George Williams can put that larger trophy cabinet on hold for another year.

I love this trend of “Wigan comfortably win a final therefore it’s the worst/dullest final ever” from saints fans.

To a man outstanding today.

Get teams in a grind

French/field magic to unlock defences to get a lead

Use Smiths kicking game to keep the lead.

Simply plan but so effective. Our defence was a brick wall.

Was very satisfying after hearing all week how good Dufty, Ashton, Walker, Fitzgibbon and Vaughan are. Their counterparts of Field, Marshall, O’Neill, Farrell and Thompson showed they are levels ahead.

The George Williams saga gets funnier and funnier. He’s latest story of “Wigan offered more than Warrington” was great. Wigan lad, boyhood wigan fan, wigan players for about 10 years suddenly decided he wants to write history with Warrington, deffo not about the money George. Keep your cringe social media posts up and we’ll keep lifting trophies. He was dire today for such a marquee player.


Kaide Ellis is an unsung hero.

Marshall and Miski superb.

Eckersleys tackle to force an error on Fitzgibbon was a brilliant moment.

Love the whole vibe of the club, even down to a young lad like Junior, was “it’s great to win, we’ll enjoy but jobs not done”. They want all 4 this year and to be dominate.

These are the days guys. It’s our time currently so let’s enjoy this team whilst we’ve got it.

Funny how things work out, we lose in just a couple of seasons Ruston Bateman Nicholson K P-P and and it's bloody hell what's going on and up steps Junior, he might never have got a chance without the aforementioned leaving.

Harry smiths game management was first class and he nailed all the conversions.
Forwards controlled this game backs put it to bed.
Great try from Faz and Bevan but the young Zac thrown into the deep end and to score a try fantastic,well done Zac.
I am so happy to be a Wigan fan.
Thanks Matt,Rads,lockers and Tommy you have and are doing this club and Town proud,may it continue.

To save on cleaning bills for the cabinet they could share one between them and St Helens and take turns in cleaning all the silverware together (the key's,lock,hinges etc).

Add in Reserves "trophy" and we hold all senior men's trophies.

Replying to Jason65 about Harry Smith (it won’t let me quote). He was outstanding again in a big game and there was a case for him getting the Lance Todd for me, just as there was in 2022 and for the HS in the GF last year. He hasn’t won one yet, which is a shame but he’s been so important to all of those wins and has kicked his opposite number off the park. He is rapidly turning in to our own Kevin Sinfield in how he manages these big games for us.

Surely you’re not deluded enough to think that was an entertaining game for anybody other than Wigan fans? I don’t expect you to care about that and nor should you (I couldn’t care less when saints win and it’s boring) but to try and deny it was a boring game is a bit odd. The last 2 finals have been horrendous watches, and I went to the GF in person and usually enjoy live sport whatever happens due to the atmosphere etc. but it was awful. I really think the RFL need to do something to sort out how bad of a spectacle our game is becoming (and yes, funnily enough the 2 most boring teams are the most successful and that probably dates back for the majority of the last 10 years). That’s a conversation for another thread though!

Congratulations, was a hell of a defensive performance from you guys and Wire never looked in the game. I didn’t think you were great with ball in hand but you didn’t need to be, as Wire were giving you plenty of chances to attack by gifting great field position and ball time and time again. That said, you never really needed to score more than 2 tries as that defence was never going to be broken and if the score was closer, I honestly doubt Wire even get the try they got.

Going to take some effort to stop you taking the lot this year. Cant see you not finishing top with the amount of home games you’ve got left and if anyone is to get the better of you in the play offs they’re going to have to bring their A game and other than probably us, that’s likely not going to even be enough from the other teams. Hopefully we’ll get the Wigan v Saints final we’ve wanted since the covid one! At least that will look like a big deal on the telly

I did think Harry should have got MOM,he does his fair share of tackles,the spiralls (knock on result) are so hard to produce,kicks for goals 100%,his control of the game and players was fantastic.So yes I think he should of been MOM.

Well Thesaint71 was entertained and I believe he is a Saints fan


Unless he was deluded aswell.

Just thought it looked a very confident and composed performance from a team that now has lots of experience of big games and aren't fazed by them one bit. Warrington the complete opposite - Matty Ashton a prime example.

The talent in the side is exceptional. As is the team spirit. Great balance of youth and experience. Put this side on a dry track in good health and they're incredibly difficult to stop. The only thing I felt could cause us problems was our own indiscipline or the consequences of our own indiscipline from the last game in having a very inexperienced right side.

It would be a big surprise if Wigan didnt make the Grand Final this year - if Saints have a fit spine plus Walmsley and Paasi then I think they're the only side who have a chance of stopping them going back to back. That would be a hell of a Grand Final.

Found Peets comments that this was the best win and that he didnt want to get into why very intriguing.

Was a much more dominant performance than I expected. Wigan looked comfortable and never looked like losing. Worryingly for the rest of SL they are only just getting started. This team now has that big game Finals experience and the stars are tied down to long-term contracts. They have a mixture of youth complemented by experience and to be fair recruited very well.

Thompson has been way better than I envisaged and its a sign of their depth that Walters can't make the 17. Nsemba is a superstar in the making and then of course there's Field and French and Smith now learning how to manage games and kicking teams into submission.

There's going to be a real lack of competition for Wigan soon bar maybe Warrington continuing to improve. Catalan have gone backwards so there's a real onus on Saints getting injured players back. Given that we are set for a couple of transition seasons there is a real chance Wigan will do what we did and win consecutive GF's for 3-4 years.

I said to my eldest lad a couple of years ago to enjoy the period we were in and to make the most of getting one over his Wigan supporting mates at his school in Wigan. I didn't expect Wigan to improve as quickly as they have but in Peet and a good coaching team, they are now the standard bearers and the rest of us need to chase them.

Saints fans in NOT talking bollox shocker.....

Edited it for you mate. Some still think they'd beat us 9 times out of 10 and then, of course, we still have to hear from honourary Saints fan Rob/Stef/Lebron/insertusernamehere who has gone strangely quiet



Very honest and considered post from Stu.

I thought he was called useless or was it tit, or was it both?

I think the problem with predicting 3 or 4 year dynasties is that in sport, and particularly one like ours, there are just too many variables. Injuries, suspensions and even refereeing decisions now, more than ever, have the potential to completely alter the course of a season. If it was a 'first past the post' system we played I'd be more confident in predicting a dynasty but essentially all our trophies, apart from the LLS, are decided by cup finals and, as we know, anything can happen in a one-off game. Saints own dynasty would probably never have happened had Hardaker made that kick or even punted the ball up field in the 2020 final. Even then it needed a freak bounce of the ball for that win to happen.

I think the club are doing all the right things and putting itself in the best position for success going forward and the rest are definitely in a position of catch up now as the clean sweep of trophies attests. This is already a special team that knows how to win the big games and, as you said about your own success, we should just enjoy it while we can.

Having said all that I hope I can post in 3 more years and say "well Stu, it turns out you were right"

My favourite was his attempted "I'm a Wigan fan now" username which lasted all of 1 post before it was rumbled

No further action on either Cooper or Dufty. I should think so too!

time to resurrect the 'envyometer'......

Has anyone seen the player statistics from the final?

Quote ="Zig"Has anyone seen the player statistics from the final?'" Some key stats here bud. https://www.wigantoday.net/sport/rugby- ... rf-4659536 Anyone remember the dark days of guys like Clubb and Singleton racking up metre totals in the 20s and 30s?

Quote ="Zig"Has anyone seen the player statistics from the final?'" Some key stats here bud. https://www.wigantoday.net/sport/rugby- ... rf-4659536 Anyone remember the dark days of guys like Clubb and Singleton racking up metre totals in the 20s and 30s?

Quote ="MadDogg"Some key stats here bud. https://www.wigantoday.net/sport/rugby- ... rf-4659536 Anyone remember the dark days of guys like Clubb and Singleton racking up metre totals in the 20s and 30s?'" Thanks mate.

Quote ="MadDogg"Some key stats here bud. https://www.wigantoday.net/sport/rugby- ... rf-4659536 Anyone remember the dark days of guys like Clubb and Singleton racking up metre totals in the 20s and 30s?'" Thanks mate.

There are loads of positives in those stats but one thing that really jumps out to me is the contributions of Thompson, Havard and Ellis. You're lucky if you have one middle forward (hate using that term but will have to with Ellis playing at loose forward) capable of playing 80 minutes but we have these 3, all of which are ideal modern day forwards. They are absolute athletes, big but mobile, defensively fantastic and will test their opposite numbers by still being able to go as strong late in a stint (or late in a game if they do complete the 80 minutes) as they were at the start of it. We're so fortunate to be in a position that we have those 3 guys and can then just rotate around them.

I was reflecting on that and remembering when we were all (or nearley all

) were crying out for a more dominating pack. We now have an embarrassment of riches

Think we always knew Havard and Thompson could do 80 but Ellis doing it is an added bonus.

The fact these 3 can do massive minutes is why I would have opted for the versatility of Walters on the bench rather than 3 props. Byrne and Mago both played about 10 minutes if I remember correctly.

Didn’t matter in the end of course!