Oh, Im not bitter, Wigan have done sod all since buying trophies was no longer an option.

Hell, they can't even pick a captain anymore, the day Andrew Johns and Sean Long chose Warrington and Hull respectively tells me Wigan are a past giant.

This is a poor thread but that comment is priceless.

I think Warrington would struggle to add 5,000 to their average crowd, seeing as their average last year was 9,221 and their ground only holds 13,024.

We've already told him Wellsy


We're planning an upgrade to 18,000 in the near future anyway so he COULD have a point..a few years down the line

This has been covered so many times it's hardly worth raising again, but if you simply can't recognise the harm Wigan did to the game in that period, whilst effectivley going bust twice themselves, then you are simply in denial.

Yes of course they will.

In line with that.

The Cougars will win the Championship and Challange Cup and England will wallop the Aussies 60-0 in the 4 nations final.

I suppose you can dream about stopping the Leeds and Saints dominance of super league but you can’t be realistic about it. Saints were missing the Sean Long factor over the last three years and now thankfully have it in the most exciting prospect in this country Kyle Eastmond who has been unfortunate with injuries and Sean Long in his way. I’ll let a better qualified saints fan big up the rest of that team.

Leeds on the other hand are pretty much unstoppable champions when it counts in the grand finals. We have the fantastic mix of international class and club produced talent. Warrington don’t have any overseas players that even compare to Danny Buderus and Gregg Eastwood. Wigan have one in Tommy and Catalan have a few but the French simply can’t play rugby league YET.

Bulls were starting to look good at the end of next season but their best player has left them. Got someone exciting in Matt Orford (one of my favourite players) who can’t hold the whole team. If it was Orford and Burgess in the Bulls team then I would laugh like I’m doing right now.

Wigan have Sam Tomkins and Tommy as a good partnership but its not as good as Robbie Burrow and Danny McGuire who are the 6 and 7 perfect super league partnership. I couldn’t care less if they’ve had a few bad international seasons these two are still the best you can get.

Three in a row is the answer to any critics and they isn’t an end in sight yet!

We should have been champions in 2005 and 2006 but Bradford and Saints cheated salary cap wise so we didn’t have much chances. Leeds Rhinos are the Usain Bolt of Rugby League and the only way you can beat us is by cheating!

You make it sound like Wigan picked the players off the shelf and scanned them through the checkout. Players have their own minds and were probably swayed by the money and the status but you're making it out as though some of the players were forced against their will to sign and play for Wigan. Don't be daft.

i always have a point.

ive read stuffs hes written and hes very. very knowledgeable

coming out of the melbourne storm set up as well.

hes probably their best coach in ages

the return of the english games former powerhouse will be good for sl

1. its not wigans fault they were so much better than the rest previously.

2. it showed why a SC was needed in that other clubs couldmt compete, even leeds almost went broke

3. maurice lindsay introducing the SC was putting the game ahead of his former club

maybe im early on wigan but certainly warrington are a massive chance, esp. with the CC win giving them confidence.

you do remember who was the man to break leeds GF duck ?

and adrian morley is an international last time i checked

wigans success depends on how quickly they adapt to the new coach.

I remember it well however Tony Smith didn’t have Brian McClennan to compete with back then. Rhinos in 2003 and like Warrington in 2009 were an emerging force in the challenge cup with Warrington going all the way. Differences after them respective runs can probably only be compared at the end of this season I suppose but I can’t see anyone over taking Leeds.

The Leeds team of 04 is up they with the Bulls team of 03 and saints team of 06 (even though they cheated). I hope wire do it but I just think that the Rhinos have a better squad than ever and Brian McClennan has the best coaching attitude I’ve ever come across including Wayne Bennett.

I’m sure many will question whenever Morley is in the same league as Danny Buderus and Gregg Eastwood. I’d have to say he’s up there with them myself but no one in super league compares to Buderus when it comes to class.

mate i do love the rhinos though

i was v.happy when you beat bradford for your first SL GF.
i just want to see more clubs breaking through so SL can mature as a competition

leeds aint go anywhere, i just think other clubs will start catching up

saints have declined a bit

leeds are clearly the benchmark but every year they stay on top, it gets harder to stay there with SC doing its job. its not impossible, the storm have shown its possible but clubs like warrington, cats, Hull KR, wigan will improve and challenge you

What Leeds and Melbourne/Brisbane have shown is that even with a SC if you have more money that anyone else you can spend it in areas (particularly scouting and youth development, coaching and player training) that will see you remain at the top.

that other stuff makes a small difference only

you cant avoid the effect of the SC forever.

runs like saints in the 60s wont happen anymore

what the storm have achieved is fantastic / remarkable

Dally, in the UK it's a bit different.
If there's only say 6 teams spending full cap, if you have the best juniors you're only reeeally competing with 6 teams. SL isn't at the stage where we say have ten equal clubs, it's no coincidence that the best run club (Leeds) find themselves where they are. Saints will improve again once the new stadiums up and running, teams like Warrington and Wigan will be there or thereabouts and teams like Hull Kr and Hudds are where we (Warrington) were a few years ago, beginning to show signs of challenging but basically overpaying for what they've got and spending more than they earn.

franchising should fix it eventually. when the rfl looks at a clubs business plan it is to gauge the clubs ability to spend full cap.

if at least 6 clubs are spending full cap then those are the 6 that should be sharing SL titles between them

leeds cant keep their best players if other SL clubs also have the ability to spend full cap.

theres no reason whu hudds or warrington cant win a SL title within 5 years.

thats why the cap is important

SL has basically seen 3 clubs monopolizing the title. once you get more clubs winning it, watch the competition develop.

if leeds, saints or bradford dont win another SL title for 5 years thatll be good for the competition as a whole

But that isn't going to happen.
Out of the next 5 years at least 4 titles will go to leeds or saints.

You should have been champions in 2006? Didn't you finish 3rd and get knocked out of the play-offs by 6th-placed Warrington?

If Leeds Rhinos were unstoppable, they'd have won the cup this century. Bradford 2003 and Saints 2006 were unstoppable.

Next years Leeds team will be up there

I have been desperately trying to surpress this opinion but.....

We (Leeds) must be overwhelming favourites yet again this year and I think it will take a huge effort to stop us for a 4th consecutive title. Only Smith left from last years' squad, Eastwood, Delaney & a fit Buderus added. Talented hungry young British players like Amor, Pitts and Coady added not to mention further emergence of quality juniors like Jones Bishop, Kallum Watkins, Dane manning & others.

Of course much can happen in terms of injuries and form and the playoffs are knockout football (eventually) but I am as confident as any fan can be in the middle of January that this will be our year yet again.

This leeds team has the potential to be the greatest SL team in history.
Am I right in thinking Saints in 06 and Bradford in 03 had more foreigners in their squads?

They need to win every trophy to do that, and not get knocked out of the cup (quite early on in most years).

They have the chance to be the first team to win all four major trophies in one year. If they do that, then they're the greatest to me.

I judge it very differently personally.
I judge it on what I watch, the standard of play.
That's why I viewed the 06 Saints team as better than the 03 Bradford side, imo they were a classier team.

People ridicule Eddies yapping but '10 probably will be the most competitive SL ever with possibly 8 very strong clubs but Leeds: they'll rise even further to be head and shoulders above again come final day.