People may laugh, but for me he is definitely right up there. You automatically look back to our "Glory Years". I'm taking nothing away from them but the likes of John Monie and Graham Lowe had unlimited cash to spend in that era. No salary cap to mess about with either.

Graeme West was another but he took over the best team in the world and probably the best wigan team from any era.

The work Shaun Wane has done has been nothing short of unbelievable. Even putting the double to one side, when has a wigan coach brought through so many good young kids? He's fearless with it. The club seems in the best hands it's ever been in. How good is it to see 20 year old wigan lads running riot?

And let's be honest, the wigan team of the last couple of seasons has hardly been filled with 'superstars' but no wigan teams have ever wanted success this much and that is all down to Shaun Wane. Every single team in super league would swap their coach for him.

It'll be one sad, sad day when he leaves this club

when you compare the situation of Wane to other successful coaches you would have to agree that he is probably the best.

Millward?

Seriously, Lowe revolutionalised the club into a professional (attitude, not working hours) outfit and we were years ahead of the rest. Ok we spent big but so did other teams (Leeds, Widnes) in that era.

I think you're underselling the Maguire influence.

Don't get me wrong, Wane has been excellent, but Maguire came in and changed the culture of the club. He gave Wane the blueprint and Shaun has added his experience with the Academy into the mix.

When I read the thread title I thought "wow, that is a brave statement". Then I thought about it for a moment and what the team has achieved, the players he has brought through, how he has managed big changes in personnel every year and it seemed a reasonable view to hold. He's done a great job and I'm sure he'd do we'll in Oz, particularly with a big club with a proud history and strong culture like Wigan. Not that I want him to go though! He's the best coach in SL.

I like Wane and was one of the few defending him on here when many were slagging him off. However I dont think you can underestimate how good a coach Maguire was and how instrumental he was\is to the success today. Maguire totally changed the club off the field and on it and most of this work still exists today. Wane has built on this but without Maguire before him and the systems, structures and culture he put in place would Wane have had the success he is having now? I'd equate Maguire to Lowe who came in changed everything and got the ball rolling. Wane for me is a bit like Monie who has built on what was already there.

Honestly nobody apart from the players would know how much Shaun Wane added to the change in culture, but even now the culture has changed from Madge's time. I would say overall we are stronger than when we was under madge and thats with a team not full of superstars.

Maguire was excellent but again, his team was far stronger than Wanes. Look at the players Shaun wane has lost. The list is endless. I also think the rugby we player under Shaun wane is far better. In maguires second season we were dull

For all the excellent work that he did, we must not forget that Maguire had Lima, Hoffman and Finch drop into his lap... That would have helped a little..

Maguire won the Grand Final in 2010 in his first season without any of those players. He basically took the same team that had been average for years and turned them into champions, transforming the whole club in the process.

I never said otherwise... I also recall many posters who were less that happy about Nobles departure, at least the manner of it, and the appointment of a relative unknown. But if you look at the squad McGuire inherited, it was playing way below it's capabilities, he certainly sharpened it up...

This, I don't think Wane would be able to have done what he has without Maguire laying the foundations. Wane will have also learnt a huge amount from Maguire. I'm a huge fan and he is without doubt a great (I don't use that word often) coach for us but the best ever? That would be a big call.

Look at the team Maguire won the GF with compared to the one Wane won it with.

2010 team was far stronger

Certainly up there as one of the best motivators & man-managers & he does have the capacity to learn from his mistakes. I think the Madge influence is still there in part, but the current squad has more of SW about it now than when he took over, so the Aussie's influence (however good that was) is in the background now & I'd suspect you might get a few sideways looks from the club if you suggested anything else.

"Best in history"? Not yet. If he's here in 5 years' time & we've got a bunch of extra silverware in the cabinet, then you might well have a case. But if he leaves at the end of this or next year with or without winning anything, we'll still be saying he was damn good, but I think we'll be pondering on what could have been.

It does, however, depend on how he responds to the other teams working out how to beat us - something Nobby didn't do for example. If he can work out plans B, C, D & E and continually adapt, then I'd gladly help fund the new cloning lab being set up in a shed in a field at the unfashionable end of Standish.

As a fan Wane makes you want to run through a brick wall so you can only imagine how he makes the players feel!

The best? Not sure. The best motivator? For sure! Mike Greg wasn't far off but Waney has the players revved up beyond belief!

It's a little bit silly to start to even consider this yet. He's had two full seasons so far - the first where he made a number of mistakes, the second where he learned from them. Becoming a multiple trophy winning team over a sustained period of time will be the best benchmark given our history and coaches.

One thing that Wane has over Maguire for me is that Wane uses the younger players more and squad rotation more, it was one of the only things Maguire didn't do and it was a major reason why we didn't go on and win the double in 2011. Currently, this is why I'm still quitely confident we'll be in one of if not both of the finals this year again. Our strength in depth in my opinion is greater than anyone elses in the league and you have to look at Wane with how he's used the squad over the last 18 months.

He needs to put another star on our shirt before we consider this.

Wane has frustrated us at times with some of the performances but the way he gets his side to peak at the right moments is superb. It's to his credit that he learned from going all out in 2012 and then us burning out when the big games occurred. That's the sign of a class coach for me. In fact I think we look better this year than last, but the proof is when the big games come round in August to October.

Jim Sullivan is our greatest coach though. His post war record with Wigan was phenomenal (12 trophies in 7 seasons) and then after Wigan's refusal to give him a pay rise in 1952, he left for St Helens and turned them instantly from no-mark team that had won only 2 trophies in 57 years to the big rivals we've had ever since. If Wigan had given him a pay rise the Saints derby we all know today would probably not exist. They'd be like Salford are to us now.

There was probably about 6 trophies per season available in Sullivans era though to be fair.

Maguire for me. He revolutionised the club culture and transformed us from a semi finals team into a team of winners. Let's not forget the run of games Maguire had to win for both his trophies as well, (Wane's SL run was hard but the CC run was easier than we could have ever dreamed of) and the fact Maguire never went a season without winning a trophy unlike Wane in 2012. In a couple of years or so I may be more likely to put Wane up there with Maguire if he can keep it up. A lot of people have mentioned Wane had to deal with losing a lot of stars, don't forget the quality of our opposition has dropped off as well. Saints in particular were much more of a threat for Maguire as they had Cunningham and Graham. Leeds were pretty mich the same personnel but younger

Wane won the LLS in 2012

Sorry I meant major trophies, tend to forget who won the LLS

Major trophy or not, most consistent team over 27 rounds is still an accomplishment.

Wouldnt everyone want to win both the LLS and the GF ? That would be the ultimate season. It is only with the expansion of the play-off system and the fact that there is very little advantage to winning that coaches have taken a longer term view of the LLS.