Is it me or have this season the players looked the most unfit I have ever seen them ,they look amatuer in their fitness.

Is it time to get rid of Forshaw and get Hampson in?

You could be onto something here...

I remember the rumours around Wire when Forshaw was there about how poor their fitness was and how bad a job he was doing there. When you look at the likes of Feka, Riddell, Pryce etc you can't help but feel the jobs not being done quite right here either.

Not as much in Riddells case because he's not been here long and has always been portly but with the other 2 mentioned Forshaw has had enough time to kick their ar*es into gear.

Perilini got the job done at Saints with Paul Anderson for example.

I mentioned this last year and got slated, big time.

The team are poorly prepared across the board in both the technical aspects of rugby and conditioning.

I am unsure what is going on, or why the hell we can only peak our team once a year physically but regardless of this it does not matter as we will continue to give ourselves too much to do at the end of the year.

If we look at Paul Clough at Saints he's put weight on by the looks of him but looks fitter then ever! He's powerfull yet hasn't lost the pace or fitness.

When our younger players like Goulding and Hansen have done that they become sluggish yet hardly any stronger!

Whats being done wrong?

I've often said in the era of the SC there is a definite need to make sure you invest in the very best coaching staff money can buy! Can we honestly say we have one world class coach at Wigan or is it jobs for the boys?

At the very minimum we should have such a specialist position as conditioning coach filled by a proper professional not just and ex player who may know one or two things above lifting weights or maintaining personnel fitness.

A massive part of the problem imo is we have not properly replaced Lydon with a person who has an in depth knowledge of being aroundand knows what successful set ups look like.

I know I’ll get slated big time for this but I truly feel someone like Clive Woodward on a six month consultancy deal to have a look at our coaching set up from top to bottom is the only answer.

When Forshaw was at Warrington the players were unfit then, its been the same thing with wire for years, they can dust teams and blow teams away but when it comes to an arm wrestle of a match they haven't the fitness to win, going out on the ale will surely contribute to this but overall the fitness and conditioning.

I didn't really notice it all too much last year but this year we look so unfit its unreal, there was a shot to the bench on sky and showed Bailey, Riddell and Coley and all three were blowing out their arris!!!! Its not through trying too hard either! Fitness is a major issue!

A large part of "fitness" is having the attitude to push through barriers and take that extra hit up, get back onside again, chase that kick, close that gap when you feel you have nothing left to give.

This is where I think Wigan fall down, rather than pure physical fitness.

No surprise really, Forshaw doesn't have any kind of fitness qualification

You mean desire? I wish we had it! A will to win, they are just plodding along, trying but not hard enough, a bit of team bonding wouldn't go amiss either!

There are too many jobs for the boys at Wigan. We need a complete review of the whole coaching structure starting at the top - even though one has just been completed. We need to invest in the best as it's one area not affected by the salary cap. There are some interesting articles around about the lengths Manly go to in terms of player preparation and fitness - we need to be matching or exceeding that.

Perilini is the best fitness coach IMO ESL has to offer.

I agree to a large extent, but to go that extra yard you have to be in peak physical shape - something that it's obvious Wigan aren't.

The jobs for the boys mentality is a cancer in our great game and something that will always ensure the product does not develop as it potentially should.

Good coaches surround themselves with the best people, people who like to have smoke blown up there to boost there ego recruit there mates......and always pay the price in the end.

He's a Saints lad through and through, I'm not too sure about ex Saints coaches... Could do with grabbing Jennings from Penrith imho...

The problem is you have to create that mentality in training and that is the responsibility of a coach, to push them and get the best out of them in that environment. It is unrealistic to expect a team to impliment it on the field without doing it in training.

I was lucky enough to be invited to the Brisbane Bronco's sessions in the build up to the WCC game vs Saints, I had access to all the coaches after the sessions to discuss there methods including Wayne Bennet, and the one thing I came away from that environment with was the level of knowledge in every area that supported that team. Any club that recruits a level of excellence in the backroom will always grow as a club, sadly at a lot of club not just Wigan we are too busy looking out for the interests of there friends rather than ultimatley looking long term interests of themselves. It takes a hell of a coach to support and lead a failing team sadly i think firstly a good coach should not put themselves in that position and secondly we do not have a hell of a coach in Noble anyway.

He has also taken a massivley well paid job in Dubbai and will not be back and fair play to him. Jennings would be an excellent addition, but i think not with Noble as Coach, they are too close.

Agree with all that fella.

And they still lost to Saints

Exactly what i said mate spot on.

Interesting to note as well that it was once the Wigan club who used to do this and set the highest standards possible at the club. Coaches like Lowe and Monie brought the most advanced practices at that time with them to Wigan and Is it any coincidence what those coaches led us to.

As you said in the era of the SC you need to invest as much as possible in the off field side of things to get the upper hand.

They were nackered before half time! It was pretty bad...

I remember thinking during the Saints game that they were coming of a tough game at Leeds and we had had a relatively easy tie at Barrow and rested some. This made me think we had a good chance to win during the second half - but it was us who tired and they stepped up a gear. Embarassing

It was a major ask to expect them to turn around after the effort they put in at Saints to head to the South of France against Les Cats, i base my opinion on what i have seen over the last couple of years.


We have a coach and support staff who only seem to be able to peak us once a year at great expense to the rest of the season, due to the length of the season we should be peaking at least twice, potentially 3 times without too much difficulty.

Reading this thread, if the fitness of the players is a problem the book stops with Forshaw. Looking a some of the names being banded around:

Perilini-Remains unclear what his qualifications for the job where apart from having played for the club and in the bootroom culture. Where is Apollo now?

Jennings-Was at the Bulls then Canberra then Penrith he is a former shot putter and trains the players accordingly. He would suit BN biff n bash approach.

Wigan have let some good conditioners go in the past-Marty Hulme and Nigel Ashley Jones.

Watching Wigan warm up against Saints im not entirley sure MF knows what he is doing. The thing I've found within RL not just Wigan is its 'jobs for the boys' look at James Lowes worming his way in and he got found out. A club like Wigan needs a sports science pro or somebody with a proven track record. Mark Corvo would be my choice he was at Salford, Canberra and Melbourne and made Melbourne into a force over the last few years, he is a professional conditioner and is not playing at it like some in SL. It makes me wonder if MF is suitably qualified?

What job in Dubai?

Perilini is earning a huge wage in Dubbai.

Jennings is indirectly coaching most teams in this country one way or another as he is either paid by them to produce routines in the lower divisions or is an open line of dialogue to many of the current SL conditioners.