Quote ="jonh"Now I'm no fan of Wane, I don't buy into the Wigan have had a great season because they win the final etc we have been dire for most of the season but had the toughness to find ways to win games we really shouldn't.
The nature of the defete against Widnes just before the playoff was a catalyst for a fantastic play off series and saw a total change in our style which whilst based around defence suddenly became far more expansive. For me moving forward they need to maintain that style and success next year to change my opinion of him as a first team coach.
A couple of points I'd like to pick up on from this thread however to deffend him a little starting with your last Vasty re player development at Wigan and how others put the hard graft in and he gets them all prepared as first team players. Wane spent one of the longest apprenticeships maybe in recent history of a coach at Wigan nearly a decade in the Academy coaching ranks before he got a chance as assistant then coach. He developed many of the top players running around today that came through the Wigan system at Wigan and other clubs and is still heavily involved in the junior set up now.
Others have mentioned as an England coach, it doesn't stack up for me. He is too Wigancentric. I don't think he would be a success at any other club to be honest as the years he has put in, in the background have formed the current ethos of the Club and like it or not, and I'm on the fence about it, it is one that has proved successful.
The bloke is Wigan through and through, his players would clearly run through walls for him, some have cynically said on this thread "out of fear not respect" I'm personally not sure about that but regardless of what motivates them it has worked.
If players were so scared of him why would they be so keen to come back to Wigan? Tomkins X 2, Mossop, Burgess, Forsythe just resigned all had other options.
Whilst I am not crazy about his style of play he has gone all year without a recognised number 2, Deacon and Harris left, nobody was brought it which may explain the style Wigan adopted for much of the season. One thing that stands out to me however is his defensive structures are second to non. I'm not talking about the controversial old chestnut of the wrestle (which I've seen him also getting blamed for even though really Brown introduced that when he took over at the Giants, Wigan just learned how to do it better) but the structure of his line, the different speeds it moves in different parts of the field and how it slides and more importantly how every player knows exactly what to do at any given second I find brilliant. I don't think there is a better defensive structure anywhere in the game. Better defences because the NRL have vastly superior players but not a team that runs a better defensive pattern. That for me along with his player development is his strength.
Finally back to the point you make again about him just getting ready made first team players with no input, not only have the Academy kids proven to be a great asset to the club, players like Flower, Isa, Gelling, Sarginsson, Bateman, Clubb were all brought to the club as non established first team players from fairly average to poor teams, look at them now. He has just brought another 3 projects to the club in Forsyth after a year playing Union, Escare, and Navarette. Hardly superstars, but I am certain they will see their reputations improve significantly under Wane and after all isn't that the very detention of a coach? To continually improve individuals in their chosen field?'"
I'll bow to your greater knowledge but we agree that Wane would bot be a great choice for a club like us.
Nailed it!
