Its all about peeking at the right time who gives a about putting 60-70 pts on teams and then going out of the playoffs.Then sayin yeah but we played well against Bradford at home we put 80 pts on them.I am very confident that come playoffs we will be ready!!!

No more swapping players round or resting them please, time to pick your best 17 and stick with them Mr Wane.

Doesn't anyone remember last season?

wigans league form was terrible going into the playoffs.

We all know what happened next...

We were playing exactly like this this time last year, not saying we are going to go on and win it again but I'm not surprised at our 'form'

We had a better team last season though.

We could well end up doing what we did last season, but it's farcical that we can be so poor for so many games over the season and still be in with a shot of winning. It's little consolation for the fans who have paid hundreds of pounds for tickets and travel to the 4 or 5 away games this season where the team simply haven't turned up. The league structure doesn't help, and we have had a lot of injuries this season. But neither of those should be causing almost 20 errors and penalties and a 50% completion rate in a single game. We have been losing games because of ill discipline and turning over too much ball.

So did everybody else, with the exception of Cas...

Haha i mean fair enough being optimistic but there's a few deluded post there thinking we are going to do anything in playoffs

I am likewise born 'n' bred Wigan, now living a similar distance away.
Every game, home or away is costly, both in time and money, I reached the conclusion a long time ago that I have been getting a very poor return on " effort to reward" not just from Wigan but from RL in general.
Friday night games have long been a nightmare for anyone needing to use the motorway to get to a match, but the concept of the Thursday match is even worse as, if you have work the following day you can't stop over. With the current league structure and too many meaningless games I made the reluctant decision to select my matches this season and I wasn't at Widnes last night. I didn't need to be there to witness the effort or the lack of it described on here, I have seen it too many times in previous seasons, in fact I could have almost predicted it.
All clubs (because of the RL) are in the service of "Sky" and once again the, "exiting climax to the season" suits our puppet masters.
In the world of horseracing, most horses are ridden by jockeys "under instructions" putting in just the required amount of effort to prepare them for one of the seasons "classics"
Come the play off's you will see all 8 teams truly compete with determination, and any one of them could win, however I would be surprised if the trophy ends up anywhere other than Wigan or Leeds as they are the only real thoroughbreds in the race this year.

The performance last night was almost identical to the Bradford and HKR ones. For some reason Wigan appeared to be going too wide too soon, the forwards didn't appear to want to do the graft. It was only when Pettybourne came on that we did any damage down the middle. He was the only Wigan prop to make over 50 metres. In those conditions ball retention was paramount. www.superleague.co.uk/report/10073

The performance last night was almost identical to the Bradford and HKR ones. For some reason Wigan appeared to be going too wide too soon, the forwards didn't appear to want to do the graft. It was only when Pettybourne came on that we did any damage down the middle. He was the only Wigan prop to make over 50 metres. In those conditions ball retention was paramount. www.superleague.co.uk/report/10073

Quote ="Rogues Gallery"The performance last night was almost identical to the Bradford and HKR ones. For some reason Wigan appeared to be going too wide too soon, the forwards didn't appear to want to do the graft. It was only when Pettybourne came on that we did any damage down the middle. He was the only Wigan prop to make over 50 metres. In those conditions ball retention was paramount. www.superleague.co.uk/report/10073'" Disgraceful stats from all of our props (Pettybourne less so). Outplayed by Eamon O'Carroll ffs. 6 missed tackles by Gelling, 5 by O'Loughlin is poor. 1 clean break in the whole game. Matty Smith conceding 3 penalties - what..?

Quote ="Rogues Gallery"The performance last night was almost identical to the Bradford and HKR ones. For some reason Wigan appeared to be going too wide too soon, the forwards didn't appear to want to do the graft. It was only when Pettybourne came on that we did any damage down the middle. He was the only Wigan prop to make over 50 metres. In those conditions ball retention was paramount. www.superleague.co.uk/report/10073'" Disgraceful stats from all of our props (Pettybourne less so). Outplayed by Eamon O'Carroll ffs. 6 missed tackles by Gelling, 5 by O'Loughlin is poor. 1 clean break in the whole game. Matty Smith conceding 3 penalties - what..?

OK now its the day after and not a single comment from 1 wigan fan giving any credit to the way Widnes played the conditions or the game as a whole you will end up getting treated the same as Leeds at this rate

We had just won the cup this time last year.

Leeds and Saints have better teams this year.

Gelling has missed an awful lot of tackles all season, his defence is very poor at times. O'Loughlin hasn't been himself this season at all either or certainly hasn't been what we have come to expect.

2 seasons ago we was superb in the league and won the hub cap which in my opinion is pants when you don't go on and win gf.Last season poorer in league and won the double its about winning when it matters.Yes people pay alot of money for all games i gave up my season ticket because of the structure of the league.We will possibly lose are next two in my opinion aswell but if we get to gf you will all be there and all will be forgotten.

We (the giants) have a better side too in my opinion.
Salford certainly do.

But both have been terrible on occasions this year, just less so than Wigan.
Saints have had a couple of hammerings against Wire & Catalans and there were doubts to Brown's coaching abilities. I think we could have taken top spot at a canter but again the performances in the last third of the season has put paid to that. I do think its planned (despite SW's comments), just like it was last year.
Now last year we got away with it due to the end result, this season he will be judged on performance and results in the playoffs.

Its a risky strategy but with high reward, however you gamble with supporters patience when it comes to purchasing season tickets, especially those half season tickets (IIRC last season only one out of the 7 home gamess were won), I bet sales in those took a nosedive!

Season ticket numbers and average attendances are well down on where they were 2 or 3 seasons ago. It's fair enough "playing the system" if it works, but fans get more and more disillusioned with poor performances and will be less inclined to attend every home game or travel away.

The comparisons with last season are a bit wide of the mark anyway, last season we were clearly coasting as we were still in both competitions. This year we have had two weeks off to get our preparation right and make a big push for the league leaders. We've thrown that away now and could well drop out of the top 4 before the playoffs start.

From the moment we had top 4 last season we costed the remainder of the weekly rounds and rotated the team to give players rest and get them ready for the play offs. This season we have struggled at times and look poor against mediocre sides who were beaten by our weakened sides last season. Either we are holding a lot back or we are a lot weaker than we think. And for me our 1-17 is not on par with last season.

Watched Wigan and RL for the last 62 years and been a season ticket holder for the last 40 but now im thinking that this is the last time im renewing my season ticket.IMO RL has been going downhill since the introduction of SL the games are no longer competetive the Challenge Cup is not the same as it was before SKY and RL went the way with the GF concept.With the new league structure coming in next year I dont think is the answer tried before in I think Belguim and the Scotland FL threw it out.I never missed a game home or away when we played in Winter something to do to pass the winter months over now I have not the passion any more I think RL is dying on its feet.

Wow can't believe some of the posts on here , my opinion is whoever wins the Wigan v Leeds game next week and gets in the top 4 will win the comp . No one will fear Cas or Saints who are going to be first and second . You are still favourites with the bookies to win the Grand Final and despite poor recent performances i reckon from now on in you will be back in the big match frame of mind .

Wigan will be at old trafford. I'm sure of it. They are saving themselves (mentally as much as physically). The players have been there and done it, so has the coach. I think the bookies have wigan as favourites as well.

It might not be the performance that Shaun would like but after several results like it one has to conclude that it is a typical Wigan performance. It remains to be seen whether they are playing the system again but either way I am losing interest in the games. I usually like going to away games but this season I decided not to go to most of them. All the ones they have played badly in like Bradford, Wakefield, Widnes etc I avoided and am jolly pleased I did so. Let's hope that the new system next year will change club's attitude to the league.

I now hope that Cas finish top as they seem like the only team that has played consistently well throughout the season. If Saints finish top then good luck to them but it says something about the state of the league when the top team has played so poorly in many games. Even against Leeds they were completely dominated for most of the game. At least last year nobody could argue that Huddersfield were not worthy of finishing top despite other teams playing the system.

I couldn't agree more, since the introduction of summer rugby the game has gone on the decline and a rapid decline at that. I've watched wigan since 1980 and have been a season ticket holder for at least 25yrs but for the last three or four seasons its been an effort to attend matches. Gone are the days when you couldn't wait for christmas & new year, not for the festivities but because it was Saints & Wire coming up and they were games i'd waited all year for. Then the rounds of the challenge cup would start, sat near the tv or radio waiting for the draw with fingers crossed hoping for a home tie, we would even do our own "draw rehearsal" beforehand to try and force a bit of luck our way, knowing that if we drew a big name at home the sold out signs would be up as after all this was "the challenge cup" the trophy everyone wanted. But now it just means nothing, no one is interested anymore, even the final fails to sell out, you no longer need to camp out for tickets two days before they went on sale in fear of missing out on a ticket and thats when wembley held 95000, you can basically walk up to the stadium on game day and buy one now.
All everyone is concerned about these days is being in the grand final, people aren't even concerned about the playoff games clubs basically have to beg supporters to attend them. I don't know what the answer is but something needs to be done about the game, i would at the drop of a hat vote to return to winter rugby at least then we would be able to again witness the touring teams in a three game test series along with club v country games that (especially at wigan) had an atmosphere that made your hair stand on end, but alas.....this ain't never gonna happen. I feel sorry for the younger generation of supporters because they know no different, however i do and believe me i know which i prefer.