Thornley always had the promise before going to Ru. I cant make my mind up if going there has made him a better player or staying here in the first place would have.

I thought Finch and Tommy were irreplaceable but i was wrong. Finchy started to go off the boil last season anyway imo. Matty Smith has started making some tasty breaks and his distribution is superb. Don't think he will be going anywhere for about 8 years. Green has a very experienced head on him and his link up with Matty is great. #

The young forwards have been great, I think the likes of Lauaki are in BIG trouble with the emergence of Burke, Taylor, Spencer etc. Its going to be really interesting to see how Wane rotates them around. Our young lads seem to make a habit of taking their chance when regular first teamers get injured. Must be a really strong mentality on the whole in the club. We all thought this season we would be considerably weaker but i think we are considerably stronger. We have lost some big personalities and great individual players but the team looks a lot more settled and more of a unit. All young lads who know their roles in the squad and what is expected.

We have only lost against the top sides (make of that what you will) but those sides have dropped silly points against the weaker sides whereas we have grinded them out where needs be. So watch us get stuffed by Hull KR now haha.

The future is bright, The future is cherry and white.

I had concerns before the season started but thts well gone as smith/green have already proved after less than 10 games they will do well and will get even better

Thornley is getting better game by game and thats a good thing as hughes is not there yet still makes too many wrong decisions in attack but that will come with time

In the forwards i wasnt really that worried as dudson had already made progress lat year and i know Taylor will settle in as he gets more games

Bonus of the year obviously the form of farrell and crosby

I agree with cherrywarrior i cant see Lauaki gettng many games

I like Green and Smith. Finch just never did it for me, he had more poor games than he did good, and neither him or Tommy had much of a kicking game. Lima was good but often inconsistent and I think the young lads this year have really done well in the forwards so it's hard to say there was a direct replacement for Lima as all of the forwards have stepped up and improved. I just hope that when players start coming back from injury and the younger lads potentially get less game time, they don't start to get restless for more first team games and go elsewhere. We've seen it so many times before. Although if the rumours of Hansen to the NRL are true then that opens a gap. When does Prescott's contract run out? Can see him being offloaded due to his poor injury record. Wasn't Mossop rumoured to be off to the NRL too?

Mossops contract is until the end of 2014 not sure about prescott but i think hes got a place in the team

Finch absolutely bossed games when he was on, but yes he certainly lost interest about halfway through 2012. After that he was a shadow of his former self.

I think they've done as well as can be expected.

Lets not forget Finch, Tommy and Lima are all top draw NRL players. Carmont was Mr consistency for us and an absolute top player to boot.

Before the season start, I would have been happy with a top four finish, and quarter finals of cup.

Looking at the way we have gone with so many injuries, the squad depth and Smith and Green joining well, I'm hoping for better.

I'm not saying "Get to Grand Final or its all a big fail", but I am really happy with the team.

Think the club have done well with recruiting and building players rather than just going for some Aussies out of favour in the NRL.

Thoroughly enjoying this season to be honest. Green & Smith are pairing well, great kicking games too. (How good are those delayed passes from Green when 20 metres out - Farrell & now Crosby linking up)?

Thornley looks strong, think we will start to the best from him as the pitches firm up. Taylor is looking a fantastic signing as well, finally no complaints about our young stand-in's, Crosby / Logan Tomkins / Burke / Tuson, all excellent prospects.

Thing's certainly are looking good for the coming seasons, IF we can stay relatively injury free going through the summer and into the playoffs along with some clever squad rotation from Wane then I'm gonna stick my neck out here and say I think we will win at Old Trafford.

I'm that confident.

Green for me is our best signing, his set up for Crosbys try was a joy to watch.


I wasn't impressed with smith at first but he is getting better and better as each game goes on, their partnership looks very promising, I'd o as far as saying its the best 6&7 partnership in the league at the moment. Who would have thought that 3 months ago????

Thornley has been a great find at centre, knows how to put his winger away and knows his way over the line also.

We wouldn't be any better off if we had Finch, Leuluai or Carmont.

[
[size=150:3pdhaaquI agree with cherrywarrior i cant see Lauaki gettng many games[/size
Dom Crosby, more effort yesterday, than Eric (waste of space, cap) put in the whole of last season.
I think that the future is very bright for this squad, win or lose everyone looks as if they are trying 100%, unlike some of the big named imports weve had in the past.

Just watching the game again and Cullen comes up with a good point about creating structure and keeping the spine of the side all the same.

For the 1st time in a long, long time we've got that.

9-Mcilorum - 25 years old
13- SOL - 30
7- Smith -25
6 - Green - 26
1 - Tomkins

Tomkins aside that's what we need and gives us something to build from.

Add on top that Iain Thornley (21), Goulding (25) & Charnley (21) it means we should see our HB's, Centre's + 1 winger all staying the same for at least 5 years minimum.

I'm not.

We didn't win it last year and the 2012 Warriors would beat the 2013 Warriors, imo.

Certainly the future is bright, but right now we're too inexperienced.

Good post agree with all you have said. My thoughts entirely.

I think we're having a brilliant season so far and exceeding expectations.

I am however, realistic too. We're having a great run of form recently but when it comes to the crunch games we have only beaten a St Helens side with a stream of key players missing.

We lost to Huddersfield & Leeds and should have beaten Warrington. This, I think, mainly comes down to inexperience and we need time for all players to gel to compete when it matters.

It is looking promising with so many young lads and academy products lining up week after week.

To think we're top of the league now with an inexperienced squad is a mouthwatering prospect for 3 or 4 years time.

So far, pleasantly surprised. Only issue is same as last season, in some games against the better sides we fail when our usual game plan doesn't work. I made a topic the other week about dropped points. We are great when we get time and room, however we steuggle badly when defences close us down quicker.

As for the guys that have come in, well pleased with all of them. Playing as a team and less as individuals.

Thornley for Carmont- weaker short term but not as much as fe feared and could be stronger in the long run.

Green and Smith for Finch and Leuluai- Stronger in attack overall due to the kicking game but weaker in defence.

Taylor for Lima- Again possibly slightly weaker short term but this lad could easily surpass Lima long term.

Overall because of the emergence of Crosby, Burke, Tomkins Jnr etc the squad suprisingly looks about even in comparison to last year.

Maybe Wane and Lenagan know what they're doing afterall.

I don't agree that Green and Smith are weaker in defence. Wigan's defence has been very strong so far. I like the way Green stands very close to the scrum to close things off on the blind side. He does it every time and so itmust be a ploy which he executes very well.

Green's not too bad, but Smith is nowhere near as good in defence as Tommy was.

Not disagreeing, but name me someone who is a hard in defence as Tommy in that position!

Ive said it before. On paper we look a weaker side than in recent years. However the togetherness of this squad, the willingness to work for each other and the grit and determination is stronger than its ever been. There are no cliques or unsettled players on anyone thinking they are bigger than the club. This is whats making us a good side. The Unity.

That and people underestimating some of the newbies.

It is not just a matter of being as hard. Smiths defence is just not really good enough at the moment regardless of comparisons to Tommy.

I started by saying "not disagreeing", but as usual you see the negative!!

In fact, i'm muting your posts so i don't have to read your depressing rants again.

Damn, i can't...

I agree with you about Tommy, but having said that there aren’t many who are. The man was a human wall.

Please read DaveO post above... and prepare to be told off!!!!...