[urlhttp://www.wiganwarriors.com/news_full.asp?newsid=5248[/url

Awesome. It just sounds better and better all the time. I just hope we see a difference on the field.

Good appointment in my opinion. Has learned his trade under Craig Bellamy and from what I have read from Shaun Wane in the Wigan Evening Post reguarding second best isnt acceptable it looks good for you guys aslong as these principles are stuck to.

Personally I dont believe much of the playing roster needs to be changed at Wigan if any. The only couple of players who need to buck there ideas up is Stuart Fielden and Iafeta Palea'aesina. If Palea'aesina lost 2 or 3 stone he would a superb impact player off the bench and Im sure McGuire will address this for you. Maybe a change of coach will bring Fielden back to his best or close to it but eithier way he needs a big season if Wigan are going to challenge for honours.

Im predicting Wigan will win a trophy next year the backbone of the team and a new coach with new ideas will probably take you to the next level.

With the same squad he'll have to work near miracles imo for us to win a trophy but i don't think anybody 'demands' that or even expects it.

I'd like to see the teams attitude progress so that they turn up for every match and aslong as the effort is right people will take defeats on the chin. If the squad is the same next year i'd expect plenty of kids to get a run out and they deserve that chance imo after showing great form for the u21's in the past couple of years.

If any new youngsters(Farrell, Tuson, Davies, Thornley etc) aswell as the youngsters who've already made their debuts get enough experience next season then we could possibly be ready to challenge on all fronts in 2011.

The appointment of McGuire will hopefully be a great long term move but it could set back any chance of silverware a year because he'll need that time to put his stamp on the place. Thats fine by me and he should be given all the help he needs from Lenagan and the fans.

I can't agree with that.

I look at our squad and I think that we can match aybody - If we show up with both determination and the right game-plan.

We proved it last season. We beat Saints and Leeds, but couldn't do it when it really mattered (semi-finals against Wire and Stains).

We now have a coach who is tactically astute (one of the best, according to his former boss), who has a background in conditioning, won't accept second-best and is willing to give youth the opportunity if the senior pro's don't step up to the mark.

Add to that a certain Mr Wane, who is already on record stating that the first team will train "harder than they've ever trained before".
(which suggests to me that he saw big flaws in Noble's "preparation" for games, but is too polite to slate him in the press)

He has the same no-nonsense attitude (both ways - He's straight with you as long as you do your best), has the respect of everybody at the club, and is desperate for Wigan to start winning things.

Frnakly, if this pairing can't get those players to work hard and tear their own hearts out for the Wigan cause, then those players don't deserve to wear our shirt.

Yes, we will lose games this year.
However, I will be amazed if we see the sort of abject capitulation that we saw under Noble at times (Celtic away anybody?).

I'm with Waney - I just wish the season started next week.

BRING IT ON !!!!!!

Yeah I read this in League weekly yesterday, all sounds good a lot of people have good things to say about him,really looking forward to seeing his impact on the squad and the individuals within it.

Anybody know when preseason starts and when McGuire is due to arrive?

Mid November on both scores according to Lenagan in an interview on the official site.

If any of our fans expect instant success under McGuire next year then i think they're heading for a fall unless we get a couple of unexpected quality signings in.

Our overseas players aren't as good as at least 2 or 3 clubs and our homegrown players aren't as experienced as alot of other clubs.

All i want is to see a top draw attitude. Thats costs nothing from any player and should be the minimum requirment of each and every one of them.

Correct

Pre season starts 16th November, Wigan are hoping to have Maguire hear a week before that.

Good post from an 'outsider' from Appley Bridge



Regarding Fielden, I agree he needs a big season and I think it may be his best one yet, due to:

Change of coach.
This is his last season of his contract, needs to play extremely well to be offered another (or put himself in the shop window).

My opinion its a WIN/WIN situation for Wigan:

Fielden plays well this season, is given an extended contract on a much reduced rate.
Fielden doesn't perform this season and outr top earner is binned off.

However well Fielden plays next year he should be given a maximum 1 year deal because it'll prove he's only really been here fore the cash and the security his long deal has brought him.

I actually think he'd turn down any deal at Wigan anayway. I just get the feeling he wants to be back in Yorkshire.

Why not let him go now? Bradford have a few hundred grand from the Burgess deal. Can't be worse than Sculthorpe.

It would all depend on who we could bring in.

Also I don't believe that Fielden has been anywhere near as bad as some have made him out to be.

He should be binned off anyway. O'Carroll and Prescott were outplaying him every week. Bring those two on next year, Coley and Fielden to be replaced by Adam Blair.

I'd agree he's not been as bad as some would make out however many and I include myself in this believe he hasn't been worthy of his salary, had he been on a smaller wage and been putting in similiar performances then not as much would have been made of it, but he's one of are marquee players and is paid like one and to not play like a world class player yet still get paid like one is many's major gripe.

Quote ="Rogues Gallery"It would all depend on who we could bring in. Also I don't believe that Fielden has been anywhere near as bad as some have made him out to be.'" He's what i'd call a level 2 prop nowadays but he's on level 1 money. I'd class the likes of Peacock, Morley and Graham as level 1 and they are way ahead of him in terms of preformence but that doesn't make him a bad player. I read a rumour on here yesterday about us going for Kylie Leuluai and it would interest me reading peoples opinions on him without looking at any stats. I'd guess plenty of people would say they's swap him for Fielden and maybe in value for money terms you would but money aside Fielden is still a better player- www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009 Kylie Leuluai doesn't get bashed left, right and centre by his own fans or opposition fans yet he doesn't bring as much to the table as Fielden does. I've slated Fielden myslef at times because the effort simply hasn't been there but i'd take him as a squad player on squad players wages any day of the week.

Quote ="Rogues Gallery"It would all depend on who we could bring in. Also I don't believe that Fielden has been anywhere near as bad as some have made him out to be.'" He's what i'd call a level 2 prop nowadays but he's on level 1 money. I'd class the likes of Peacock, Morley and Graham as level 1 and they are way ahead of him in terms of preformence but that doesn't make him a bad player. I read a rumour on here yesterday about us going for Kylie Leuluai and it would interest me reading peoples opinions on him without looking at any stats. I'd guess plenty of people would say they's swap him for Fielden and maybe in value for money terms you would but money aside Fielden is still a better player- www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009 Kylie Leuluai doesn't get bashed left, right and centre by his own fans or opposition fans yet he doesn't bring as much to the table as Fielden does. I've slated Fielden myslef at times because the effort simply hasn't been there but i'd take him as a squad player on squad players wages any day of the week.

Quote ="NickyKiss" www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009 '" Good stats and just shows that Fielden in comparison to most other props he's still better, like you say what we lack is a number 1 prop somebody such as Peacock or Morley who can lead the team and be the main man.

Quote ="NickyKiss" www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009 '" Good stats and just shows that Fielden in comparison to most other props he's still better, like you say what we lack is a number 1 prop somebody such as Peacock or Morley who can lead the team and be the main man.

To pick out one or two players is unfair.
When we the lost the semi and eliminator the 17 lost it. OK some played better than others but they lost both as a team.

They have to acknowledge that if they as players want to stay at Wigan they will have to do things a whole lot better. Prepare, train then play.
We lost an awful lot with that poor start but it looked ominous when we'd the friendly at Leigh. There was a poor attitude then and it didn't surprise me when Wakey arrived a week later and deservedly won.

MM & SW will know what they have to do and will do it. In many respects we are taking two coaches who won their respective Grand Finals and this is due to both knowing what it takes to win.
As far as the new season is concerned "eagerly awaited" will be a good way of describing it.
Can't wait!

I disagree. I don't think it is unfair to rule out the chance of winning some silverware in our first season with MaGuire. I accept it is his first season and he will have the same resources as Brian Noble did last year but we got to within 80 minutes of a final in both competitions playing some dull rugby at times with the same squad MaGuire will now have.

MaGuire will be looking for instant improvement in the squad (you would hope) whether that be fitness and conditioning, attitude of some of the players or just greater techinical work from his experiences in the NRL. Perhaps with this improvement and a different coach we can see more from certain players such as Feka Paleaasina, Stuart Fielden and Mark Riddell. Perhaps this extra improvement could take us to that next step and get to a final.

I think a trophy is a realistic target this year. I accept that it will be 2011 when Michael MaGuire can really make his mark due to the number of players out of contract but that doesn't mean we should rule out 2010. I know Shaun Wane and Michael MaGuire wont be so neither should the fans.

I'm not totally ruling out success but like i say i'm far from expecting it. It's going to take a little while for McGuire and Wane to really get the club going in the direction they want and to bring in the players they probably feel they needs to do to get us where they want us to be.

I do agree that they can hopefully get alot more out of certain players and that could lift us a level but i'd still say a trophy is a long shot.

I suppose what i'm trying to say overall is that people should be patient and i believe they will be.

Sorry, I think I quoted a bit too much in my first reply.

I only meant to quote the bit about silverware being a near miracle, rather than the bit about fans not expecting or requiring success.

I firmly believe that the players in our squad match up with any in the league when taken as a whole.

OK, so we don't have the out-and-out superstars that Leeds seem to be going for (although they seem to pick up quite a few injuries on occasion).

Warrington throwing cash around won't get them too far, IMO. They will simply end up with a squad full of mercenaries who don't know each other's play-style.

Saints appear to have picked up a bit of start in Soliola, but I still think that they are carrying too much age (Cunningham) and too little experience (Eastmond plus others) and with Potter in charge, I think they could decline rapidly if they're not careful.

Now while we haven't got the really big names any more (Barrett being the last one), we have got what I think we need - A squad packed with hard-working individuals (Carmont, Phelps, O'Loughlin, Hansen, etc.) backed up by real, frightening pace in the halves (Tomkins and Leuluai).

If Maguire can get our defensive play to emulate the NRL model, we have the type of players who will work well for him.
It has been said that Melbourne won the NRL not through individual brilliance (which is what we have relied on for far too long to get us out of various holes) - But by building pressure.

i.e. Making sure that they were defending in the opposition's half as much as possible and hunting the mistake. Then playing solid, percentage rugby, combined with the occasional flash of brilliance out of the half-backs.

If we can get anything even close to the Melbourne model working here - Anything is possible with our current players.

Whilst I agree that there should be no automatic expectation of silverware, I feel that it would be entirely wrong to go in to the season expecting not to win.

(Apologies for the long-windedness)

Agreed, defencively he is up with the best. said for a while if he stopped trying the stand straight into the first tackle and stopped getting hit in the chest by two defenders he would make better yardage.

Get your head down a bit Stu and your might get through a few. The chest out and stamping your foot on the floor at first impact is just stopping him dead, then the second man knocks him back.

Says the bloke who played centre all his life

Soliola is a good signing for us as he can play centre and in the Second Row. I cant agree with the Cunningham quote has he has been playing aswell (prior to his hand injury) has he has done all of his career. Potter is a decent coach but imo isnt good enough to coach a top side like Saints.

[urlhttp://www.wigantoday.net/warriors/Mike39s-making-his-mark.5769702.jp[/url

Looks like he's working hard, hopefully on some new signings.

I think him and Wane make a great team for skill, fitness, passion and bloody hard work. I doubt they will accept anything less than 100% commitment from the lads.

It's either 'get with the programme or jog on', I would think with these two.

For me it would be Wane out of the 2 I would not want to get on the wrong side of. I imagine MM would not be a pleasant experience, but I think Wane would happily take you out back and bust you up.

Both absolutely demand the best.

It's a long way off but I am getting really excited about next year. Further building of the club, first team and infrastructure under the IL stewardship. Long may it continue.



And to think some doubted the club was in good hands with Ian (not me mind).

Bring it on.