That put some fire in the belly!

What was wrong with the culture?

Read Rads book mate.

We won nowt, yet were always told the performances were excellent etc. Well they weren't or we would have been winning.

Do you really need to ask?

Was it a winning culture why Noble was here?

Did we ever follow up big promising wins against Leeds or Saints with wins against so called lesser teams? How many times have we seen or thought this is the new dawn for Wigan RL after really good wins?

Was it a winning culture that led us to having the worst start to a league campaign in over 20 years?

Was the culture right in the prep before Hudds two seasons ago? Do you remember the whole ‘you’re not fit to wear the shirt fiasco?

Was the culture right that has led us to 5 semi final defeats? How about the capitulation against Catalan in the 2007 semi final when we were red hot favourites?

What about early season loses to Hull FC away, Wakey & Cas at home & Celtic away? Or scrapping home in the last 10 against Barrow in the CC?

What about the Hock fiasco?

Radders talk in his book about the culture and mentality at Wigan and in Wane and Maguire we have two guys who have identified the problems and want to sort it out.

Noble is the most sucessful coach in SL. I think he knows how to create a 'winning culture' better than most.



There are no 'lesser' teams in this league anymore. The teams you think are 'lesser' than others are infact at the same level as us.



Bad preparation. Nothing to do with culture.



Nothing to do with culture.



We were outplayed. Nothing to do with culture.



See above.



So that's one case in the last 3 years? Anything else?



So what are the problems? I haven't read the book and don't plan to either.

If he does it didn't show. There was a pervading mentality of nearly achieving something being enough that seemed to be accepted under his regime. Even fans in here quote reaching semi-finals as success these days.

So are you happy with what appears to be the culture at the club?

For me the word culture means so much more than just history and tradition, it's shared values and belief and a willingness to do what ever it takes to succeed, and for me the right culture has been missing at Wigan.

If the team play poorly then they play poorly but to do it time after time and then show that they can play well for me is down to a poor culture at the club and all the things that a poor culture incorporates.

Maybe he does but the distinct lack of silverware mixed in with us failing 5 times at the last hurdle means its all in the past regards to his achievements.



Of course there isn’t? We are at the level of an injury hit Hull FC & Wakey as well as Celtic aren’t we? Put your head in the sand all you want the fact of the matter is many of the Wigan players thought they’d walk these games and they got stood up big time. I don’t mind losing every so often but the worst start in 20 years alludes to something far worse behind the scenes imo.



Bad prep is a major sign of a bad culture. You have to prepare for every game like it’s a final cause lets face it most of the teams in SL want to beat us—Leeds, Saints, Bradford & Wire all have history with us—Hudds & KR want to beat us cause of the ex Wigan players in there---We sent Cas down and they hate us.

Like I said you can either keep burying your head in the sand and pretend that Noble was some sort of RL coaching Messiah or you can look at the MANY times we’ve failed to prepare, been out enthused, lacked consistency and generally failed when it comes to the crunch time and realise that there were serious problems starting to pop up time and time again at Wigan under Noble.

The head coach has to discipline his players and keep them sharp for all the games in the season not just the Leeds ones.

Well we disagree on what culture is then.

What is it then?

It's easy to sit on the fence and give one line answers to everything without putting you own neck on the block.

I must admit I am re-inspired by all that's happening, and now will renew both of my season-tickets. Before the announcements over the last few days, I had lost the will to live, and had no intentions of renewing my seats. I thought I would just pick and choose the games I would attend next year and save some money and sanity.

I was just so bored and switched off by the inconsistent effort, the overpaid Aussies who were making mistakes that would see them immediately benched - if they were playing back in Australia, and the boring attacking tactics that Noble seemed to instil in the team.

It sounds like all of this is going to change. I really don't mind if we get beat (well actually I do!!!), so long as we play with heart and intelligence and the players live up to their capabilities. Also I am sick to death of all the off field antics I have heard about, and hope now the players will be expected to set a high standard to the public and especially the kids.

Bring on the new season!!!

if Wane was already involved with the coaching at the club - is he not partly responsible for the current culture within the club? If he knows now what needs to be done, why has he not done it previously.

I'm afraid these rather pat answers indicate to me that you don't actually understand what the Wigan culture is. Likewise, if you're not prepared to read the book that encapsulates it - Michael Maguire is reading it, by the way - then I doubt you'll ever know.

That interview is awesome and everything I wanted to hear. It literally made me smile.

Results suggest he has done so with the section of the club for which he has responsibility.

His teams won virtually everything. Next question?

And Wigan are the most successful club in British RL history
Same as Noble - It counts for shït if you can't repeat it


Are you telling me that Saints & Leeds don't go in to matches against Salford/Castleford/Celtic expecting to win ????
Of course there are "lesser" teams. There always will be.
Dont' kid yourself


What do you think a "culture" within a sporting club is ???
It's the way the players prepare/respond/work together.
In other words, the Work Ethic of the team/squad/club as a whole.
And it's created by the man at the top (the coach before you get pedantic and site Ian Lenagan)


If we are outplayed, then we are failing to prepare correctly.
As above - That is due to the culture of the team/club, which is determined by the coach.

You seem to then state that you are "happy" to write off losses to Hull FC, Wakey, Cas and a very narrow win against Barrow as us being "outplayed" again.
I can only sincerely hope that you never have anything to do with the running of anything at all, ever. You have ZERO ambition, and are willing to accept poor preparation and a lack of effort with a shrug of your shoulders.


OK. I don't put the "Hock fiasco" down to Brian Noble, but if it is true that he had even an inkling that Gaz could have been sniffing, then he should have dropped him, immediately, no excuses. (Obviously, this is mere conjecture)



I haven't read the book (yet) either, but from the posts on here, it seems that there was an almost complete lack of discipline, which led to a lack of respect, players doing precisely as much as THEY wanted to do in training (That'll be a shock, when SW & MM get their mitts on 'em).

All of this led to a team of players that thought that they were in charge, rather than the coach, which led to a feeling of "can't be ársed", which in turn led to poor performances, which led to "Your not fit to wear the shirt", which led to an upturn in performance (albeit temporary).

Then we start this season with our worst opening run in 20+ years, and it's deja vu all over again.

See the pattern ????

Thank fook it's been broken

I would imagine that Wane's involvement will have been very limited with the first team as I believe he was still working a full time job at the time, and at the end of the day his responsibility was with the reserves not the first team.

I agreed that the Hock situation was part of a bad culture but likewise I don't think the bad performances you listed are related to it. Look at the rumours banded round about Warringtons culture off the field and they still managed to win a trophy this season.

Yes - Because Smith walked in and CHANGED the culture !!!!!!!

I work with a lot of Wire fans, and they tell me that they don't see the players out like they used to, and when they do, they are not bladdered.

I think you're doing a big diservice to Warrington and Tony Smith there (god i'm defending Wire now).

I think the Wire fans will confirm that there's been a 'culture change' since Smith took over, and I think it's no coincidence that they've won a trophy after this and not before.

PRE Smith!!

Like or dislike Tony Smith he's known as an authoritarian kind of coach and the minute he stepped into Warrington things started to change. Players like Gleeson were shipped out and other like Briers we told buck up or your out- Remember the Briers to Celtic rumours btw?

You’ve still not answered the question however of what you think a culture at a club represents?

Culture: (most commonly used terms):

1. excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities, also known as high culture
2. An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning
3. The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization or group

No 3. Is essentially what most people are trying to relate to in this thread,

To have a winning culture throughout the club all players, coaches, staff and even fans have to pull in the same direction, have one ideal, shared desire to be the best and not to rest until you are top of the pile.

As an outsider it never looked that way under Nobby, he could explain away defeats too readily, there never seemed a "Testicleing" after a loss, players were clearly under prepared against lower placed teams. If anything the fans had to take it upon themselves to show it meant more to them than it did the players or coaches.

Nobby was very successful at an already well set up Bulls but having to start from a team in crisis he had to build again and was found wanting.

In a winning culture there would be:

- No under preperation (You admit this happened lots)
- You could only possibly be ouplayed by superior teams (though eventually there would be NO superior teams)
- No one would be happy with reaching just a semi final or even a final

The new men in charge currently show signs of creating a winning desire and drive & , its a very positive outlook for Wigan - they are almost certainly going to improve in 2010, they will be fitter, leaner and more driven than in recent times.

If the players live up to the coaches Saints and Leeds (and Huddersfield if they continue to improve) will by vying with a 3rd team for top dog next time round.

For a Saints fan that was pretty good



Thats the closest you'll ever get to a compliment as well