis Betts

Should have 1 years grace (i.e. could be a risk if things go messy quickly)
Francis Cummins
Phil Vievers
Craig Sandercock

Under pressure from the off
Ian Millward

I'm not saying they're fair judgements but based on what's gone before I think they're pretty accurate. Perhaps you could say Sandercock and Betts could be dropped a notch. I think Cas really should just write last season off as one of those and back Millward for the entire season (they may have already stated that to him) to avoid unnecessary disruption. It's their calls though and of the teams, based on last season's efforts, they would have the strongest case if things started badly next year.

I think Betts, Vievers and millward are favourites to go first.

The Widnes fans don't like Betts one bit, they went crazy when he was given the job to coach them in super league. If things don't go well early on, I think the fans will put pressure on O'Conner to sack him.

Salford have had a bad off season with money troubles, new owners etc. When a club have new owners, they like to bring their own man in, if Salford lose a few early on, it might be the excuse they need to bring in their own coach.

Millward has massive pressure this year, they have a very tough start to the season. He's brought a few new faces in but his job IMO rests on the shoulders of Rangi Chase, if he's on fire like 2011 then cas might have ok season.

if Nathan Brown has another typical mid season slip/ blunder like he did at huddersfield multiple times, i see no reason why he wouldnt get sacked for it at Saints?

No chance will saints sack Brown next season. He's signed a 3yr deal and know way will McManus pay him out for 2+ years and then have to pay another coach to come in.

The money side of sacking Royce had no effect at all, Royce was in his last year (his replacement was already 99% sorted) and Rush filled in for the year. It did t cost saints a penny as nobody came in.

Nathan Brown is being very well paid at saints, he was in talks before Royce was sacked.

Anyone can lead a marathon for the first few miles. Was it Brown or Huddersfield, we will find out this year.

SGI never crashed late in the season under Brown, so I suspect that Huddersfield may have not had the quality to last the distance. This is why I think Anderson is under more risk than many on here believe.

Huddersfield in my eyes have an over achieving squad that has lost some good players and an untested coach who seem to have an idealistic attitude imo. The thing that could save Anderson is Ken Davy seems a reasonable guy.

Maybe it is not the team or the players that matter, maybe it is the chairman. This is why Hull looks like a good bet.

i think huddersfield (as a huddersfield fan, I am naturally going to think this) are going to do a hell of a lot better this year. we have made some good aqusitions and bolstered a pack that was mutilated by Nathan Brown. if only we could have got gaskell off you we would have been set up for a good run at the league. but still think in robinson and brough we have a good combo (better than saints perhaps) and as a result id argue that we have genuine quality and are deserving of our previous positions and arnt just an over achieving squad.

I honestly think hudds over achieved under Brown and IMO appointing Anderson is a massive mistake.

I think hudds will struggle to make the top eight.

struggle to make top 8? really? I'm thinking 5,6 or 7 this year.

Warrington
Wigan
Leeds (if they bother with the rounds of just focus on the playoffs)
Saints
Catalans
Hull FC
Huddersfield
Bradford
Hull KR
Castleford (depending if Chase turns up)
Wakefield
London
Widness
Salford