One of the great facets of sport is that a match can be won before it has started, but will it serve to put the extra effort each week or will comfortable wins do it? Will the extra effort tire the boys out before the end of the season?

Question then, if Wigan keep putting in THAT (Castleford) performance each week will Wigan scare teams? Or do they need to be ruthless for the full 80?

you must be confused, did you not know that 2012 is the year of the Wolf

AGAIN!!!!!!!

I cringe at thread titles like this, if there was a similar one on the Wire board it would be brought up to be laughed at. We have played excellently for 3 out of 4 games now, 2 of those wins were against teams who (imo) will be nowhere near the playoffs come September. There is a clear gap between the top 5 or 6 teams and the rest and after 4 games I'd say us, Wire, Saints (if they sort out their defence), Leeds, Catalans and Hudds are all in with a decent chance of silverware this year. To say we are THE team to be scared of is a little premature.

This is spot on wait untill we have played against some of the bigger clubs to so were we are up to

I cringe too...

oh dear................

Bit harsh on the OP.

The thread title is a question, seems fair enough to me.

OK....... No..

I did as well TBH, i can see what the OP is getting at though but i would of worded it slightly different.

The league has started pretty similar to last year so far imo. Wigan and Wire running up big scores against pap teams with Huddersfield also getting off to a good start. Saints are faffing about a bit at the start again but will no doubt improve. Leeds have started better this time and will be in and amongst the top bunch all season rather than nipping in at the end imo. Catalans have started well but there will still be question marks about whether they can sustain it.

The rest are pretty crap.

I would have to say... Yes we can.

As could Warrington, Saints, Leeds or Catalans.

Any team can turn themselves in to something to be feared.
The big test is what happens against opposition who simply refuse to capitulate to that fear.

I agree with the previous poster who said that we will be in the 5 or 6 fighting for both (all 3?) trophies this year and we just need to ensure that we put in those kinds of performance every week.

You look better than last year, but so do the Wolves, Saints, Leeds and Cats.

Saints look weaker without a doubt, losing Graham is a bigger loss than any. Wire look similar but they are have a lot of golden oldies who are 1 year older which may compromise them through out the season. Saying that it's so hard to judge at this early point in the season.

I don't think it was a ridiculous post, what's wrong with wanting to be the most feared team? I think by the end of 2010 we had a bit of that aura about the side. Last year we lost our way a little but there's no reason not to aim for that again.

I agree it's too early to be saying we are a great side and that we are going to win the double etc but I don't think the OP deserves comparison with idiots like the Wolfs who regularly post nonsense about the invincibility of Warrington/year of the Wolf etc.

This is the key issue. Let's not kid ourselves, there are some woeful teams in SL. Given that the original concept was to have a league constructed entirely of teams who can all beat each other on their day, it's clear that SL is still far, far from the finished article. As things are today, we have a tiny SL within the greater 'SL'. The rest are literally cannon fodder.

As TrentBarrett has said I disagree that Saints look better. They are similar to us in the Farrell era, just about up there because of all the work Roby does, as we were with Faz. One injury to him and their threat is nullified IMO.

They do have some fantastic prospects though, it's certainly a transitional period for them which may pay off in a couple of seasons.

Funnily enough I was thinking along these lines last week. The OP wasn't saying that we are a team to be scared of rather than can we be. I hope that we can. I'm sure every team strives for that aura around them. Warrington annihilated teams last year and I remember reading on their opposition forums beforehand and they were 'frightened' in a sense at the prospect of getting a thorough battering at the hands of the Wolves. Unfortunately for Warrington they didn't win anything!

The last team I remember truly thinking 's--t we're in for a tough match here' was the Bradford side of 2003ish era. I'd look at their lineup and think we are in for a tough match. It was their pack that was intimidating. Stuart Fielden, Joe Vagana, Paul Anderson, Brian McDermott, Jamie Peacock, Lee Radford, Daniel Gartner etc they just dwarfed and crushed the opposition forwards. Then in the backs with Lesley Vianikolo, Tevita Viakona, Shontayne Hape, Paul Deacon, Robbie Paul, Leon Pryce etc class and power in the backs. A team that when we fell behind early doors I wondered how on earth we could beat them. That was the only team I have ever thought opposition teams were "scared" of. A trip to Bradford was such a daunting prospect at one time.

Back to Wigan and we certainly do have one of the biggest/meanest packs in the league. Lee Mossop, Mike McIlorum, Jeff Lima, Harrison Hansen, Gareth Hock and Sean O'loughlin - only Saints and Wire can match that IMO. The difference will be from the interchange/depth in the side - Stuart Fielden, Paul Prescott, Epalahame Lauaki, Liam Farrell, Chris Tuson, Ben Flower, Gil Dudson, Greg Burke, Jack Hughes etc Some big, powerful players in there.

Our backs have the class - Leuluai and Finch have been brilliant. Sam Tomkins is one of the best fullbacks in the world and is probably the best attacking fullback in the history of Super League. Josh Charnley is excellent on the wing and Pat Richards is always dangerous, but in a couple of years will need replacing. Carmont is on borrowed time, so we will need to do something about that at centre. Darrell Goulding it's early days, but so far the signs are promising.

If Wigan keep putting in THAT (Castleford) performance each week will Wigan scare teams?

Certainly. If we can do that next week to Catalans then I'm not sure many teams will fancy playing us! The reality is though that Castleford were pretty poor by the sounds of things and were with a make-shift coach. However you can only play what is in front of you and Wigan were certainly excellent last week. I guess consistency is what we must look to. If you can keep on winning and win by those type of scorelines then not many teams will look forward to playing you.

Or do they need to be ruthless for the full 80?

That is the aim for our lads. So far they've not been. It's difficult, but this team strives for perfection. At some point it's going to all click for 80 minutes and with some of the poor opposition in Super League at the moment, I feel a tonking for someone is inevitable with the team we have.

The thread should be taken with a pinch of salt as much as the "Will we struggle this season" style threads we saw after our defeat against Huddersfield.

I'd like to think we will be a top three side, the rest is down to luck on the day.

I don't think it's just a matter of luck, unless it's the sort that you make yourself.

The 'we will struggle this season' thread was totally ludicrous, based on nothing more than endemic negativity and blind panic, and it's noticeable that many of those who were active on it now seem to have vanished from the forum. To ask if we can be the top side this season, after three good wins, during which Wigan displayed good organisation, good fitness, good tactics and good skills, is far more reasonable.

The 'we have only played poor teams so far' attitude is quite similar to that we were exposed to early in 2010, when some people were just determined not to be impressed by the Maguire appointment. I'm not saying we'll go that well this year, but I think we've now seen plenty to be very encouraged by.

Agreed entirely.

Probably the most encouraging aspect for me is that after two consecutive annihilations of Yorkshire opposition, where we've posted over 100+ points in just two games, both the fans and the players/coaching staff have identified areas that we can improve even further on. No-one is saying we're invincible, we're going to win the league, we'll thrash every team, but instead there's a little bit of frustration to a very slight extent that we're not posting more points on certain teams. Excellent to hear - it's the mental approach to games after all that Wane/Madge have been getting at these last three years.

Except we have a world cup winner who apparently is a revelation at hooker.

I'm sure Wigan fans said we were weaker last year than the year before and yet, with a bucketload of injuries and a resulting team made up largely of 19/20 year olds for chunks of the season, we ended up being just one league place weaker than the previous two years.

Last year we started the season being unable to attack. This year we have started the season being unable to defend. There is a theme here. Last year we started the season without our first choice halfbacks. This year we have started it without two of our keenest defenders (James Graham and Scott Moore) and, in James Graham, a leader on the field.

defence wins championships i'm afraid

As excuses go, this is a bit weak.

Your logic would apply if Scott Moore and James Graham were both unexpectedly absent through injury, but they're not - they aren't Saints players any more. The fact that your coach hasn't taken adequate action to try and counter this loss doesn't reflect well.

I'm pleased that Wigan seem to be able to carry on where Maguire left off. The more genuinely good teams in SL the better for everyone. IMO the standard of the game at the top end is improving. From what I've seen the attacking play has come on a long way in recent years, with the better teams starting to show good structure and motion in attack.

The problem is the massive gap between top and bottom. There are far too many scoreline blowouts, which reflects both low standards from some teams and - IMO - a real mental softness compared to the NRL. I've seen plenty of NRL games where one side has been all over the other one, but real hammerings (particularly early season) are rare as sides defend with intensity for the full 80, and are usually followed by much better performances the following week.