Don't be silly

Don't agree with him.

Wigan have an excellent chance of getting to Old Trafford and winning.

You've now joined a fellowship of about ten million people who'll have said this about Gary Schofield during the course of his life.

n

i've never liked Gary Schofield... although i have no idea why



to be honest, i don't understand how people can tip us to finish in the top 2 yet then struggle in the playoffs. do they realise we'd only have to win one game to get to the GF if finishing 1 or 2???



makes a change from 2 tough away fixtures before even a chance of getting to the GF. jeez.

IF wigan get top spot they'll be at the GF in my opinion.

if somehow they drop a few places given the wire fixture still to come etc, then who knows.

+1

I,ve not really mentioned about Wigan being past there peak but the pressure of being top, are cracks appearing being beaten by depleted squads.
When I mention "injury ravaged" I mean injury ravaged to the extent of 8 to 10 players out from the squad, Wigan and Warrington havn,t suffered as greatly to the extent Leeds and St Helens as the league positions show.
For example could Wigan be confident of winning games with the likes of Phelps, Richards, Carmont, Roberts, Tomkins, Fielden, Coley, O Loughlin missing from the team.

Injuries are no excuse. Everyone suffers gluts of injuries now and then. Certain clubs, however, talk about them a lot more than others. Saints and Leeds being prime examples this season.

Not worth rising to it, some fans will not give Wigan credit in any circumstances and will always find some sort of excuse why their team is not top of the league or above Wigan. RL is a squad game - Wigan have had little sympathy from other quarters when devastated by injuries in the last couple of years and given little credit in the past when winning with depleted teams.

Whether Schofield is right or wrong will be decided at the end of the season, but it's a brave man who rights off a team that has beat everyone bar Bradford this season and with 3 of this season's 4 losses having been by only 2 points. All evidence of this season suggests that beating Wigan home or away will be a tough ask in any circumstances.

I may be being negative but I think this may be a year too early for us to win the grand final but I would be happy to be proved wrong. I find it hard to believe that the same squad from last season could win the Grand Final. I think next year may be more realistic with Madge getting his own players in plus the likes of Tompkins x2, Mossop, etc having another year of experience.
On the other hand we have missed Hansen most of the season, the same with Phelps, Mossop, Roberts, Lockers and Deacon have missed a large chunk of the season so should be fresh. Players like Gleeson have missed a few games through discipline, lads like Tuson, Farrell, Davies and Marsh have played more first team than they would have expected with the same being said about Goulding and Pryce so it shows what strength in depth we have. If it is not this season it does not look to far away. 2010 has been a year of exceeding expectations for me. I expected maybe a top 4 finish and maybe a final.

I don't think this is the case unfortunately. I think we would have to play twice possibly three times if we lose the first home tie.

So we could realistically be going back to Knowsley Rd in late September.

Not read through the whole thread because I'm on my phone and it takes too long so it may have been mentioned. Apologies if it has but to those in any doubt about Schofield's lack of predicting ability let me remind you that Garry Schofield said pre-season that Wigan were stupid to get rid of Nobby who was getting the very best possible out of a bad bunch, and that Maguire would turn Wigan into a very boring team who would defend well but would be boring in attack as a result. Now anyone is free to correct me if I'm wrong but I'd say that was pretty much as big a FAIL as Kear saying watching us is like watching paint dry.

Best defence, and only 8 points off best attack in SL.

and thats only because of a manufactured magic weekend fixture where they played Hull KR(scoring 58 points) and we played Huddersfield (scoring 2icon_cool.gif

Take into account if the derby last week hadn't been televised we'd have won that too. Two 50-50 vid refs decisions would never have been given normally.

The margins between winning and losing are so so small.

Take into account if the derby last week hadn't been televised we'd have won that too. Two 50-50 vid refs decisions would never have been given normally.

I think you're forgetting that Bentham was the referee! I doubt both would have been disallowed.

I don't think so, unless Saints finish above us in the league

Or if we lose in the 1st round of the playoffs and Saints win.

They changed the rules, no longer the highest placed team always has home advantage. We play 27 weekly rounds for nothing, as losing week one of the playoffs means losing home advantage.

Basically winning in week one in the playoffs, carries more weight than finishing top after 27 games. No wonder the RFL are laughed at, I wonder what idiot came up with that rule.

Good old Fatty Schofield

banged his gums to soon shows how much he knows

To be fair to him, this is from his twitter after the GF

It takes a big man to admit that he's wrong, but his judgement is still in question. What evidence he had to write us off so early in the season I can't imagine.

It was a very bad call for a bloke who's supposed to know about the game.

Too be fair most sporting pundits have zero idea, they only have a voice as they are former players, (schofield, alan hanson) or media types (eddie).

How anyone can ever write any one off who have been at the top of the table all season is beyond me. i can understand him not wanting wigan to win, but to say it wont happen is a bit silly.

There was a rumour back in the mid-90s that Schofield's agent was trying to get him to sign for Wigan, but that Wigan weren't interested.

Don't know whether that's true or not, but if so, it might explain some of the hostility he's shown to us in the years since.