just like hull fc several seasons ago won the challange cup and made the grand final , since then they have not really pushed on , are we set for the same fate after back to back challange cup wins , after the performances against hudds cats and hull its obvious we are not champion material thoughts .


ps i hope im wrong and would give my right arm to be at old trafford come october

First word to spring to my mind was "knob"

Yes.

We aren't the finished article. That is all. Wigan were the finished article last year and they have looked worst than us this year and have only ground out some very dubious results. A few forward passes and missed calls and they have won games. PLus they have drawn a lot of games.

You must remember we have Lord Tony and a wonderful academy. It is apples and oranges. Do not fret just yet.

I personally don't think we are a two season wonder. The facts support the claim that the teams are getting closer together. There has been a dominant STs team and a dominant Rhinos. Last year was a great Wigan side. It could be anyone this year and hopefully it will stay that way. No matter what we are in the mix.

Another great thread.

inernet warrior hey , insultive little goon

to the dogs.

More one and a half. We were gash the first half of 2009.

I did worry about this after our first Wembley win. However, winning last year and only losing seven league matches last year reduced those fears considerably. This season has removed those fears completely. I see no reason to doubt we will be in the top 4 easily and probably top 2 this year. Next year should see more of the same. How we do in the play offs is anybody's guess.

Given the results over the last couple of seasons I am hopeful that no team will stay as powerful as the likes of Bradford, Saints and Leeds have been in the past. Unless they do some cap cheating it really is now incredibly hard to be successful continually.

Most teams who win SL seem to be those who combine world class imports with youngsters from their own academy who are international quality and in decent number as they are on their first real contract. In the past those teams would just change the overseas imports as they retired/returned home and would stay at the top. Given fewer quality players are coming over that is hard to do. Add that to the problem of those young players reaching second contract negotiation time and the successful sides recently are having to shed players. Bradford went through it with horrific results, Saints went through it and stayed competitive but stopped winning trophies and now Leeds are finding it tough.

Wire and Huddersfield are big possibilities for SL this season. But both would struggle after winning it. Wire have to replace Morley and Briers and could have the likes of the Evans', Harrison, Riley, Blythe etc taking on rather big contracts if they developed well. Same with Huddersfield, they have a massive squad at the moment because their youth players are on very little. But when the likes of Cudjoe, McGilvray, Lawrence, Lunt, Patrick, Griffin etc come to negotiate their next deal as a SL champion they would have to shed bodies.

Wire will still be strong, but no club these days can be sure of trophies every year.

Alright then Einstein if Warrington don't look potential champions after defeats by Catalans, Hull and Huddersfield?

Would it be Wigan who were hammered by Catalans and convincingly beat by non-championship material Warrington at home; or

Huddersfield who were hammered by Crusaders and couldn't even beat Castleford; or

Saints who lost to the non-championship material Warrington and Harlequins at home and failed to beat Wigan on two occasions already.

So who are these teams that are the level above Warrington (even if Warrington's points difference is more than 60 points better than anybody elses)?

Wire-till-i-die: don't make me laugh, more like wire-till-we-lose.

What a ridiculous thread.

You do realise that wire wonder is a Wigan fan on the wind up don't you... Just thought I would point that out.. Wouldn't want your wire obsessed signature to make you look like a you're a bit stupid.

HAHAHA!

Depends how you define "2 season wonder".

I don't think we will fall away and go back to our old ways struggling to make the playoffs. But it is perfectly possible that those two Challenge Cups are the only trophies we will win under Tony Smith. I just think that what is more or less certain is we will be a strong consistent team, consistently up there challenging for trophies, even if we aren't winning them, and before TS came we were never challenging for trophies (well not since 94).

The interesting bit will be how our fans react. You would expect most of them to be realistic and be pleased that we are contenders, and accept that we can't win every year, but I reckon we will start hearing the question "has TS taken us as far as he can?" appearing on this forum before long.

In fact I can predict now the exact moment that thread will appear. If we haven't already won the Challenge Cup by then, it will be posted on here when (if) we get knocked out of the playoffs this year. Even if we've finished in the top 2, if we have a trophyless season, and all the Wigan/Saints fans will come on here creaming with excitement about us getting knocked out of the playoffs, there will be grumbles on here about Smith's signings, the players who haven't progressed, and so on, and some bright spark will reckon that we need a new coach to help us go to the next step.

Wouldnt finishing second but not winning the Challenge Cup.Be seen as successful season?.Have we have set the bar to high,for what we would see as a successful season.Do some fans really expect us to do a clean sweep on the trophies every season.

This is the key point. Whilst every individual fan may dream of his club sweeping the board season-after-season, this type of domination only damages the sport. Much better to have at least half-a-dozen, and hopefully more, clubs genuinely competing for the two trophies on offer each year. Gates will be higher, sponsorship and TV money higher, standards higher.

The major difference now is that we go to matches more in expectation than hope, rather than the other way round. Hence the greater disappointment when we lose.

Well said fella.