damn, have we now signed an nist

All will be well. One of the most impressive things this year was that, in every knock out game we won by over 2 scores, so there weren't any game in which the result was seriously in doubt into the last 10 minutes. The way we closed out games was the sign of a fantastic team.
Our spine will be nearly as good, and if we use Hampshire correctly, could be as good.
We just need a slight incremental improvement from our many developing props to be as strong in the forwards.
The 2010 model of Pat would leave a massive hole, but, as a winger he has probably gone as far as he can (if the World cup was any indication).
We will need a good place kicker. I have sufficient faith in Smith and Hampshire later on in the year, to be fairly relaxed that our coaches will sort this out.

Looking at the opposition, Saints may be marginally stronger, but they were so far back to start with I can't see them troubling. We can do to their big Samoan what good teams did to Feca. He's huge but he's no athlete.
Wire will be weaker unless they have some amazing signings up their sleeve. Myler will never be a playmaker, Ratchford is error prone and their hookers have too many miles on the clock. Nothing to fear there.
I think Leeds are the biggest threat, as their back line is very good, and they have some good young players. As many have noted, their spine has too many miles on the clock and they are over reliant on Peacock. I think overall they'll be no worse next year.

Can't wait!

Freudian slip or spell-checker not engaged?

As usual I'll be looking to see how our new signings go.
A lot of talent has been signed to replace talented men who've gone.
Pettybourne has looked good in the WC. Clubb is a strange one but I now have faith in the coaches that they have proved they are capable of improving players makedly. Sarginson, Hopkins and Bateman are very good signings and as for Matty Bowen, well he just a top quality player and will continue to be in 2014.

I think we'll contest for all trophies and I'd be very surprised not to see us win silverware next year.

Pretty fair comment there fella , but oddly no mention of the team that won the league ?

I am greatly optimistic about next season. By and large we had a young team last season who will be all the better and more confident from the experience and success of that campaign. I believe we have recruited very well in the replacements for the players who are leaving. Just a couple of niggles. The extra burden of the World club challenge, particularly as it is in Oz, will not help the cause and we will miss Pat's goalkicking. One final prediction - Bowen for Man of Steel. Have a flutter on him.

2014 The Year of the Wolfs!





But seriously, it should be a cracking season, Leeds and Wire will be our main rivals, wouldn't write off Saints also, tempting though it is. Will be interesting to see how Hudds go next season.

Being a miserable old stick, I didn't give them a chance last season and am happy to say I was wrong.

Given the above, what do I know?

Even with the quality we are losing (Sam, Mossop, Richards etc) I still feel a lot more positive about next season.

I am looking forward to seeing our new signings (particularly Pettybourne and Bowen).

Wigan A to win the league leaders and grand final, Wigan B to win the cup:

Wigan A:

Bowen
Charnley Goulding Thornley Burgess
Green Smith
Taylor McIlorum Flower
Hansen Farrell
O'Loughlin

Powell Williams Greenwood Lauaki


Wigan B
Sarginson
Manfredi Hughes Gildart Gelling
Hampshire Powell
Pettybourne Tomkins Dudson
Burke Clubb
Bateman

Crosby Tierney Lloyd Lever

We'll definitely be there or there abouts. If Bowen settles in quickly and stays fit he'll be a quality acquisition and help to fill the gap Sam has left, whilst also helping the young lads like Tierney and Hampshire to develop.

We need to establish who our regular goalkicker will be, and hopefully they can provide the 75%+ success rate that Pat has over the last few years. I think it will be Matty Smith.

Our main plus point for next year is our strength in depth and competition for places. In the outside backs someone needs to put their name on the 5 shirt and also challenge Thornley for the 4 shirt. With Sarginson, Gelling, Burgess, Manfredi, and possibly Lloyd, there's plenty of combinations to look at.

Smith and Green have some good quality youngsters behind them in Sam Powell, Hampshire and Williams so not worried about the halves.

In the forwards you'd think Lockers, Hansen, Farrell, McIlorum, Flower and Taylor would be in the first choice 17. That leaves Pettybourne, Hopkins, Clubb, Dudson, Crosby, Hughes, Andy Powell, Bateman, Burke, Greenwood, Lloyd and Logan Tomkins competing for 4 places.

All in all we've got a well balanced squad. You could argue our left side is our main weakness as it is an unknown quantity at this stage, but I am certainly more excited about our first season without Sam Tomkins than I thought I would have been once the inevitable day came!

Did you forget about Hopkins or don't you rate him?

We have the added pressure of expectation. Last season we were written off by many before the season which relieved a lot of pressure from the players. I'm optimistic we will be challenging for trophies but i won't attempt to predict a winner.

As for the opposition.

St Helens will be a lot stronger next year. They now have an organising half back and a couple of extra props they desperately needed.

Warrington are an interesting one. They've lost a lot of experience but i think they will still be up there. It's time for Myler to step up and show what he is made of. He's been in Briers' shadow for a while, the responsibility will either make or break him.

Leeds have too much quality to write off, they have an ageing forward pack but it's not quite over the hill yet.

Huddersfield will be big challengers next year. They've strengthened well and like ourselves 2 years ago have a good coach who will have learned a lot.

I can't see anyone else realistically challenging next year however injuries will no doubt have a massive say in who finishes where and who wins trophies.

Was just about to post the same thing

I've just seen the Wire squad.
It looks weak outside the 19 and still has seven players the age of 30

1 Matthew Russell
2 Chris Riley
3 Chris Bridge
4 Ryan Atkins
5 Joel Monaghan
6 Stefan Ratchford
7 Richie Myler
8 Chris Hill
9 Micky Higham
10 Roy Asotasi
11 Trent Waterhouse
12 Ben Westwood
13 Simon Grix
14 Michael Monaghan
15 Ben Harrison
16 Paul Wood
17 Ben Currie
18 Rhys Evans
19 Anthony England
20 Gareth O'Brien
21 Glenn Riley
22 Brad Dwyer
23 James Laithwaite
24 Kevin Penny

But Kevin Penny is back!

If they can turn that 19 out in the cup/playoff games though then they'll be a threat.

I also expect them to sign a big name on the wage left by Briers. Granted he'll probably be 56 and can only play in 5 games a year but he'll be a top player. What is Ellery Hanley doing these days?

It's the weakest looking Wire squad for a few years but then it does have a lot more players with potential to improve.

They'll be close to all trophies again.

We need someone as good at goal kicking as Pat. Too many games these days come down to whos kicked their conversions and if we dont have a quality (80/85%+) kicker then we will struggle

This.

Whoever gets the job (given we have no obvious candidate to replace Pat) he has to dedicate himself to at least trying to be as god as Pat.

Otherwise, forget it.

I think it will be Matty Smith,he might not be 75% next season but I have faith in him to dedicate himself to the job and become a more than competent kicker.For me Charnley is too inconsistent and could possibly leave for the NRL/Yawnion so we would end up back to square one again.

They don't call him Superman for nothing!

I don't know if anybody else has noticed this but people talk of Bowen as a player recovering from injury - he isn't he is as fit as a fiddle there is no need to be cautious with his age or fitness. In fact if he was a fiddle he'd be a Stradivarius (I just googled that)

dont watch storage wars or luggage wars i take it.

once could also say ... have a decent level of General Ignorance as well ...

He's not that old.