I’m not just blaming Powell but he hasn’t created a single try that I can recall all season. This includes when our pack has dominated. When looking to strengthen, 7 is without doubt the priority

I don’t blame Powell in the slightest, personally I feel quite sorry for him. The lad is a hooker, an honest working hooker and he’s being hung out to dry at scrum half.

As I say above we need to keep our chins up because there’s everything to play for but part of any master plan must include a new partner for Williams (who looked shackled again then free as a bird and happy to influence things for the last 15/20 mins when the game was up).

I agree to an extent, but there’s an assumption in there that he can turn it around.

It’s obvious by now that Wanes resignation was as much a shock to the players as it was for the rest of us. When I heard, my first thought was that the players, especially those who are leaving, would be extra-motivated to win everything for him, that’s what normally happens at the end of an era.

Instead they’ve gone into a tailspin either because the players are upset with their coach because he’s leaving or they’re unhappy with the club because of something to do with the manner of his leaving. If it’s the first one, we might as well get shut now because he’s lost the dresssing room. In the second case, it won’t matter much whether he stays or not unless he’s whining about his treatment to the players.

In either case, it looks a lot like sulking on the part of the players, which reflects very poorly on their professionalism.

No question about it. You'll need a whole new spine. Letting Sam go seems a massive gulf to correct now, had he stayed at least they'd be a footing.
As much as I hate the style of Wigan under him....I'd be looking to get McGuire back to install those heavy effective structures.
My word two props and two new halfbacks are a critical must for 2019.

Whoever takes over...I asked the question no one dared answer last week.
Would you except a meagre 2019, or much of it, as a season of transition?

Spot on this but even at hooker I don’t think he’s good enough to be our starting 9. He’s usually sound defensively but that’s it. With the ball, he offers nothing and lacks pace. I’d keep him as a utility squad player to cover injuries but nothing more.

I was banging the drum earlier on in the season for SW to go, much like jonh I didn’t (and still don’t) like his style of play, his decisions baffle me and we looked clueless in attack - despite at the time being top scorers in the league. Quite rightly I was shot down, it gives me no pleasure to see the team playing the way they are.

I wanted SW out then, I still do now however when there’s no one better to replace him; why bother? I get what some are saying in that “You don’t know unless you try” but whats the point in that? Despite this ‘crisis’ we’re still 2nd in the league.

This will all blow over IMHO. It’s not the end of our season, to the contrary there’s still all to play for (minus the obvious). Sometimes it’s “better the devil you know, than the devil you don’t”.

Powell is a limited player that gives everything. It's not his fault he isn't what we need, it's the fault of the coach that decided we don't need a top quality scrum half to control the team. Wane decided we needed and average Joe that will do as told, be unspectacular and go through the motions.

A partner for Williams? You do realise the 7 players on completely the other size of the pitch? Hard to listen at times when people don't even seem to understand the structure of a team.
Left pivot
Right pivot.

i'm getting to the point now where I do not actually feel any anger or bad feelings towards Wane. he has a tough job on to retain his reputation if he has not yet got a new position away from Wigan.

having said that, I actually think Wane has decided to leave due to the poor handling of the club, player contracts etc above Wane. I've said for a long time that the club has been badly managed in recent years and it is only in times like this that any of you even remotely agree with me.

lets think about it, would he really want Micky to have gone? would Micky have gone if the FPN issue was dealt with by the club more promptly? would he have given Williams the marquee spot if it was entirely up to him? would the Tomkins' issue have been handled promptly (assuming Wigan DID know about the incidents real time) if Wane had his way? would Wane have wanted Sam, Sutton and possibly Bateman to leave had wigan had to money to retain them?

I honestly think Wane is getting nowhere with the club, has been like this for a while and he has decided enough is enough and for that I do not fault him. the blame lies above if you ask me and it is now clearly having an impact on the players. has there been a "public" fallout within the club that has brought this on what with the many recent events, good or bad? I think so.

id expect Wane to want to stay on and try and fix this. the only way I can see him leaving early (like you say, who is available?!) is if wigan decide to cut ties. and if that does happen that will only further prove my feelings to be valid.

"I'm the most stubborn man in the world. (Owner and chairman) Ian Lenagan and (executive director) Kris Radlinski have always been loyal to me and I pick my own players. If I want a player, they say 'great' and they go and get them for me.

The fact that he has been stopped resigning these duds and giving more cash to players like Powell IS THE REASON HE IS GOING!

whether that is the case or not surely the onus is on the people in higher positions to dictate or at least provide input. again that is not wane's fault, if he has been given free reign the fault lies with who has given him that power, not him himself.

Fully understand thanks.

They’ll always be called halfback partners regardless of them being split or not. When I say he needs a ‘partner’ I mean in the sense that he needs somebody to take the burden off him in regards to creating and organising the team. At the minute it feels like all our hopes of breaking a team down fall at his feet and he looks like he’s going under.

Surely they are all accountable. I doubt it was Wane's idea to offer players leaving a lifeline and IMO I don't think IL could wait to re-sign them when they came available again. The recruitment is rubbish (Sarge for goodness sake) but if Wane said he wanted him why wasn't Rads presenting him with alternatives? I don't just meen for Sarge either. Finally it's Wane who runs the team day to day. He sets the tactics, picks the team and makes the substitutions. I doubt IL told him to give Powell the 7 jersey but again all three of them are culpable in giving Powell a pay rise and new deal and doing stuff like signing Navarette on a three year deal off the back of no form at all. If Wane asks for these deals and IL simply agrees you have to question IL's wisdom. It's one thing to not dictate to your coach but another to be flinging money at players you must yourself see are questionable signings.

www.sportingnews.com/au/league/n ... jaznurzq0d In 2018, new Blues coach Brad Fittler has all but guaranteed James Maloney to start in the halves for his side as they look to end Queensland's unquestioned dominance.However, who will partner him is still up in the air with the likes of Nathan Cleary, Jack Bird, Adam Reynolds and Luke Keary all possible candidates.

www.sportingnews.com/au/league/n ... jaznurzq0d In 2018, new Blues coach Brad Fittler has all but guaranteed James Maloney to start in the halves for his side as they look to end Queensland's unquestioned dominance.However, who will partner him is still up in the air with the likes of Nathan Cleary, Jack Bird, Adam Reynolds and Luke Keary all possible candidates.

Sorry Nicky, was said in jest!

I think a lot falls on Lockers. He's the link between the 6 and 7, however teams can see what we're doing coming a mile off. by the time the ball reaches the 6/7 the other teams edge defence is all over them.

I don't even know who our attacking team coach is.

SW has said a couple of times, I've heard at least, that he doesn't sign the players. Kris Rad does that. He just gets on with the coaching side of things.

When he first resigned I was surprised given there was improvement in the team and prospects were on the up. I always thought Wane would either be (at some point as most coaches are) sacked or carried out in a pine box. There was, I thought, no way he'd leave of his own volition. When it was announced I assumed like many others he had a job offer and I thought if so, he's made a smart move leaving while he is doing well. If he wanted a coaching career it was good to move on and not be labelled too much the one club man. I also didn't think his resignation would have a great effect on the team. We won a cup in the year Madge left for example so why would Wane saying he was going make any difference to our prospects? It seemingly has and the one thing that is different that I can see is he is not leaving for positive reasons. He's just resigned with no job to go to and contrary to expectations he has no job offer. If he'd been offered an NRL job as Madge was then he'd be leaving for positive reasons but with no job to go to he's basically just chucked in the towel.

Now that I can see affecting the morale of the squad. He just doesn't want to do the job anymore.

I have never thought Wane has exercised particularly good judgement and he often never knows when to shut up so ends up criticising individual players to the press which most other coaches would never do for example. I think he has exercised ill judgment in announcing his resignation when he did. He had no idea how it might affect the players so him doing that [iwas all about him[/i. He's got an ego the size of a planet so he announced it when it suited him and he got a lot of publicity out of it but given he is just walking away with no job to go to, it's no real surprise if he seemingly can't be bothered his players can't either.

Cruncher said earlier he thought Wane took a gamble in announcing his resignation when he did. What was he hoping to win from his wager? Given the team was going well I can't see why he would do it to get extra motivation to have the players send him off a champion coach. All it's seemingly done is derail the season making his job prospects worse if it carries on. Now that would be ironic. Resigned when his stock was improving even with skeptical fans and succeeds in making himself unemployable.

I pretty much agree with all of that, DaveO.

At the end of last season all the season ticket holders were sent an email asking many questions about their match day experience. In there were questions relating to our performance . I, for one, made my feelings clear about the lack of entertainment over the previous season and beyond. If many others responded in the same way then surely the powers that be must have put this to the coaching team and the writing was probably on the wall from that point forward. I personally feel following that survey this was going to be Wanes final season at Wigan. Bar a couple of matches the arm wresting style has continued unabated . It’s just not entertaining , whether we win trophies or not. The crowds are falling and it looks like Lenegan decided at the beginning of this campaign it would be Wanes last . Maybe Wane was being ironic to tender his notice following one of the teams better displays.
I’m sure it will all come out in the wash at some point

I agree Dave. I said at the time that his timing was all about him and not for the good of the team. Big mistake in my book and one that could end up tarnishing his reputation. I hope not, of course, and we go on to win the GF although that's not looking very likely at the moment.

well yes, i'm not saying that wane has no fault, but my point is this topic is all about him and I don't think the current issues at wigan are exclusively down to him which you also allude to.

i'm glad that others can see my views that the club has not been run well in recent years, away from the pitch I mean. it is a shame wane is now taking this flack, but like I say he needs to fix it by staying on to see out this year. asking for him to go or be sacked immediately is by far and away not the answer is it.

What speaks volumes here....

When has IL ever kept himself shtum? He loves the sound of his own authority all over the radio (ok not as much as the Doc did).

His quietness on this matter is sends a clear signal to me of a big fallout with SW.
SW is a very proud man, he's very proud of his legacy and knows he walk with a high head. I don't believe he purposely announced his resignation as a unsettling for Wigan but because he can no longer work within the margins IL has put in place.
The decision not to continue a pursuit of the best players...like keeping Sam must have been the catalyst...I can't wait for SW's book.

Same here. We did have several injuries/illness to content with and a short turnaround so it could improve quite rapidly but I think what has fans worried is the nature of the defeats and the total seeming lack of effort and direction in all three. Players arguing on the pitch is not a good sign.

Very true and, I suppose, something of a throwback to last year so, by that measure, maybe to be expected. To lose 3 of your 4 first choice props when coming up against a big pack was always going to make it a tough ask.

In truth I didn't expect a win. What I found particularly disappointing yesterday though was that, when someone made an effort as Davies did for his try, we visibly lifted and looked like we had the beating of them or, at the very least, capable of making a game of it. Unfortunately that level of effort was coming in only short bursts and from too few players.

I think SW has a lot to answer for regarding the timing of his announcement. Although it clearly isn't the only factor it is the one that he had the most control over. In that sense it's a problem partly of his own making.

I am scratching my head wondering why at the time I[i didn't [/ithink it could or would have much of an effect.

He resigned shortly before the biggest game of the season up to now, the CC game v Wire, and as I said did so simply because he no longer wants to be Wigan coach or seemingly a coach at all (though what he really wants to do next is not clear to me). To see your leader chuck it in out of the blue when things were going well is bound to have had an effect. I don't think anyone can say the players professionalism should have carried them through this. It [imight[/i in a few games once they get over it but I reckon the shock must have been quite something withing the tight nit environment of a pro sports team. Why Wane could not foresee the risk of this happening I don't know.

The other thought I have on this is given he doesn't want to coach Wigan anymore why did he not walk there and then having announced his resignation? If he doesn't want to be here next season what's the attraction of coaching Wigan for the next few months? Maybe his ego has him thinking the club can't so without him and he's doing it a favour. It all seems a bit condescending.