in no way a diluted win. No matter who wins will get stick from the other clubs so it may as well be us.

All teams are in the same boat and if we can win the league whilst playing games with 6 players having to isolate then I'd argue we've won it under tougher circumstances.

Back in the 90s, Wigan went on a run winning the cup 8 years in a row and many league titles, in a division that was not a level playing field as they were the only true full-time squad and the only club backed by wealthy owners and big sponsors. I don't remember anyone questioning their trophy haul at the time.

COVID may have diminished the crowds and created a few problems, but it's something that all clubs are facing. Whatever is won this season will be just as valid as last. The only difference is fans won't be there to witness it.

So what happens if the Grand Final is Wire v Catalans.
The week of the final, a number of Wire players test positive for Covid and so we go in to the game with a team half made up of Academy players. Catalans win.

Do we accept Catalans victory and celebrate it as a progressive move for the sport to see the first French winners of the competition?
Do we fire Price for failing to win another Grand Final?

Many people questioned Wigan's achievements at that time, and still do.

Their fans rightly never gave a hoot, but plenty of opposition fans dismissed their many trophy wins as hollow - I think this season will be similar. Whoever wins it will rightly laud their victory, but everybody else will shrug it off as being pretty hollow.

One thing is for sure, and I think it's actually what many Wire fans are referring to with regards to this subject, it won't stop opposition fans mocking our lack of title wins if we were to win it this year - Many will refer to it as the asterix title and claim it will be devalued... It'll probably lead to regular and countless threads on here for years to come, or at least until we win a title in a 'normal' season.

If we get to the GF and win with some fans being able to attend, I won't care what any other fans say.

Agree with this but you know full well opposition fans would say we never really won it if we did.

I agree over Pies/90s, they 'bought' those successes to the tune of going bust twice, but no Pie-eater will accept an iota of criticism of those 'achievements'.

No. I have a controversial view on the whole situation as it is. That and the black lives matter thing before each match. And I dont want to be banned for expressing my views which seems to be the norm nowadays.

Perhaps winning this year for the Wire would mean our detractors could come up with a different chant for when normal service resumes.

How about....

Covid was your year , covid was your year
Unlike the last twenty
Covid was your year.

Although the lywics could be banned by the BBC.

Easter eggs are very hollow, but it doesn't stop me from enjoying them.

If we do win the Grand Final this year, will Price be accepted as the greatest Wire coach since Cec Mountford in the 1950s after delivering the Challenge Cup and Grand Final in consecutive seasons?

Of course he will...........until 2021 when we win nothing and fans demand he is sacked immediately.

But what are peoples view on Price as a coach ? It can only be an impression because in reality we don't have first hand experience to really know. With that minor limitation duly noted, he strikes me as a rather inexperienced coach who is trying to introduce a bit more professionalism and structure to SL, where in general the need to entertain and fling the ball around is more important than 'hunting the error' and the two points.

I doubt they will engrave an asterisk on the trophy, so a win is a win!

Plenty of football fans referring to Liverpool's title as an asterisk, or tainted. I feel it'll be the same for us

1. Yes.
2. No.

None of Wigan's past trophy wins get an asterisk saying *Wigan were full time and with a massive wage bill, compared to other clubs.

If we win the Grand Final I will be overjoyed.

In some ways it's actually more difficult to win, when you have situations like this week.

2020 is going to be a shallow championship, but better us winning it than Saints.
I rather have...”you can’t win a proper championship” jibes, than “ you can’t even win a championship under the easiest season ever” jibes.

Why would anyone think its the easiest season ever? The bottom team has already gone there's no potential gimme at Magic Weekend we had a few prior to running into Wigan as our extra game.

Follow this up with a short sudden death play off programme against the other three best sides no second chances no winning it from 5th.

Not to mention the squad management where you could lose half your first choice 17 week on week beyond the standard injuries or trips to the disciplinary Whoever wins it wins it end of IMO

It's not the easiest, it's the most random. A team could end up winning playoffs/Grand Final by virtue of their opposition being stripped to academy players because of covid absences. So there is more chance that the best team in the competition doesn't end up as the winner. Obviously the teams at the bottom are not going to win as they won't be able to make the playoffs so the teams most likely to benefit from the randomness are us, Castleford and Catalans, maybe Leeds.

It’s not an easy season at all, and teams will have varying levels of success on how well they deal with these circumstances. Smarter coaches will try out their academy players when they can to be better prepared for a covid hit.

Somebody might argue that one team’s league win is less valid because, for example, that team got to the final with an easy club call fixture. Or their opposition lost a star player to an unfair suspension. Maybe one year’s playoff system was more fair than another.

You can only play in the conditions presented to you. How well you deal with those conditions, however, is completely up to you. If the trophy is awarded, it will be completely valid. Opposition fans will detract from it because their team lost.

If it's random, then there's an equal chance it will benefit Saints or Wigan.

I can see some of the arguments here, but lets assume we have a competition that is completely random. That means everyone has an equal chance of winning it. It also means the competition can not be won more regularly by sides that are fitter, work harder, have more talented players or a better coach. You throw the dice and have an equal chance of it coming up from 1-6. Most fans would say that there was no point to this because it was no longer a competition but a simple lottery. This is the point that Ms Cinnamon is making (I believe).


We already have some randomness in our competitions which we accept. Ask the Cas head coach about injuries. You can be very unlucky and loose a lot of your best players during the season which prevents you from making the playoffs. Thats tough we say, its part and parcel of the game. But the more randomness you add in, the closer you get to the simple lottery above. And that is what Covid can do to this season. Sally's first example was a good one where two teams get to the final, one retains all their best players whilst the other loses say 9-10 through Covid. The first team wins 50-0 and are crowned champions which to my mind at least feels very unsatisfactory for the winners, losers and spectators.

My point was that in a "random" (SC's word, not mine) competition, that circumstances would equally assist or impede Wigan or Saints in the same way as the other teams stated by Sally C.

Ah, I see what you mean. I took it to be the scientific meaning where you flip a coin and have an equal chance of getting heads or tails.

As in all seasons , to win you have to beat the best of the opposition all of which will still be in the competition right to the end.
A major player this season though is how teams can cope with the presence & effects of covid on their available playing squads.
Covid could turn any teams season into a game of snakes & ladders ,as has been previously pointed out.